If you do not already know what the big commotion about the Kanye and Taylor issue, take a look at the video or the article below.
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< http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/kanye-west-ambushes-taylor-swift-at-vmas-2009139 >
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That was the essence of the whole incident regarding how Kanye West spoilt Taylor Swift very first VMA moment.
After this incident, everyone is raging about it. The question is everywhere.
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Team Kanye or Team Taylor?
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If you guys watched the video and read the article, it is most likely that you would be on Team Taylor. What you might not have noticed is how these medium of the mass media affect your perception process of your selection, organization and interpretation.
Take a closer look at the choice of words that video and article used. In the video, Kanye West as termed the “Biggest Jerk of the night” and in the article Kanye West was described to have “Ambush(ed)” Taylor Swift during the VMAs. The intensity of the words (showing negative connotations) used by the mass media influences our selection. The use of the word “Jerk” to describe Kanye West, also shows how the media aids in organizing our perception through prototypes as we immediately associate the work “Jerk” to various negative qualities. These subtly shape our interpretation, causing us to easily decide to be on Team Taylor; which is exactly what the media is trying to get at.
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However, I am not saying that we are following blindly to the media’s point of view, I am merely showing how the mass media is able to manipulate language to influence our ideas and feelings.
Of course, we all have our own points of view. For those who merely watched the VMAs (the 2 footages is at the bottom of my post) will also pass judgement. It is not hard to see that Kanye West had his faults.
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So how exactly did Kanye West failed in his communication skills?
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Basically, he failed to take note of the context if the situation. He was at the VMAs, not forgetting to mention, in front of a crowd and national television. With such a context in mind, he should have known to have acted in a more professional manner. What he did was not just unprofessional, it was being rude and insensitive. Personally, I felt that he had totally disregarded Taylor Swift’s feelings and had embarrassed. (Note that I am not being bias because I am not really a fan of either.) I mean, it was the poor girl’s first ever VMA! Not to mention, she is only nineteen; no doubt winning the award must have felt like the world to her. What did she do to deserve being embarrassed and have moment ruined when at nineteen, winning the Best Female Music Video Award was actually a really great achievement.
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Of course, reports mention that Kanye West could have been influenced by alcohol. Hence I shall be less harsh on his behaviour. Furthermore, he had made a personal apology (article HERE) to Taylor Swift and I believe that admitting to his mistakes was all he needed for forgiveness.
Gratefully, Beyonce did the “classiest move ever”. Her effective communication which was triggered by her own past experience as we see her recall her first MTV award, gave closure for Taylor Swift’s embarrassment.
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So are you on Team Kanye or Team Taylor? Share your views. I would love to see opinions of those on Team Kanye.
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As for Taylor Swift, let’s just say that at least Kanye West made her first VMAs a very memorable one.
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♥ junying
First off I would have to commend you on another job well done. Secondly in my opinion, regardless of whether your on Team Kanye or on Team Taylor the facts are there. Kanye was a jerk, straight up. Though you have to admit it seems rather unfair to write him off for that one single mistake. When he was up there, he wanted to make a statement, not for himself and he did not intentionally want to steal her moment away from her. So it’s rather baseless to think that he’s done it intentionally whatsoever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ze7n0-jkO8 here’s the link for his apology on the Jay Leno show where he apparently teared.
On the other hand, his fate was sealed when even the president called him a jackass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_QIMNRreg <– here's the link.
So anyways, Kudos on the points. But remember to take it from a neutral POV
Sadly he did lose himself a great number of potential fans. Especially if they were fans of Taylor. Even without listening to his music, I’m sure they would have crossed him out of their list. I even saw a video of a guy (in responses to the Kanye Taylor incident) deciding to delete all of Kanye West’s songs that he owned because of the foolish incident Kanye did. Nevertheless, even if what Kanye did was pretty dumb, he is merely human and us human make mistake. We should just get over it. I would not go to the extent of boycotting talent (not that I actually enjoy his songs – it’s the genre) due to a small mistake he made.
p.s. I know you are bias against him cause you think Taylor Swift is cute.
CUT KAYNE WEST SOME SLACK!
His actions might have seemed jerk-ish on stage but hey, we all make mistakes. Plus I thought it was mighty honorable of him to apologise so many times, and publicly to Taylor Swift. Not many people would have dared to admit their mistake (but then not many would have dared to steal Taylor’s mike away either). I’m glad that Kayne actually made all attempts to apologise using the very same media tools that certain reporters used to gnash at his behavior that fateful night- his blog, talk shows, etc.
When you’re under media scrutiny criticisms can be rather harsh and far fetched, but Kayne seems to be taking insults in his stride. As for country darling Taylor Swift it seems like she’s gotten over it by now, and whatever interruptions there may be she’ll always be winner of best female video.
Haha. Interestingly, you ask people to cut Kanye some slack and there you are, off in your own blog critiquing on the President’s comment on Kanye being a “Jackass”. So does this mean we can be less critical on a singer / rapper, but more harsh on the President? Both of them are public figures, so why does the President receive more criticism from you?
Since Mass Media is a profit driven organization, it will want to show what people want to see. After such an incident happening on a international tv programme, certainly it will create an uproar within the society. If the Media can condone such an act while the audience(especially the fans of Taylor Swift) are upset by what he had done, the Media more or less will be affected. Hence, the Media will critise Kanye for that mistake.
However, the Media has exaggerated his small mistake and make it into a big hoo-ha. No doubt he is wrong to interupt Swift’s speech, but it is not right to condemn him to an extent of not listening to his songs anymore.
