Discussion:
- Post at least one comment, observation, or question on the reading. This post can be brief (even a sentence!) and informal. It can be an observation you made while reading, a comment you’d make in class, a discussion question, etc.
- Respond to at least one comment, observation, or question on the reading. Like your post, this response can also be brief. Just respond to one of your classmate’s posts with a related thought, observation, question, answer, etc. Feel free to respond to someone else’s response to keep the conversation going!
scdiversity.home.blog 
I thought the opening message of you were dirty if you were different is an extremely powerful and truthful point being made. I thought the opening scene leading to the album was obviously displaying society as attempting to “clean” everyone into one preferred image and erasing those who refuse. My favorite part, however, was how the individual songs were displayed almost as memories being erased from the dirty computer, and that they were what made the computer dirty in the first place.
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It’s kind of scary that in her film they refer to humans as computers because today our entire search history on our phones and devices can make up the totality of our profiles for those big corporations that buy information about us.
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I agree the beginning is powerful and it shows me a world without freedom. It is a depressive opening as well.
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I’m glad you bring up the idea of the individual songs as memories because it also makes me think back to how much we’ve talked about memory as an important site of resistance and even memory as a way to create new realities for marginalized peoples.
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I was left speechless as I watched Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer, the feminist empowering approach was something different from what I am used to seeing and I loved every aspect. From the songs to the story everything went together as we watched Jane’s memories be erased turning her from a dirty computer to something viewed as more clean. I loved the metaphors and the homage she pays to women in her songs and videos as well as embracing different sexual identities. I think this album gives the audience more insight about who she is as a person and an artist all while addressing part of American identity.
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I also loved watching the “memories” become more socially “clean”. I thought it was very powerful
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I also loved the metaphors she portrayed in her video. She did such an amazing job of embracing the importance of equality in every individual and creating this new imagery of what the world should be like without all the negativity that roams around every day.
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I agree, I think it all fit together so nicely, and I think it had really strong messages about feminism.
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Yes! Had we been able to discuss this in class, I would’ve loved to spend more time on Monáe’s inclusion of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, non-binary identities, etc.
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This was my first time watching Janelle Monae’s “Dirty Computer: An Emotion Picture”, and I was quite pleased and inspired. It reminded me of an episode from “Black Mirror”, but as a musical.
I was struck by the line “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power”, so I looked it up and saw from a few different sources that Oscar Wilde said it. What I got from this line is that sex has often been so repressed and demonized that it shows itself in unhealthy expressions. Some of the most unhealthy expressions of sex and power dynamics manifest in instances of rape and abuse. Sex is definitely a form of power; the female is often seen as the gatekeeper and the male as the aggressor, and even more than that sex is a transfer of energy that can be equated to power. Sex is a transaction in a way even though that can sound rigid.
Sidenote Janelle Monae’s song ” Americans” is poetry.
“Die in church, live in jail
say her name, twice in hell
Uncle Sam kissed a man
Jim Crow Jesus rose again
I like my woman in the kitchen
I teach my children superstitions
I keep my two guns on my blue nightstand
A pretty young thang, she can wash my clothes
But she’ll never ever wear my pants”
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I did not know that, thanks for sharing.
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It reminded me of a “Black Mirror” episode as well. I think the social commentary and allusions to many popular characters, tv shows etc. were a nice touch as well. For example like when she mentioned she “got away with murder and didn’t get caught.”
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I totally agree that it felt like a black mirror episode.
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I’ve heard this quote before and I definitely agree with it. It’s about the domination that comes with it.
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I’m glad you pointed out that line about sex from the album (and originally from Wilde). It’s an interesting moment because it seems like Monáe is both pointing out the way that sex is usually presented, the underlying meaning, but even possible ways to reclaim it which might potentially speak back to the current systems of power.
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I think this is also a good example of how our society is so technology oriented these days (more than ever right now because of COVID).
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I completely agree! It is kinda scary how much we rely on technology. It is both a good and bad thing.
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Great point! I’d be interested to know how you all watched the visual album in light of the pandemic-related current reliance on technology. I’ve already seen a lot of academic conference announcements for papers and/or presentations on the more social implications of the pandemic, so I expect there will be a lot about this in the future.
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This was really well made and I really enjoyed watching it. I loved how every frame, costume, movement, and lyric were intentional and enhanced one another. I also liked how each memory had its own distinct style, sound, and message. The female empowerment in this is very strong and bold, I like the positivity of this video but with an underlying message. It’s a great social commentary with lots of pop culture references, like someone mentioned above it felt like watching a Black Mirror episode. It is kinda scary that to a certain extent this could and is partially reality. When the guy deleting the memories kept asking the other guy “What are these dreams?” it made me think. How we experience “reality” is uniquely our own, but the outside influences of how we alter and perceive that reality is alarming. “Dirty Computer” is a reminder of the influence society has on what we perceive is “dirty”, “good”, and “bad”. I guess it’s up to us to change the narrative, at least in our own minds.
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I agree every aspect enhanced the next both visually and lyrically! I haven’t seen Black Mirror but from what I’ve heard the scenes of her in the lab could be from there. I think Janelle Monáe is unique and the entire dirty computer highlights that in a very empowering self-authentic way.
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Great observations! In terms of genre, it definitely feels like Dirty Computer could only be a visual album as opposed to a singular music video. The images and narratives feel so integral to the sound and overall experience of it.
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This was my first time watching Janelle Monae’s “Dirty Computer” and I loved it. It is so unique in its approach and structure. I liked how it is called an ’emotion picture’ because that it was it is. Every memory and every scene brings a brings a different kind of emotion. The whole picture makes me reflect and think about today’s reality. In a way it is kind of scary. Social media and technology is so present in all of our lives. I feel like our technology consumption is even heavy now because of the current pandemic going on. It is so easy to get caught up in technology and societal influences. Its just a scary thing to think about. I would be lying to myself if I said it doesn’t linger in my mind a lot.
