Man I'm Getting Old

     In Ben's teen years, we saw that most of the rap/hip-hop listened to at the time was pretty tame, just like his and his friends' lives, especially since it was still an emerging genre. Like their lives, nothing too serious was going on in the lyrics. It was mainly just people showing off, as Benji and his friends occasionally did, and playfully dissing other artists, with little to no thought of it. One thing this reminded me of was Benji's BB gun fight with his friends, which was supposed to be a lighthearted playful fight. He then mentions, as Ben, that he lost some of his friends to gun violence later on. Rap later became a more intense genre, and became notoriously known for violence, after its tame beginnings. The innocence that was once there was now lost to the world.     It's interesting to compare the two because they both have an influence on each other, one more than the other. Rap was something that Benji and his friends would listen to often as teenage

      In Black Swan Green, we see that Jason and Julia do a lot of name-calling and bickering, as most siblings do. However, they do have their occasional calm moments where Julia gives her insight on things that Jason may need help with. This is definitely the same with me and my siblings. My parents would most likely tell you that the house is rarely quiet because of all the running around, shouting, you name it. There is definitely a bond that siblings share that is different from the others. we grow up "hating" each other, but sticking by each other's sides through the end, however the dynamic is so complex.      Sibling relationships can be quite complicated. It may feel like the other sibling is a world away from you and you don't even understand them. Because Jason and Julia have quite an age gap, they both see different parts of the world that the other isn't seeing, which would make it hard to understand each other, yet they both rely on each other for su