Please do not get me wrong. I am not determined to hate everything that everyone else likes. I am amused by amusing things, saddened by sad things, and frightened by frightening things. It doesn’t matter if other people like it, or if they hate it. I will admit to liking something if I enjoy it, regardless of how many (or how few) people like it.
But I will resist popular things for as long as possible. Trying to convince me to watch/read/look at something by saying, “EVERYONE likes it!” is not the best way. I grudgingly consented to watching the music video that everyone on the internet has been insane about for the last couple of weeks: Gangnam Style. And I’m still not sure that that’s the name of the song.
Despite the fact that my brother was sitting nearby saying, “This is my favorite part!!!” about once every forty five seconds, I was able to view it. I’m not sure what I expected, exactly. After seeing it, I can understand why people like it, but not really why everyone is so crazy for it. The only reaction I had while I was watching it really sums up the way I feel about it: “Wow, this video looks like it was really expensive to make.”
It’s pretty refreshing, actually, after so many years of American music being wildly popular internationally, that something made outside the United States (and a song that’s not even in English) is what everyone’s going crazy for. People love it even though they can’t understand the song. And that’s a huge switch from the usual lazy American reaction, “I have to read subtitles to understand what’s going on? That’s not worth my time, and it probably sucks anyway.”
The dancing has caught on ridiculously. And the song is a bit catchy. After all, I only watched it once, and I can get the English lyrics stuck in my head just by thinking about it. “Heeey... sexy lady!”
I think the best thing about Gangnam Style (which, I have discovered since writing the above, is the name of the song) is the spectacle. A dozen or so different settings, lots of dancers in interesting outfits, explosions... what more could you ask for in an internet video sensation? Horses? You got it! Random guy in an elevator? He’s there! Dance off in an empty parking garage? All your internet music video wishes have come true!
So enjoy your wildly popular video, internet. It won’t go away. It’s a thing now.
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