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I agree with your description of it being an “emotion picture”. I found the concept of it to be a very unique and interesting way to make social commentary through music. And as for the way technology is highlighted in this video, I think that she forces us to face a bitter reality on how much people rely on technology and also how negatively it can be used.
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Your comment also has me thinking about the scale of “Dirty Computer” compared to “Lemonade.” I don’t think that we need to compare them in terms of good and bad, but it’s interesting to think about what bringing in technology does to the overall message. For instance, a lot of posts are using the word “scary” (which I agree with) which is a word that did not pop up, if I remember correctly, in any of the posts on “Lemonade.”
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I really liked how each of the songs was a different memory. It was almost as if she was reliving those memories for the last time before they got wiped away forever. It reminded me of how people say you see your life flash before your eyes the moment before you die. Jane was seeing her life flash before her eyes the moment before her life was taken from her. Jane didn’t die but her life was still taken away from her.
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I really enjoyed this as well, I thought it was a really clever way to connect all of the different songs into one cohesive story.
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Definitely! To bring up Black Mirror again (as many of the posts do), it reminds me of the episode of Black Mirror where your individual memories are recorded and you can allow others to view them.
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I’m so surprised I’ve never seen this project before now. I love how she highlights all marginalized types of people, not just having to do with race or gender. This video may be found as controversial to many people but it’s a work of art to me. I like when she says “I’m the American dream” because a lot of people actually come to America for the freedom of religion or sexuality of even gender. It really points out that we as a whole should go against society’s norms rather than trying to conform to it.
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I’m so glad that you got the chance to see it! No shade to Beyoncé, but I really think that Janelle Monáe doesn’t get as much mainstream attention as she deserves. More often than not, it seems like there is only room for one artist with a marginalized identity at a time, but expanding our view and seeing how many different pieces and artists are out there can only enhance the conversation.
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I thought the concept of the video was very interesting and I found that the social commentary and inversion of ideas mirrored Black Mirror. When the video starts out, the audience doesn’t know what it means to be characterized as a dirty computer or why she is being identified as one. I liked how the memories/songs help build and give background to the story for the audience. Going back to Black Mirror, the show has to do a lot with technology and how that can affect society and I found that it connected to this video because the people are “computers”.
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I agree that the beginning of the video had a sci-fi feel very similar to Black Mirror. I also thought that it was interesting that you never were really able to see the faces of the people who brought Monae to the room or the person talking on the loud speaker, which to me symbolized societal pressures that we can’t really track down to one single origin.
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I also really like the gradual build up or movement of this album. Again, I feel like that kind of arc is so well-suited to the genre of the visual album.
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This was my very first time watching Janelle Monae’s “Dirty Computer” and I thought it was such a unique piece of art with numerous underlying meanings portrayed through symbolism and imagery. While watching the video, I did some research on her background and the whole general purpose of producing this project and I found it so amazing and flawless. I especially loved how she expressed the importance of individuality, freedom, and equality with every person in the video. I also found this lyric: “We don’t need another ruler, all of my friends are kings.” so powerful and true. There are so many negative stereotypes and false rumors in the world now and with this video, I feel that Janelle Monae really helps us realize this unfortunate impact of negativity in society today.
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I’m glad you bring up that particular lyric! There is something that feels more collaborative about Janelle Monáe’s work if that makes sense. For instance, in that line, she is envisioning a more communal success versus the individual, dominating success of a single ruler.
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Actually I did not understant the main idea of the video very well. But I feel the opening of the video is very depressive. It make me feel like all the people lost their freedom. And then I see people sing and dance but I cannot hear the lyric clearly. My understanding is people break the “jail” at the opening of the video and become diversity in their life, so they feel happy. My Wi-Fi become very slow after I watched first few minutes. The video become intermittent and it prevent me from understanding better as well.
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I’m sorry to hear you had technology problems, Hongdi! But I do think that you are making great observations about the album. The shift you are noting from the “depressive” beginning is definitely crucial.
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I thought that this piece was really interesting in how it conveyed a message about how our society wants everybody to conform to the mainstream culture. I think that the way that the officials were seeking to erase the unique qualities in all of the “computers” relates to how in our society people who are outside of the majority WASP culture, like people of color, people in the LGBTQ+ community, or any other marginalized group, are expected to present themselves in a certain way that makes these people in the majority feel more comfortable and allows them to maintain power.
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Thanks for your post, Fionah! I’m glad you bring up comfort and discomfort–so much of what we are told is the status quo is constructed to only keep certain people comfortable at the expense of others’ (marginalized peoples) discomfort.
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I really enjoy visual albums like this, and this was my first time seeing Monae’s. I wasn’t very familiar with her before this, but this definitely made me want to learn more about her. I really enjoyed the energy of it, and the focus on technology feels especially relevant right now.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it! I agree that watching it right now gives the technology focus an extra layer of meaning.
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This was also my first time seeing or hearing any of Monae’s work, and I really enjoyed the underlying message of her work. I think it serves as a good metaphor to the pressures that society puts on us, making us like we have to conform to some perfect ideal. I liked how further in the video, it really showed off different types of people and showed their desire for individuality and self-expression. Also, I found it interesting how in the beginning of the video, Monae was able to repeat everything that the sound system was telling her, until it told her to repeat the line “I am ready to be cleaned” which she failed to repeat. I thought that this was a really impactful message that implied that you can admit or show off your individuality, but it is much harder to let go of it when society wants you to.
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Great observation! I also thinking that the idea of repetition is interesting in the album for how it highlights that sometimes it is through repetition that what we think is “normal” comes to seem that way.
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