Okay, assuming you've returned after that surreal experience, let me give this post a little context.
About a month ago on NPR, someone brought up Oppa Gungam Style, playing a short clip of the song, and promising to talk about it later on in the broadcast. At the time, I didn't think it was highly unusual. After all, media outlets have been covering memes for awhile.
No matter how terrible they are.
http://blogs.umass.edu/dlajoie/2011/04/05/assignment-on-viral-videos-its-friday-for-colbert/
http://blogs.umass.edu/dlajoie/2011/04/05/assignment-on-viral-videos-its-friday-for-colbert/
My mother, a high school drama teacher, was in the car at the time, and said she would talk about it with her students later that week, which I laughed off as a joke.
A week later, she informed me that they had listened to the whole song. In the middle of class.
Okay, that is kind of strange, but then again they ARE a drama class, so it makes sense to expose them to unusual cultures and media in a way.
It was only in the last two weeks that I realized how far this had gone, where, at two separate weddings, two completely separate DJs to two very different venues both opted to play the song.
A week later, she informed me that they had listened to the whole song. In the middle of class.
Okay, that is kind of strange, but then again they ARE a drama class, so it makes sense to expose them to unusual cultures and media in a way.
It was only in the last two weeks that I realized how far this had gone, where, at two separate weddings, two completely separate DJs to two very different venues both opted to play the song.
And people danced to it.
A few days ago, in response to a rush of Justice Beaver fans trying to boost him to the Most Popular status on Youtube Music, Gangam Style fans attempted to beat them out and keep Gangam style at the top, where it had already been for awhile.
They succeeded.
They succeeded.
I choose to call him Justice Beaver both to reduce his google search results, and to make it a little more bearable to talk about him at all.
Ladies and gentlemen, Gangam Style is all of 5% in English, consisting entirely of the phrases "Hey, Sexy Lady", "You know what I'm saying", and the words "hey", "eh", and "baby". Most of the people who listen to it have no idea what it is even about. (For reference, it's about an extremely unusual and flamboyant subculture of Koreans, though this is not the first time a culture has made such a product.)
This meme has power. It has force. It pulls people into it, and makes them a part of it. And it is part of a growing trend in memes that saturate the media.
It's also incredibly silly, and I'm not sure why I spent an entire post talking about it.
That's just the kind of effect memes have on you.
It's also incredibly silly, and I'm not sure why I spent an entire post talking about it.
That's just the kind of effect memes have on you.
Memes also do this. Whatever this is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJbAcMsyHc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJbAcMsyHc
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