Открытый урок -дискуссия "Молодежные субкультуры и музыка"

Youth Subcultural Groups

And

Music Styles.

Performed by I.P.Smirnova

School №53

Introduction.

Teacher – The theme of our lesson is «Youth subcultural groups and music styles.» What is a subculture? A subculture is a group of people with the same interests, the same style and they like the same music.

Young people have a particular relationship with the world. There are many subcultures that have interests different from those of the mainstream cultures. A particular grouping is a way for young people to express their individuality.

The main part.

Now, let’s get acquainted with some subcultural groups and then exchange our opinion about them.

I suggest to begin with Punks.

Punks

Pupil – Punks is the youth subculture which has arisen at the end of 60s in Great Britain, USA, Canada and Australia. Its prominent features are love to music punk-fate, the critical attitude to a society and politics. Some punks take part in protests for local, national or global change. The main ideology of punks is a Longing to a personal liberty and independence. They also fight for the rights of animals.

Punks seek to extraordinary appearance with the highly theatrical use of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, tattoos, jewelry and body modification.

T - As for me, I don’t approve of punks for their seeking to extraordinary appearance , especially their hair-do(eroces) , and it seems to me that their behavior is not quite normal. And what do you think about punks?

P - I think that punks want to express themselves. That’s why they dress like that.

T - Now, let’s speak about hippies.

Hippies.

P - The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and is spread around the world. This subculture consists mostly of teenagers and young adults. Hippie culture is spread worldwide through a fusion of rock music, folk, blues and psychedelic rock. Hippies choose the ideology that favoured peace, love and personal freedom. One of expressions of hippies’ independence is found in their manner of dressing. Both men and women wear jeans and long hair. Hippies often choose brightly coloured clothing of unusual styles. Favoured accessories include jewelry, headbands and long necklaces. Hippies also use drugs considering them pleasurable.

T - My attitude to hippies is not very good because their behaviour differs from social norms and they use drugs. And what is your attitude to hippies?

P - I can’t understand people who don’t like hippies. They are different of course, but they don’t bring anything wrong into the society. They only want to change this world for the best.

T - Who wants to tell us about Bikers?

Bikers.

P - Origin of the name biker comes from the English word bike. The history of bikers’ creation appeared in the USA after the Second World War. Having arisen far from Russia this movement transfered on our ground. Russian bikers has close contacts with bikers from other countries. An international “Bike show” was organized in Moscow. This show was the demonstration of patriotism and internationalism. You can recognize bikers by their appearance : the long hair combed back and as a rule , fastened in tail, bandana, tattoos , labels, jackets, leather trousers, helmets, cowboy boots. Bikers’ movement is not only races on motorcycles, it is a way of life, regulated by unwritten laws of behavior and the code of honour.

T - I respect bikers for their courage and the code of honour but I think that to be a biker is rather dangerous. And what is your opinion?

P - I like bikers’ way of life . It seems to me that they have more freedom and I think riding a bike is great .

T - What do you know about Emos?

EMOS.

P - Emos is a group of many young , depressive magic people. Emos like to wear black clothing with some shocking bright colours of their hair. Emos prefer hair-do closing one eye. You can easily recognize them by narrow jeans and a large number of metal on their trousers. Emos are inclined to suicide. They have their own music style.

T - I consider emos to be a harmful subculture group because they are always unhappy and pessimistic. Besides, their behavior is anti-social and they are inclined to suicide. And what do you think about emos?

P - I fully agree with you . Young people must live a full , interesting life but not always be in depression.

T - Now, let’s listen about Goths.

Goths.

P - The “Goths” is a subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kindom during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene. People in the gothic scene have different musical tastes, follow different religions, have different hobbies and fashion sense. But usually the members of this subculture wear the blackest black, with a lot of silver jewelry, have very black hair and look as thin and pale as possible. Most subjects that are taboo in “normal” society are freely discussed by goths such as death, religion, magic, mysticism.

T - As for me , I think that goths are sinister and strange. And I can’t understand young people sitting on the graves, talking about death. What is your opinion about goths?

P - As far as I know goths want to rebel against their parents and to develop their own style different from others.

T - Who knows what Hackers are?

Hackers.

