i haven't really looked tho
― goole, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:27 (eleven years ago) link
Jumps up to #2 on the Hot 100 this week.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 18:23 (eleven years ago) link
#1 in the UK this w/e fo sho
― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 18:53 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/89074/Gangnam-Style-Rappers-Outrageous-Vow-If-Single-Hits-Number-One?"If it ranks number one in the Billboard chart, then I will perform Gangnam Style topless in a place where everyone can watch," Psy said in a conference on his return from the United States.
― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 19:04 (eleven years ago) link
more pop stars should do this
That AAK article was very good.
This DJ Doc song sounds like Coolio. I'm down with that.
― Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 19:19 (eleven years ago) link
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_0P-A79gT9w/UGIjKSAQyPI/AAAAAAAAAb4/jSu2CnV2xhA/s640/page33.jpg
^ enjoying this glimpse of a parallel world w/ a t-paincentric cosmology. askakorean article is excellent.
― ogmor, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 23:48 (eleven years ago) link
There is a dark side of this code of humor as well. In the current day American pop culture, it is ok to laugh at Asians doing strange things. (Think Ken Jeong's character in the Hangover series.) On a certain level, PSY -- a pudgy, funnily-dressed Korean man -- is a comfortable target to laugh at. This is not to say that people who enjoy Gangnam Style all have a sinister, racist motive. This is only to say that people's motives as they approach a certain phenomenon are complex and multitudinous, and not all of them are necessarily positive.
this is a blazing otm and apparently difficult for people to understand
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:04 (eleven years ago) link
That last sentence hedges so much it's difficult for me to understand how it could be blazingly right or wrong.
― boxall, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:08 (eleven years ago) link
it is more the general idea of the thing -- it is possible for individuals to enjoy this, but the nature of cultural phenomena demands introspection
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:18 (eleven years ago) link
chubby dorky guy doing silly dance is funny. pretty sure of zach galifinakis had done same song, it'd still be equally (and equivalently) funny and the greeks wouldn't be upset. of course, they probably can't afford to get upset right now.
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:24 (eleven years ago) link
because zach galifinakis definitely codes as nonwhite, and is a greek native?
― barthes simpson, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:25 (eleven years ago) link
i mean he's basically a minotaur
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:26 (eleven years ago) link
because americans have a history of stereotyping greek men as asexual clowns?
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:33 (eleven years ago) link
I don't think Psy comes across as asexual in the video - clownish, I guess, in that ridiculous things happen, but otoh he seems to be in control of the chaos around him.
― boxall, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:36 (eleven years ago) link
don't get trolled, zach
― hot slag (lukas), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:37 (eleven years ago) link
the point doesn't lie in what's literally in the video but in how the video is treated by the same masses of americans who consider ken jeong in the hangover to represent the height of what asian men can offer the west
xp
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:39 (eleven years ago) link
again, the idea is that it's ok to find gangnam style awesome and funny, but it's important to wonder why IT is the k-pop song that crossed over rather than any of the previous of k-pop songs that went out of their way try to cross over. it sort of further cements the idea that asian men can't have success in the west unless they're making us laugh.
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:43 (eleven years ago) link
look, i'm being glib but not outright trolling –
the song is popular, as far as i can tell, because
1) it's got a funny, replicable, and immediately identifiable dance move2) it's a sprightly song very much in the same (albeit non-greco but hanguk-in-ian) vein as 'party rock'3) the accompanying video is bouncy, confectionary, surprising, and oddly lavish4) the character is a delightfully doughy korean man-child surrounded by models, expensive cars, and gorgeous vistas that clash with his everyman/everyboy affect5) as far as i can tell, it's entirely, unmistakably parodic.
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:44 (eleven years ago) link
<i>chubby dorky guy doing silly dance is funny. pretty sure of zach galifinakis had done same song, it'd still be equally (and equivalently) funny and the greeks wouldn't be upset. of course, they probably can't afford to get upset right now.</i>
Well we did have this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2bCc0EGP6U
― MarkoP, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:44 (eleven years ago) link
I wonder if Daniel Dae-Kim is sitting in Hawaii on set going "fuck you, Ken Jeong"
― cake-like Lady Gaga (DJP), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:45 (eleven years ago) link
nobody looks at zach galifniakis and thinks "hey look at this greek dude"
― barthes simpson, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:46 (eleven years ago) link
Greek ppl do
― cake-like Lady Gaga (DJP), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:46 (eleven years ago) link
DD-K is a pretty exceptiony exception, no?
