Ever since the television show, Glee, hit the airwaves in May 2009 it has been an instant hit. Each week they take new songs to fit the theme of the episode and sing them in the classroom or on stage for a filled auditorium. The songs they choose draw attention to modern pop culture issues. For example, in the episode “Alcohol”, the Glee club sings songs by the currently popular artists, Jamie Foxx and Ke$ha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAlld2Tmho8&feature=related
Based off of David Novak’s ideas of acceptable use of reusing original works in media, I would say that most viewers would find no fault with the cast of Glee’s reproductions. Each week, the show draws attention to modern day pop culture issues such as alcohol consumption or teen pregnancy and while even the original pop songs are controversial, the Glee club manages to make these renditions acceptable; even more acceptable perhaps than the original version. The show effectively discusses modern topics and educates youth through song. While Novak may worry that Glee paints youth’s picture as a drunk and sexually active group of individuals, Glee manages to side step this portrayal and stereotype through their fun and festive songs and dances.
The acceptance and credibility given to Glee by viewers probably has something to do with the talent the cast contains. These members who are doing the remakes of each song every week are in a show choir. A show choir’s purpose is to sing songs by other artists. If you are in a show choir, it also usually means you have talent and can sing well enough to sing these songs by the original makers. Thus, the quality of these young actors makes the remake more acceptable.
Novak points out that any re-contextualization runs the risk of being interpreted as a mockery as opposed to a tribute. However, the motives and intentions of Glee seem to be respectable and sincere. They are not making fun of the original artists, but rather paying tribute to them. Not only do audience members see that their motives are decent, the artists themselves, or those who hold the rights to the original songs will agree. When you want to remake an artist’s original work, you have to get permission to do so. If the original artist does not agree with the vision the show has, they would not give them the rights to them. This is drawn to my attention when fans and viewers criticized Glee for having few episodes and airing them far apart. The network and producers response to this is that it takes time for the legal work to be put through and for them to be able to air and produce a remake of a song. The show uses so many original songs per episode that one can see how much work and time would be put into this effort. Lucky for viewers though, artists do think Glee is a well worth cause to sell their rights to them, and thus this creates a more acceptable use of original media.
On the other hand, an unacceptable remediated work can be found in Britney Spears rendition of “Satisfaction”, originally done by the Rolling Stones. Britney Spears added this to her concert tour in 2009, for a reason that I cannot quite come up with. The songs content, sexual intercourse, is not appropriate for Britney Spears’ fan base. Britney Spears can be seen as one of the more influential pop artists of the 1990’s, as many young girls and teenagers look up to her and her music. The influence she has over the youth and pop culture is of high measure, as fans watch and worship her every move. Novak explains how the remake is mediated and how it is received by viewers is heavily reliant on power relations, past cultural dominance and ignorance. Pop culture has a significant dominance and influence on youth today, and Novak would consider that Britney Spears’ ignorance to the subject matter of the song she chose to redo is inappropriate for the culture she is targeting in sales. In the pop music industry, the artists have the power once they are made popular and thus Britney is misusing her power greatly by poorly influencing youth. Unfortunately, this remake, by Novak’s standards, is unacceptable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Scz07BPlM
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