I have a friend, Jayme, who I know is a pop culture hound underneath all of his high culture bluster (and I mean "bluster" in the kindest way). Yes, he sings with the CSO. Yes, he's an Elliott scholar. Yes, he's got multiple advanced degrees. But all of that becomes details to what I've been trying to convince him is a calling toward the embracing of pop culture. How do I know? He always asks me to comment on things Pop Culture and takes great pleasure in my ensuing discussions. He's watched The Sopranos from beginning to end. He trolls YouTube. That's right--if you're a YouTube troller, you immediately become a pop culture consumer.
So, Jayme is moving to El Salvador for three years on Monday and in order to convince him that this blog needs to be a regular stop on his daily tour of the Internet (which I've found is infinitely funnier if you call it the "Interweb."), I'm gladly posting and commenting on a little gem that he suggested to me via YouTube. So, I offer it here--make sure to watch all of it (hold on...it's not easy) with my thoughts on the flipside.
There's a lot going on here, so allow me to unpack all the ways this could be detrimental to society.
1. First and foremost: YouTube can become scary technology when in the hands of someone like Mamamialove. Really, my questions range from "Does Hellen Reddy really need to make a comeback?" to "How do I stop the pain of this song from invading my worldview?" This is evidence of YouTube gone wrong...but then, I've not seen huge evidence of YouTube gone right.
2. What I found fascinating was the commentary on the site responding to this spectacle. There was "Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you for the song. Kathie" to " OMG-how Beautiful...Thank you. Words fail me right now." Well, frankly, words fail me too, but that doesn't mean anyone should ever have to see this. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive, leading me to believe that most of the people responding were friends who were actually encouraging this behavior...and asking for more. Mama responded with these comments: "Someone asked me what this video is about. It's about prayer. It's about looking, watching, and believing in the best outcome for people that are having it rough in life. Once I went on a cruise and was over the sometimes scary bermuda triangle. First the calm came. It was the erriest calm ever. Then the came the Hurricane. Everyone thought we were going down. Life is like that hurricane- We need each other. And most times without the kind prayer of others I know I wouldn't make it." Hmmm. Okaaaay.
3. Which leads me to the next point: I'm fascinated in Mama's own view of herself as kind of a religious prophet, if you will, simply touting her own kind of religion based on an animated-yet-real Disney cartoon feature film popular in the early 80s (Pete's Dragon is where this little ditty debuted). There's a spiritual claim being made here which is clear in the *staging* of this self-directed video. The veil...the lighted candle...the starry background. I'm sure Mama would give you a great deal on a tea-leaf reading if you'd just let her sing to you some more, but that's part of her ministry--bringing Helen Reddy (of "I am Woman Hear Me Roar" fame) back to the people. Oh good.
Aaaand 4. Let's discuss the staging here for just a sec. Jayme suggested I pay close attention to the end when she manually fades in the *candle* (notice the lack of water) and I think it's a good suggestion. I love the tension here between artistic, dare I say symbolic, intention and the constraints of practicality--a line which every director worth his or her salt must learn to straddle. Marty Scorsese, hey, pay attention--you could learn somethin' here (Taxi Driver reference).
Oh, how many ways this whole experience makes me lament this song, Helen Reddy, Pete's Dragon, candles, water, and new age nuts just practicing their *special* kind of internet love via bad homemade music video. Mamamialove 1 The Hope for a Better Society 0. But as Natazha says, "Bless you! You don't need music. Your voice is music (heavenly)!" which helps me more clearly understand my own sense of spirituality. If this voice is heavenly music, then I feel little better about the musical selections I'll surely find in hell.
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1 comment:
Ah, my dear Katie. Thanks for obliging me. How you managed to write this entire entry without recourse to the words "nut-job," "psychotically delusional," or "semi-literate palm-reader" is a testament to your fluency in the discourse of analytical slammming. What charms me most about the video and its chain of icky fan responses is how they manage to make New Age spirituality seem rigorous and stern by comparison to what she offers.
But one point of scholarship, if I may: it's "T. S. Eliot" not "Elliot." No matter. My mother asked me for close to ten years if I had written my dissertation on "C. S. Lewis or was it that other man with the initials?" She has it straightened out now, I think.
Smooches,
Jayme
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