A new documentary, Screamers, tells the story of the 1915 genocide against Armenians
Thousands of young people with long hair and studded tongues pay good money several dozen times a year to listen to lectures about genocide. Well, “lecture” is perhaps not the best way to describe Serj Tankian's delivery. The tall lanky Tankian, who has cascades of curly hair and looks like the long-lost offspring of Frank Zappa and Cher, is a natural on stage. But when he grabs the microphone, he is more likely to shout than to talk.
Serj Tankian is the lead singer of System of a Down, a popular rock group on the cusp of heavy metal. SOAD, as its fans like to call it, is part of a new generation of politically engaged rock groups. Like Rage Against the Machine or Green Day, SOAD produces some rousing antiwar songs (like “BYOB” with its chorus of “Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?”). But the group also has a very specific political goal: to educate the world about the Armenian genocide.
A new documentary, Screamers, tells the story of the 1915 genocide through the words, music, and activism of the four Armenian-American members of System of a Down. The film comes at a particularly important time. Despite repeated public avowals of “never again” by many government leaders—after Bosnia, after Rwanda—genocide is again in the headlines because of Darfur. And Turkey continues to evade responsibility for the Armenian genocide even as it attempts to join the European Union and cement its alliances with the United States.
Screamers, as genocide expert Samantha Powers explains in the film, are people who react viscerally to the horror of atrocity and won't stop screaming until something is done about it. The raw energy of System of a Down clearly resonates with its audience. But will such musical activism make waves outside the concert halls as well?...
Read entire article at John Feffe at the website of Foreign Policy in Focus
Serj Tankian is the lead singer of System of a Down, a popular rock group on the cusp of heavy metal. SOAD, as its fans like to call it, is part of a new generation of politically engaged rock groups. Like Rage Against the Machine or Green Day, SOAD produces some rousing antiwar songs (like “BYOB” with its chorus of “Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?”). But the group also has a very specific political goal: to educate the world about the Armenian genocide.
A new documentary, Screamers, tells the story of the 1915 genocide through the words, music, and activism of the four Armenian-American members of System of a Down. The film comes at a particularly important time. Despite repeated public avowals of “never again” by many government leaders—after Bosnia, after Rwanda—genocide is again in the headlines because of Darfur. And Turkey continues to evade responsibility for the Armenian genocide even as it attempts to join the European Union and cement its alliances with the United States.
Screamers, as genocide expert Samantha Powers explains in the film, are people who react viscerally to the horror of atrocity and won't stop screaming until something is done about it. The raw energy of System of a Down clearly resonates with its audience. But will such musical activism make waves outside the concert halls as well?...