What is art? There have been a lot of jokes and debates, but not a lot of explanation. There are those who believe that art is for everybody and can be found in everything whilst there are those who believe that only people with some sort of "enlightenment" can recognize art. One controversial opinion surrounding art is the idea that it is just a tool created by snobby elitists with the objective to look down on less fortunate people. So again, what is art? The obvious truth is that art is very subjective. That is the whole point of art; it is not supposed to be clear-cut. Art is not the explanation as much as it is the feeling. That is why it is disappointing that the one thing society has seemed to agree on is the idea that rap music and video games are not art forms.
I don't understand why rap music gets such a...bad rap. People complain about how it is always promoting drugs, sex, and violence, but other music genres do that too. Even if rap was the only genre that targeted those subjects, that would still be art. Just because it's ugly to some does not make it ugly art. And has it ever occurred to society that music speaks to what is prevalent in our society? Rap music, or hip-hop as it is originally called, literally means "intelligent movement." Rap music tells two possible stories: the story of the world or the story of the rapper. To say that is not a work of art is the same as saying we are not works of art. And if we are not art, how can we decide what is?
Video games get an even bigger misconception. A popularly held opinion is that video games are childish and don't teach us anything. Okay? Are movies and books any different? The response would be, "but books and movies can be educational or emotional!" Yes. So can games. As a person who silently cries inside just from hearing the distinct start up music of my favorite game, I can vouch personally that it is emotional. In many cases, I feel like it has made me more empathetic. As for education, a good majority of my vocabulary has come from video games. Heck, they have helped me pass AP English classes. A video game is like the best of both worlds in terms of books and movies. It's akin to that of an interactive book with voice acting just like that of a movie. So if anything, you are more immersed in a video game than any book!
The moral of this article is that art is not a societal construct. The entire creation of art fulfills the need to break away from the uniformity of society. Naturally, it is not going to be something everyone unanimously agrees upon. If it grips you, it is art. Provokes thought? Art. And even if it seems ugly, ugly art is still art. After all, "there is beauty in our struggle."
