When I look at the title of the song “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it reminds me the word “globalization”. In fact, it reminds me the globalization of California culture because this song relates to spread of California culture in the world. Especially, it more talks about how Hollywood has everything we need and how it could be as a center of culture, music, sex, and even as a big dream. It might be because “Hollywood sells Californication”, which cause California to be a place where a lot of hopeful teens go in order to accomplish their dream of becoming a rock star, movie star, or trendsetting entrepreneur. It might be a place, where dreams are crushed as those same teens realize they don’t have what it takes to make it in the world they so eagerly seek. “Californication” is what people desire, whether it is fame, fortune, recognition, or just to get away to a wonderful place like they see on T.V., Hollywood promotes it. Sometimes it pays off, but sometimes it doesn't. In this song we can see how California is like an idealistic country that fails to materialize in reality. It is very influential in the world today, and sometimes it might send the wrong messages to the people on the other side of the silver screen. The song “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is about the deterioration of society, showing how the world is becoming very fake and plastic, much like California.
The artist, “Red Hot Chili Peppers” in “Californication” describes how Hollywood creates roles for certain groups of people that most believe to be true. People might come to California with dreams of movie making. They might think of it as some dream world, but this shows how ignorant those people are. People on the outside see it as a wonderful place, however, those within might know the problems and deal with it. Throughout the song it more talks about the negative effects Hollywood has on the world. Hollywood has a lot of influential power over the world because people can watch and listen to it in the movie and music. For example, “Little girls from Sweden/ dream of silver screen quotation” here the artist is referring to young girls from Europe that wish to be famous actresses simply because they resemble movie stars from the silent screen movie days. Also shows how young girls the world over aspire to be just like what they see in TV and film. These girls grow up thinking that exploiting their bodies to get what they want is perfectly all right, and that in fact it’s expected of them. This is “Californication” because the girls are either willing or forced to sexual activities to be Hollywood stars, and to think they are reaching their dreams. However, growing up with that kind of mindset can be very harming to their self image and self esteem. This can be related to “Californication” because people want to come to California to live the life of the movie stars, although they know that their privacy is at risk.
The second point that the artist, Red Hot Chili Peppers describes in “Californication” is California has unrealistic expectations of how people should look. Many people devote so much time, energy, life, and money fighting age. They might think to keep up with the "scene" of Hollywood; they have to spend a lot of money to look a certain way. They can also see from this that although they know it’s going to cost them, they have a craving for the California dream that they will do anything to satisfy. For example, in the lyric that says “pay your surgeon very well/ to break the spell of aging/ sicker than the rest there is no test/ but this is what you’re craving”, it’s all about the war against aging. In this lyric the artist explains how just for the right amount of money anyone can buy their happiness in the form of plastic surgery. Hollywood stars have plastic surgery in order to appear more attractive. This sends a bad message to people who admire the celebrities: looks are the most important thing people need to worry about. That message is false and can harm someone in the long run if they go on living believing this statement to be true. It also becomes a problem when people think they need to look as good as celebrities just to get by in life. If the audience can’t reach these high expectations to look as beautiful as Hollywood stars then they will have issues with their self esteem as well as other social problems. The only way to fix it is to realize that what we are doing is wrong and the views portrayed by Hollywood are biased and unrealistic.
Another point that the artist, Red Hot Chili Peppers explains in “Californication” is how Hollywood creates an unrealistic point of view of California and encourage people to come. It might be because Hollywood sells California as a place where we want to be because decisions that will influence the world are taken here in California. For example, in the lyric of the song that says, "First born unicorn" sells a fantasy world, because we know that unicorns don't exist. The unicorn stands for the ultimate image of strength, independence, and power which people go to California to get. Also the phrase "Hard core soft porn" which is very contradictory explains Hollywood sells as much sex as possible, but still tries to hold an image that is innocent and polished. As a result of the Hollywood impact on people's mind we can see that in the article “Suburban Eden” by Krise May mentions that, "[the] National opinion surveys heralded California as the "best" state in the Union" (13). The author might want to say how California culture has spread throughout the world and has become a mainstream culture. In other words, people believe on the unrealistic ideas expose to them by Hollywood, thinking that California is a paradise where unicorn and power are on every corner. Indeed, “Californication” is being sold to the public by Hollywood as in the lyric of the song say, "It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication". Basically Hollywood sells Californication, by using its influence on people; Hollywood makes unrealistic images of California.
Besides things that I mentioned above, the artist in the “Californication” song describes many of the superficial scenes characteristic of Hollywood life that are negatively impacting the California image. Hollywood's role in shaping our understanding of many ideas in our lives and the future of the lifestyle it has created. The artist in “Californication” song paints a picture of the bleached, false culture that Hollywood exports, which favors a unified image over individualism. One example of this is seen through the words "Space may be the final frontier", which may be understood as a reference to Hollywood films about the final frontier. Ideas of expansion and advancement, like the ones in Star Wars and Star Trek, as well as the deeper beliefs and ideas about our lives portrayed in other films have often been distorted by Hollywood's representation of them. We are reminded, however, that such ideas are just “made in a Hollywood basement,” a small confined area that has little contact with the world it is influencing. The symbol of the basement builds the paradox of Hollywood that grand ideas and dreams are constructed in confined and bounded spaces. This shows that many of the images generated by Hollywood are just superficial scenes that are removed from reality, much like the sunny advertisements described in “Suburban Eden” by Kirse Granat May. Looking beyond the false, superficial scenes, one finds a very negative image of California life such as pregnant teenage brides and plastic surgery, which connect to the broader message of the song about the corruption and insecurity of Hollywood and how corrupts people.
In conclusion, according to the artist in “Californication” song, California has archetypes for certain groups which are not always the best portrayals of these groups. It also has ridiculously high expectations in appearance that most people can’t reach. We should strive to be better as people and stop thinking the way we are so focused on superficial things in this world. People should know that we live in a working class society and our dream is what we make of it. If we live in this country don’t expect everything to be handed to us on a silver platter or “silver screen”. If we want to succeed in life and our dreams come true we have to work for it. The California dream is much like the American dream; anyone can become anything they want to be if they work hard enough. This dream relates to this song because once people realize not to rely on California as a model, then people will focus more on their needs and wants, formulating their own goals and aspirations, not goals manufactured by California.
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