I’ve been preoccupied with Rihanna’s video for “We Found Love,” directed by Melina Matsoukas, since its release last week. Two reasons:
1) “We Found Love” has gotten comparisons to “Trainspotting,” “Requiem for a Dream,” Cee-Lo’s video for “No One’s Gonna Love You,” some Gregg Araki movies, and even a more sinister version of those heavy-handed Levi’s All-American commercials full of youthful ladies and gents running around in cornfields. But all of these examples feature white people. Most of the comparisons I’ve seen made so far feature white teens and twenty-somethings living their beautifully tragic lives, exploring what it might mean to get wrapped up in drugs, the idea of love, dependence on either, and then trying to find a way out. This happens even when the media is created by mixed filmmakers or plays during covers sung by people of color. Rihanna’s video focuses entirely on two people of color, including non-white faces in a story bloggers have already reminded us ad nauseam that we’ve seen before in other forms.
That is, writers point that out, and then commenters point out that the lead male in the video, Dudley O’Shaughnessy, looks like bleach-haired Chris Brown, which may or may not be intentional, but does lead me to —
2) Rihanna’s said a few times that she’s not interested in or equipped for being a formal spokesman for domestic abuse, but she does want to give people who’ve had similar experiences a voice. I see “We Found Love” as the latest instance where she’s weaved that kind of complicated story into her mainstream image, from her involvement in “Love the Way You Lie” to the video for “Man Down” and most recently these new visuals. And while advocacy is hugely important, Rihanna’s creative efforts with directors like Melina Matsoukas remind me not to discount the impact simply including different people and experiences in stories can have. It gets people talking, and encouraging survivors and communities to talk is typically one of the biggest goals for anyone trying to help marginalized groups.
But what makes all of that most effective is that it’s presented in a video that feels worth watching. The relationship is believable, the juxtaposition of happy song with a darker reality is striking, and that’s what makes it all work.
So I’ve watched “We Found Love” multiple times. I keep thinking about it and wanting to talk about it. That’s probably a good thing.
I know there’s been a lot of edutainment aimed towards very young children. Kindergarten and pre-K children never seem to lack vaguely disturbing shows about aliens who want to teach them how to read, but sometimes I wonder about kids older than that. Where do they get their moral lessons from?
Shows like the new “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” series have somehow attracted viewers of all ages, but is there anything like “The magic School Bus” What about this generation’s Bill Nye? Where is the television show that’s an obvious product of society’s biggest concerns?
Warren Buffet had the same questions. He’s better set up to do something about it, though, so get ready to experience his new series, “Secret Millionaires Club.” The New York Times describes it as, “a rebooted animated Web series that follows the adventures of a group of kids as they tackle financial emergencies, like low-performing lemonade stands and troubled bicycle shops.” Basically the most boring cartoon imagined and then — a Jay-Z appears, an animated example of How to Be Great.
This changes everything. That alone sets this up to easily out-do something like “Captain Planet,” since Jay-Z is real-life ballin’ and (thankfully) doesn’t have green hair. Jigga man, teach me how to balance my books. Diversifying portfolios is wonderous. In 2011, the magic school bus is probably a chopped up Maybach. Of course!
“We Need to Talk About Kevin” Trailer
Oh, look, another movie about a sociopath that I need to see. And it involves Tilda Swinton? This gets more and more promising.
“We Need to Talk About Kevin” gets a limited USA release in December.
I tend to forget that CSS exists outside of my 2006 whirlwind obsession with them right as “Cansei de Ser Sexy” began making international noise. Then they’ll release something like “Hits Me Likes a Rock,” a track that’s light and infectious, and I’m reminded of why I cared.
This new video for “Hits Me Like a Rock” doesn’t let up on the fun either, taking a bunch of tutorials for dance to teach wallflowers how to shake their bodies.
Remix: ‘All the President’s Men’ vs. the Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’
“I can’t stand it, I know you planned it, I’m gonna set it straight, this Watergate,” begins the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” All the President’s Boys is one of those perfect remixes that works so well, you can’t believe you didn’t think of it first. Editor Jeff Yorkes “cinemashup” of footage from All the President’s Men nails it.
I’m completely agreed on what The Atlantic’s saying here. The best examples of transformative media are the ones where I sit back and think, “Oh, obviously,” and can just enjoy. “All the President’s Boys” is just cool.
The first ‘Battleship’ movie trailer earning Michael Bay comparisons made me think about the art and sound departments for the ‘Transformers’ franchise today. While the storytelling for those films has been all over the place, the art and sound design has been consistently exciting to me.
This SoundWorks Collection featurette exposes some of the work behind the sound design and effects for ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon.’ Key crew members, including supervising sound editor Erik Aadahl, talk about mixing the film for 7.1 surround sound and a few of the experiments done to capture and create initial ‘wild sound’ for the film.
Recording the sound of dry ice against different metals still strikes me as especially cool. If that movie didn’t have a runtime of half my life, I’d watch it again to try to nail down some of these elements.
The site OMGICU dedicates itself to aggregating information about celebrity sightings via social media, but this week it’s used that mission to also demonstrate just how effectively mobile users can document current events.
The setting: a highly anticipated concert debut. The method: smartphones. Combine those elements with a little editing help and a kind of video take on Storifying, and OMGICU presents R&B singer and recent internet buzz act The Weeknd’s first live show as told completely by fans in attendance.
Traditional cameras were banned, and the press wasn’t allowed to bring in much either. By culling real-time tweets and mobile footage captured during the shows, OMGICU fully still manages to recreate The Weeknd’s opening song, “High For This,” from his very first club performance in Toronto on Sunday, July 24.