Hey,
Just watch the VMA 2009 today on the MTV channel. I feel that it was quite weird that Kanyne West just appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the mike from Taylor Swift. It was quite a bad move for him even if he is trying to grab some attention or direct some attention to Beyonce. Yes, I know Beyonce is hot and she performed for the later part of the show so it is not necessary to have more attention, right?
All these commontions make me wonder if it is a gimmick put up by the organisers to pull in more media’s attention. If this is the case, they must be profitting right now because the neutrizens angry with West for his actions. But, at the end of the day, I think Swift did get her recognition as she did performed in a segment too. (Note: Not everyone gets the chance to perform on this prestigious event)
Comment mine too, k?
Obviously, our Kanye here has a ‘script’ that he didn’t follow, and instead behaved like a jackass (title conferred by president Obama) at such a formal event. No wonder this attracted all sorts of new hate for him.
Is the hate being glorified due to his ethnicity? That I am sure plays a significant part too.
It’s all right. These hate will die down after the media stop blowing all sorts of air in it. =D Chill, Kanye. You were drunk, right?
After watching the video, I would have to say that I’m in Team Taylor. It’s really rude of him to suddenly appear out of nowhere on stage and said such things to that poor girl. No wonder this casued such an uproar. But, I’m glad to hear that he publicly apologised to her and did it many times. It goes to show that he’s really guilty about it. Whatever the reason is, be it drunk or something else (I really hope his reason is alcohol), I think everyone should let it go. Let’s hope the media doesn’t carry on talking about it. That will really put both singers in bad positions.
I agree with you that Kanye West failed his communication skills. Despite being a fan of both singers (Kanye and Taylor Swift) I thought that his act was totally inappropriate and unnecessary!
But we should keep in mind that this matter may have been blown out of proportion by the Media. What we, as viewers saw was only at that moment on stage. Could there have been a reason behind his actions, or as many had speculated, an act of publicity?
Still, no matter the reason for his actions, you can bet this will definitely jeopardise his career with numerous radio stations boycotting him alr (Eg. Shan and Ross on 98.7fm) I can’t believe Lady Gaga is still touring with him!
AWESOME post! Good job Junying!
Comment on mine too
Cforceleste.blogspot.com
Hello! There’s a reason for everything, so yes indeed I agree with Celeste that viewers and media companies alike should perhaps not draw their conclusions about him based on one single incident. But then again, that’s how the media works. First impressions. One boo-boo to kill a reputation. Chances given to explain are given, but the explanations are not heeded. And also, the ensuing furore over this incident, played up by the media, also serves to achieve the media’s purpose to gain more viewership/readership. People, even those who may not be that interested in the ongoing news in the entertainment sector, may be influenced to want to find out more about this entire saga because it has been hyped up.
Society’s like that. We rarely give a second chances to people. Once our perception is constructed it is hard for us to change it and hence most of us who do not know Kanye West beforehand would immediately judge him and put a no-no sign to him and his music. Welcome to the real world.
hi!
I agree with you that Kanye West failed to take note of the context which is the situation he is in. So apparently, I am with Team Taylor. In my opinion, i think that he should be aware that he is at an awards ceremony and that he should behave appropriately. I think that it is rather rude to interrupt someone’s speech and it is even worse that he is oblivious to the crowd’s jeerings. If he is making his comments to his friends, i don’t think he will incur the wrath of so many people. Maybe he should really brush up on hs communication skills.
personally this was what made the whole VMAs interesting. do you want to see long award presentations with the winners saying ‘ i want to thank my father mother brother sister uncle aunt grandfather grandmother and the whole family tree of yours’? nope. maybe this is something stupid Kanye did but at least it made it memorable for the audience. certainly the local presentation awards here are such good examples that bore us to the max.
anyway we should start innovating award shows with more content. like impromptu ones where we go to their homes and they receive their awards when they are showering? that would be interesting. anyways any methods would be good, except Kanye’s
Indeed, Kayne West created an unnecessary big “Hoo Haa”.
I also felt the same way as you. He must have omitted the context of the place which he is in.
Of course we could say that the media was a little harsh on him but he was really rude to have butted in and spoke something better left unspoken! No matter what excuses he give himself, he can never erase what embarrassing a move he made.
Just two cents of my thoughts.
=)Kai Ting
haha kayne kanye. this is not the first time he has done something outrageous like that. however, there are runmours floating around stating that the whole thing was staged so as to portray Taylor Swift in a positive light and gain sympathy votes from the public. As ridiculous as this may seem, one cannot rule out the possibility that such incidents do happen in the entertainment industry due to the easy manipulation the media has over the mass public. Most people often take in media articles without any form of discernment and do not try to look beyond the surface to understand issues from different angles. Whatever it is, I dont side with anyone in regards to this issue because being a person who has been disillusioned with the media for a couple of years, I cant really be bothered with such matters and look at these hoo-has with apathy and amusement.
oh i forgot to add one thing, Kanye could benefit from this situation despite his seemingly plunging reputation because he has become more notorious after this fiasco. This may result in more people buying his albums and supporting him purely for the fact that he is perceive as a ‘bad boy’. There is always two sides to everything, people can attack Kanye but some might like him because he represents rebelliousness and arrogance. Who knows, some people might even treat him as a role model! there are also the anti-Taylor brigade and Beyonce fans who will definitely support Kanye for “going against the crowd” and daring to speak his mind in front of such a wide audience all around the world.