P - Hacker is a special type of computer experts. Recently a word “hacker” has had less general definition. This term named all network burglars and other network criminals. Hackers do their work only because of a very strong motivation, such as desire to earn money or scandalous popularity. As a result there is a new understanding of a word “hacker”. It means the using of computer knowledge for realizing unapproved, sometimes harmful actions In the computer.

T - Of course, hackers are highly intellectual and “wizards” of computers. But in spite of this their activity is rather harmful and sometimes criminal. And what do you think about hackers?

P - I suppose that it’s very exciting to be a hacker, but at the same time it’s rather dangerous as they sometimes do illegal things.

T - Let’s get acquainted with ravers.

RAVERS.

P - Ravers is a subculture which became famous in Great Britain in 1988. For ravers’ appearance it is typical bright colours in clothing, plastic sunglasses, short dyed hair for men and coloured locks of long hair for girls. Persing is very popular. And the symbol “smilik” is used in ravers’ fashion. They can dance all nights long. Ravers like to be in collective and they are thought to be violent.

T - I don’t support ravers because they waste their time dancing the whole nights. Besides, they are aggressive and use drugs. And what about you?

P - My attitude to people who use drugs and are violent is negative. But the pop-group “Prodigy” which is the brightest representative of this subculture is my favourite.

T - What do you know about Skinheads?

SKINHEADS.

P - Skinheads cut their hair shorter than others do. The majority of them are working class, reggae and football fanatics. Most wear tight trousers and heavy boots. Skinheads follow the ideology of racism and fascism. They are usually regarded as violent and aggressive.

T - As for me, I am against skinheads for their fascist ideas and using strong physical force to those who are not of their nationality. What is your attitude to skinheads?

P - I don’t really like skinheads because they are cruel, aggressive and violent. Now many people of different nationalities are the victims of skinheads.

T - What can you say about Mods?

MODS

P - These people developed their own style distinct from others. A person has college –style hair, a neat white shirt, a short jacket and narrow trousers. Pale face , plenty of make –up. Scooters are the preferred means of transportation. They use heavy drugs.

T - In spite of the fact that mods’ fashion is quite classical ( they prefer Italian style ) I don’t like that they use much make-up, especially men, and are fond of drugs. What is your opinion?

P - I suppose that mods try to express their own identity.

T - Let’s get aquanted with Straight Edges.

Straight Edges.

P - Who are straight edges? These young people with crosses on their body are the representatives of a new subculture. It is new for our country and our town. But in the USA this movement existed from the 80s. the members of this subculture are against any actions contradicting common sense. The main demands of SxE movement are the rejection of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Their ideology consists of the defending the environment , animals, a positive attitude to life, against any violence. Now there are a lot of straight edges all over the world. They belong to different nations, ages and social categories. They listen to different music. They are all very different, they are a special world but they are united by the same ideals and aims.

T - I think this subcultures is the most progressive one. Their ideals, such as rejection of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, defending the environment and positive attitude to life are close to me.

So as you can see representatives of many youth subcultural groups express their individuality with the help of extraordinary appearance and fashion styles, their behavior sometimes differs from social norms. Some of them are even aggressive and violent. Most of the members of subcultural groups use drugs, alcohol and tobacco. As for me, I wouldn’t advice you to join such subcultural groups.

Now, let’s do a crossword puzzle and you’ll learn the name of subculture American president belonged to in his youth.

1. A “wizard” of computers. (Hacker).

2. A person with a short hair cut, listening reggae. (Skinhead).

3. A person dressed in a shocking way (very bright hair). (Punk).

4. Equipment necessary for making techno music.(Computer).

5. A person with a motorbike. (Biker).

6. A person with all-night dance parties. (Raver).

(Bill Clinton was a hippie).

P - Would you tell us what youth organizations were popular in our country when you were a pupil?

T - When I was of your age there were two main youth organizations in our country: the young Pioneer organization for the pupils from 9 to 14 and the young communist league ( Komsomol) for young people from 14 to 28. The main aim of these organizations was to protect the rights and interests of children and young people, to bring up the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism and internationalism. These organizations helped the young people to arrange their free time. A lot of interesting and useful activities such as meetings, parties, concerts, different competitions and many others were organized. And after publishing the book “Timur and his team” by Arkadiy Gaidar, “Timur” movement became very popular. Young people all over the country helped elder and disabled people. By the way, in my school years all pupils wore uniform.

