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Hung up on Music Posters
By
John Webber
The music
poster has become inextricably linked with the bedroom walls of teen fans and
student dorms. A poster can depict a simple glam-shot of a pop chart diva or
some obscure image that only those in the know can de-cipher. But what makes
hang up those music posters in the first place?
When we put a
music poster up on the wall what exactly are we doing? Usually it’s because we
have some kind of liking for the artist. It could be the music (Coldplay), the
image (Marilyn Manson) or maybe we find them attractive (Beyonce). In any of
these cases, we are displaying behaviour associated with being a fan, which is
of course short for fanatic.
I have come up
with the following list of fanatics, which should cover most categories of
poster hangers, but please feel free to add your own.
1. The teeny.
These are early teenage girls who, as yet, are unable to find any suitably
mature similarly aged boys to fall in love with, so they fall in love with a
poster instead. Their main targets are boy bands, ex boy band solo artists and
female solo artists if they’re in ‘girlie-crush’ mode.
2. The
mid-teen. This is where rebellion starts. For the girls, it’s the biggest,
ugliest rap star they can find which will be guaranteed to upset their parents.
For the boys it’s the most disgusting thrash metal group they can find which
will be guaranteed to upset their parents.
3. The late
teen. By now, serious prejudices have been formed and allegiance to one
particular type of music is essential. Having, or not having, the right poster
on the wall can mean the difference between social acceptance and rejection and
will confirm the tribe that you will now be in for many years to come, if not
the rest of your life.
4. The student.
A little like the late teen, but in a very different way. Has allegiances, but
dare not admit them. Will therefore put up ‘ironic’ posters usually only
considered by the teeny which thus become cool because they are in a student
dorm – a bit like bricks in an art gallery.
5. The
obsessed. Can be any age, diagnosed by the fact that all available wall space of
their bedroom or study is plastered with posters of one particular band or
artist. All possible additional memorabilia will have been purchased and will
occupy any available floor space in their bedroom or study. They only come out
of their bedroom or study for comfort breaks.
6. The trendy.
Can also be any age, but has only one motive for poster hanging – to be in with
other people. Easy to spot as there’s no allegiance to anyone other than
themselves. Also they often get it completely wrong.
7. The
musician. Usually male and will have a select set of ‘heroes’ posters on the
wall which reflect his aspirations as a singer, lead guitar player etc. When you
go and see him perform he bears no resemblance to these heroes whatsoever.
Some people
pass through several, if not all of these categories during the course of their
life, I must admit to a couple of them myself. There’s nothing wrong with being
a fanatic, but just be aware that it’ll always give other people the opportunity
to poke fun at you.
John Webber is editor for
http://www.music-on-posters.com
where you can find articles on posters, original band biographies and poster
merchants in the USA, UK and Europe
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