Assertion Analysis #4 : Curtis Mayfield
For many years, the American Dream has been an objective to strive for not only in the United States but all around the world. The American Dream is what a majority of people live for. In 1936 a billboard advertising The American Dream displays a man, a woman, a little girl, and a little boy, who are all white, including the dog, driving in a blue car with a big smile in their faces. Above the displayed image are the words “World's Highest Standard of Living”. What are they trying to convey? It expresses how the family displayed in the billboard is ultimately the American ideal of a perfect family who everyone at a point in their lives tries to obtain. The “World's Highest Standard of Living” doesn't seem to apply to anyone of color according to the billboard which would mean that their standard of living is considered inferior.
Curtis Mayfield, one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music, believes that The American Dream is in fact going to waste, that it's simply not an objective everyone is able to accomplish. He conveys these feelings by recreating the 1936 billboard for his album cover. In this reinventing the billboard consists of the “Perfect Family” with its colors being extremely contrasted, symbolizing how tainted “The Dream” has become. The text on the picture also changed to “There's no place like America today” and to end it all off, there is a line of people who are assumed to be part of the working class of society, relatively low, and they all seem to be people of color. Coincidentally the original poster was created around the time of The Great Depression, which indicates that the line of people under the billboard is an allusion to the historic event. Both billboard's juxtapose the ideal of the American Dream and the wretched reality of it all.
The album cover expresses how the ideal of always exuding happiness and having a perfect idealistic family in America isn't accurate. Being in America and especially being a person of color has its troubles and tribulations, nothing is easy. Of course working hard is always an option but in most cases due to society today, that won't always help you. The family portrayed in the billboard is most likely the portrayal of the 1% in America who can live up to the “Highest Standard of Living”, but it's not the case for all inhabitants of America.
Curtis Mayfield, one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music, believes that The American Dream is in fact going to waste, that it's simply not an objective everyone is able to accomplish. He conveys these feelings by recreating the 1936 billboard for his album cover. In this reinventing the billboard consists of the “Perfect Family” with its colors being extremely contrasted, symbolizing how tainted “The Dream” has become. The text on the picture also changed to “There's no place like America today” and to end it all off, there is a line of people who are assumed to be part of the working class of society, relatively low, and they all seem to be people of color. Coincidentally the original poster was created around the time of The Great Depression, which indicates that the line of people under the billboard is an allusion to the historic event. Both billboard's juxtapose the ideal of the American Dream and the wretched reality of it all.
The album cover expresses how the ideal of always exuding happiness and having a perfect idealistic family in America isn't accurate. Being in America and especially being a person of color has its troubles and tribulations, nothing is easy. Of course working hard is always an option but in most cases due to society today, that won't always help you. The family portrayed in the billboard is most likely the portrayal of the 1% in America who can live up to the “Highest Standard of Living”, but it's not the case for all inhabitants of America.
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