P - I’ve heard that you had been the head of the club of International Friendship. Will you tell us about this club, please?

T - With great pleasure. I have been the head of the Club of International Friendship for more than 20 years. Our club had its motto and song. The pupils of all forms could be the members of this club. The work of the club was organized in different sections such as : “We are young internationalists”, ”My Motherland is the USSR “, “ The friends of many-colors ties “, “ International youth movement “ and others. The Club of International Friendship had its traditions: organizing actions and meetings of solidarity with the fighters for peace, a week of young heroes-antifascists. But the most unforgettable were the parties with foreign students which were held as festivals of friendship.

Our club took an active part in many town competitions and got a lot of awards.

So you see that the youth of those years lived a full, interesting and useful life, and they didn’t know anything about subcultures.

Of course, it’s very pleasant to recollect the youth but it’s time to come back to the second part of our theme “ The music styles” . We have already mentioned that members of different subcultural groups have their own favourite music. Let’s speak on this point and begin with Hard Rock.

HARD ROCK

P - Hard Rock as an independent trend appeared at the end of 60s. 30 years ago the laws of good manners of hard rock were established. There are many well-known groups belonging to the style of hard rock. Among them are “Rolling Stones”, “Deep Purple”, and “Scorpions”. ”Scorpions” belongs to the group, which Russian fans managed to listen in 1989 at Moscow music Festival for Peace. Of course hard rock is the music for the youth.

(“Rolling Stones”-“Satisfaction”

“Scorpions “-“Still loving you”

“DDT”- “Born in the USSR”)

T - What do you know about Punk Rock?

PUNK ROCK

P - The punk subculture is centered around listening to recordings or live concerts of a loud, aggressive genre of rock music called punk rock. Most punk rock songs are short, they use lyrics that express punk values and ideology. Punk rock is usually played in small bands rather than by solo artists.(Russian rock group “DDT” (Yuri Shevchuk) “Born in the USSR”)

T - Now, Let’s speak about Hip-Hop.

HIP-HOP

P - Hip-hop is a youth subculture which came up at the end of 70s from Afro-Americans. It is known for its music, its slang, its hip-hop mode and dance styles. The music of hip-hop consists of two main elements: rap and rhythm. At present hip-hop is one of the most commercially successful type of modern music.

T - Who wants to tell some words about RAP?

RAP

P - Among other subcultural forms based on music styles RAP has received a wide scope in Russia. The manner of performancing (“reading”), appearance, their actions came to rap from street life of teenagers in negro quarters of Africa. On Russian ground this style has an imitative character. The most famous American raper of our days is 50 cent and Russian raper Timoti.

50 cent-“Technology”.

Timoti-“In club”).

T - I think that the most popular music is POP . Do you agree with me?

POP

P - Yes , of course. POP music is for mass audience. It is based on folk songs and dances. Modern pop belongs to the show industry. Since the second half of the 19^th century the groups of pop singers began to appear on stages. Most wonderful blues and jazz musicians came from such groups. In 1990s such singers as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, the groups “TLC”, “Destiny’s Child” and many others were very popular. The main feature of the middle of 90s was the appearance of “boys’” and “girls’” pop groups such as “boys-bands”, “Backstreet Boys”, “Five” and others. Among the “girls’” pop groups the most famous are the British “Spice Girls” and the Russian “Factory”.

“Spice Girls”-“Wannbe”

“Factory”-“About love»

P - And what are your favourite music styles?

T - My favourite rock group is “The Queen” with its soloist Freddi Mercury. Its song “The show must go on “ is so expressive and impressive.

As for pop music, my favourite pop group is “Beatles”, the group of my youth. Its song “Yesterday” is very lyric and its melody is wonderful.

CONCLUSION

T - Unfortunately our discussion has come to an end. I hope it was interesting and useful as you have learnt a lot about different youth subcultural groups, their ideology, habits, life-style. You also got aquainted with some modern music styles.

As a conclusion I want to advise you not to imitate these foreign subcultures, but follow our Russian national culture which is really rich. Foreign subcultures come and go away, but our Russian native culture is forever! At this optimistic note I suggest to finish our discussion.