Sarah Kay: Def Poetry Jam

Posted on May 2, 2007
Filed Under General Thoughts, Pop Culture, America, Art/Photography |

I was about to turn off my computer and go to bed but I just wanted to share this with everyone. I LOVE Def Jam. America - (Hollywood + MTV) = something a lot less. Nuclear silos are powerful but I find things like this more powerful. They’re a bigger asset. That’s why I know so many people who hate America, the government and the supposed immorality but would love to live there or go for a visit. How would things be if Israel had its own Hollywood and MTV? I believe the situation might have been better. Anyways… Me need to sleep. Ignore my ranting and just check this out. It’s only 2 minutes and it’s lovely. You won’t regret it.

Comments

10 Responses to “Sarah Kay: Def Poetry Jam”

  1. Andrew Brehm on May 3rd, 2007 11:28 am

    “How would things be if Israel had its own Hollywood and MTV?”

    It does.

    Israel produces many funny movies that are well-known in Germany and other places. It’s just on a much smaller scale.

  2. Roman Kalik on May 3rd, 2007 12:12 pm

    Indeed. Just about anything by Ephraim Kishon fits the bill, both literature and movies. I’ve been trying to look up books of his in e-book format, but all I could find was the German translations. Oh well.

    http://www.brandeis.edu/jewishfilm/Catalogue/kishon.htm

    Not all of them, but the good ones are listed there at least. I doubt they actually show them much these days, mind you, even in on Israeli movie channels. You could always buy one off Amazon I guess, if you’re really interested.

  3. Drima on May 3rd, 2007 4:58 pm

    Andrew, I don’t think you got my point. Israel might have an okay movie industry but it’s no match to Hollywood’s popularity.

    I believe MTV and Hollywood make America much more human and attractive. If they didn’t exist the hatred towards America would be pretty much the same as the one we see directed towards Israel. We’d imagine Americans as a bunch of beasts with horns.

    And I’m talking about about the Arab and Muslim worlds’ perceptions.

    PS: did you like the video? She’s so wonderful and gifted!

  4. Andrew Brehm on May 3rd, 2007 6:37 pm

    Drima, I got your point. But, of course, Israel is too small to compete. The United States simply have more Jews. :-)

    It is fascinating to learn that Arabs (in general) hate Israel (because it is Jewish) but love Hollywood (and who do they think makes these movies?).

    (She is wonderful, all right.)

  5. Roman Kalik on May 3rd, 2007 7:02 pm

    Heh, the industry’s sheer size does matter.

  6. Amjad on May 5th, 2007 4:58 pm

    Hey, I just wanted to drop you this line and tell you that I liked your blog. I found about it through Mahmood’s Den.

    I am a Sudanese blogger who lives in Sultanate of Oman. Your blog is the first Sudanese blog I come across. I really felt happy when I found out that you are Sudanese and inshallah I will keep on visiting your blog from time to time.

    Yours,

    Amjad Hayder

  7. DP on May 5th, 2007 6:02 pm

    Wow, Sarah Kay is just lovely! Have you also heard the poetry of Suheir Hammad? She is very impressive as well. Here is one of her better poems:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhWX2F6G7Y

  8. Finnpundit on May 6th, 2007 1:54 am

    I agree with Drima: Sarah Kay’s poetry is very charming. However, Suheir Hammad’s poem was, on reflection, quite nauseating.

    Sarah made the wise decision to just touch slightly on a political statement, then pulling back very quickly to the main thesis, which was that the primacy of personal empathy is a reliable measure of all things. Suheir, however, felt compelled to claim a moral authority, as a poet, to speak out about things, without explaining why we should assume she merits any moral authority at all.

    That’s a big problem with artists who decide they want to make a political statement: why would artists be more qualified than anyone else to do such a thing? Artists are at their best when they teach us to see things in another way; they’re at their worst when they assume that this means they possess some kind of special status to speak about everything. New ways of seeing are always welcome. Political proselytization is not.

    But, in the interests of fairness, I think that Suheir is talented, yet tainted by her own Palestinian culture. And that culture is the culture of the professional refugee. This kind of a cultural stance is so obsessed with its own stance that it assumes it has primacy over the tragedies of others: thus, the 9/11 event, in Suheir’s poem, becomes about the Palestinians, when there were more significant factors involved. The poem co-opts the event, so to speak, so as to not let go of the Palestinians’ claim as the superstars of suffering.

    Youthful creativity is always a bit awkward to see, as young people strive for profundity, yet so often only wind up being puerile, like Suheir. Sarah Kay has the innate sense not to try for lofty, multi-culti statements… and yet manages to speak in a universal way.

  9. sbreak on May 8th, 2007 1:36 am

    I happen to know Sarah pretty well, and you’re on the money.

  10. kami on May 12th, 2007 7:36 pm

    Does anyone know if Sarah Kay have a website that I could go to?

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