The one thing I found most interesting about doing research for the paper for Denver Public Schools were the studies that showed that gifted and talented children lean towards metal as a release for their stress and the pressure of being a teenager. I can totally identify with that mentality because I started to listen to metal during my teenage years. I mentioned in a previous posting that I often feel a sense of euphoria after listening to a certain piece of music. I also have my bad day play-list which will always make me feel better after a rough day. After reading all those studies I can see that, in a way, it is self-medicating to listen to something that I know will make me feel better.
I really did enjoy this class. I liked reading about the genre that I enjoy and listening to other people’s opinions and experiences on the matter. I also really enjoyed all the documentaries we watched. I found myself going all over the internet following string after string on various subjects. I learned a lot about the things that I never even thought that I wanted to know. Gaahl, Norwegian death metal, and even Manowar.
I was also especially taken with how intelligent so many of the heavy metal artists were. I knew that Alice Cooper and Ronnie James Dio were really good interviewers but I never imagined how intelligent and funny Tom Araya is or even how interesting and well-spoken Gaahl is. Whether by design or not, most of the interviews on the documentaries were very intelligent and interesting (except for the ICP movie).
I enjoyed the books as well. They brought up a lot of ideas that I never even considered in the context of metal. While I thought that studying something that I like might ruin it or taint it (disenchant it in the context of this class) it did the exact opposite. I found out more about the artists that I liked and encountered and discovered more bands that I would like to discover more about. Aspects of this class made me understand myself and others more and where some of my tastes may stem from. I also enjoyed the papers we had to write, I found so much interesting stuff on the internets. Thanks for teaching the class
And just because its cheesy :)