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:46 (eleven years ago) link
what i'm saying, maybe ineptly, is it's hard for me to believe that the HAHA SILLY ASIAN laughs trump (in cultural currency, or in ranking of people's motivating factors in watching the video) the HAHA SILLY CHUBBO laughs or the HAHA STUPID DANCING or the HAHA WTF ODDBALL laughs or the HAHA I ACTUALLY KIND OF LIKE THIS SONG audience
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:49 (eleven years ago) link
Oh I have no doubt that "lol funny Asian" is the cornerstone of this song's success; the important part is that this impulse is generating money for Psy and leading to a recognition of the song as a piece of cultural trivia that's going to be a hallmark of future VH-1 broadcasts for decades to come
― cake-like Lady Gaga (DJP), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:54 (eleven years ago) link
I'm not sure it's analytically separable xp
― barthes simpson, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:54 (eleven years ago) link
it occurs to me at this late date that i haven't seen any translations of this song
― goole, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 12:27 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
gonna be a bummer when it turns out to be "BEVERLY HILLS, THAT'S WHERE I WANNA BE"
― Liberian Girlkeeper (some dude), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:54 (eleven years ago) link
IOW if the song didn't have anything going for it BUT "lol funny Asian", no one would actually care
I've always been disappointed at the fuss over Old Boy and the lack of love for Grandma Cophttp://pds19.egloos.com/pds/201010/27/03/b0007603_4cc82299e6a54.jpg
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:55 (eleven years ago) link
xp to soda: then you're an optimistic one. but all of those factors can coexist and they can all serve as major causes behind it becoming a potential #1 hit with a potential 300 million YT views. and if HAHA SILLY ASIAN is one of those factors, that is an important thing that demands commentary. and it's not like those other reasons all lack intersections with SILLY ASIAN.
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:58 (eleven years ago) link
i can plausibly imagine something similar happening with a non-English pop song by a white European, but there'd still be some element of otherizing 'lol other languages/cultures' element even if you took out race.
― Liberian Girlkeeper (some dude), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:58 (eleven years ago) link
true (i remember listening to the streets in high school and certain friends could not stop giggling at the idea of a british rapper) but that doesn't mean that race isn't a big factor with PSY
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:00 (eleven years ago) link
-people's motives as they approach a complex phenomenon are complex and multitudinous-not all are necessarily positive, some are sinister and racist-the benign motives aren't separable from the sinister ones
Where does the commentary go from here?
― boxall, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:00 (eleven years ago) link
yelling about it on the internet
― zachylon (zachlyon), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:02 (eleven years ago) link
i wasn't saying race isn't a factor, just disagreen with Dan's "IOW if the song didn't have anything going for it BUT 'lol funny Asian', no one would actually care"
― Liberian Girlkeeper (some dude), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:04 (eleven years ago) link
i mean if an white american guy did basically the same (insane and expensive-looking) video for the same song w/ english lyrics, it might not be the meme of the year but it'd at least be the meme of the week
― Liberian Girlkeeper (some dude), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:06 (eleven years ago) link
what's up rebecca black
― barthes simpson, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:07 (eleven years ago) link
anyway pretending to pull out discrete & separate reasons why it's a hit is nice and all but there's no denying that in reality, the success is probably due to the totality of all of those factors working together and race isn't really extricable at all
would it surprise me if a majority of americans who love gangnam style would also find this funny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2f13chid8Y
(from an american tv show currently still in production as of 2012)
― barthes simpson, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:19 (eleven years ago) link
i don't know that there are a majority of americans who love gangnam style. there are a bunch who appreciate it as flavor of the week, buut...
a lot of the so-called fans are <18 years old, and like the silly dance.
i still think SILLY CHUBBO IN EXPENSIVE OVERWROUGHT VIDEO is more motivating than SILLY ASIAN but then again, I'm an optimist on these things. (Otherwise I'd be mad about Sofia Vergara)
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:36 (eleven years ago) link
it really takes an optimist to believe that the truth is as simple as "America loves boobs"
― Liberian Girlkeeper (some dude), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:42 (eleven years ago) link
Well, on the HAHA SILLY (ETHNICITY/RACIAL/NATIONAL IDENTITY) front, how come she gets waved under the bar while while chubby dancing Korean guy skips morosely at the back of the line?
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:47 (eleven years ago) link
i don't really care about this very much, except as it made me sad that i couldn't innocently enjoy the funny chunky-man skipping about like a two-dollar dingus on new year's day
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:48 (eleven years ago) link
I don't think his weight is a huge part of the video or its appeal either, you seem a bit fixated on it.
― boxall, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:49 (eleven years ago) link
haven't there been plenty of lol euro trash memes over the years? I agree w/ remy, could see some eastern european or turkish or indian person doing this exact same song w/ the exact same video.
― iatee, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:52 (eleven years ago) link
there's nothing particularly asian about it, even the music sounds like it could be from anywhere. trashy music videos are global.
― iatee, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:53 (eleven years ago) link
i find all this discussion strange, he's got a roundish head but you guys are talking about him like he's ceelo or something
― frogbs, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:55 (eleven years ago) link
i'm not fixated on the weight, it's just that it's a funnier (and more noticable) component than the geographical component, for my money.
― cherry (soda), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:55 (eleven years ago) link
(i remember listening to the streets in high school and certain friends could not stop giggling at the idea of a british rapper)
smh at this clown
http://www.stompandflow.com/images/slick-rick-bling.jpg
― ┐(´ー`)┌ (sic), Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:55 (eleven years ago) link
the point has already been made (and far be it from me to add to this shitstorm) but psy is not overweight
― Autumn Almanac, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:57 (eleven years ago) link