By Natalie Hamil, Staff Writer, Emerson College
I can't deny that I announce to my suite mates that "IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY" whenever Friday rolls around. We all remember the fiasco that was Rebecca Black's "Friday" - the lyrics were parodied for months afterward. Americans had an unusual obsession with the music video, hating it so much they loved it. It turned into a pop-culture statement overnight.
Missing that monstrosity of a pop song? Never fear. Ark Music Factory, the masterminds behind "Friday," have created a new song to get permanently stuck in your head - "Chinese Food," starring Alison Gold.
Chinese food. Seriously. That's what this music video is about. And not in a metaphorical sense - oh no - it's about honest to goodness Chinese food. Also, this time, the singer is eleven.
Let's step back and think about the music video. How did this become a pop culture sensation? Do Americans really stoop so low as to think that this is high quality entertainment? I surely hope not. Is it a simple distraction meant to humor the most primate levels of our intelligence? Perhaps. Do we marvel in its offensive nature and ridiculous subject matter? Of course.
Just to reiterate - this girl is eleven. ELEVEN. I'm pretty sure most eleven-year-olds are scared of Chinese food because some dishes contain peas. But alas, Miss Gold seems to be obsessed with finding Chinese food after "ballin'" and then "clubbin'"... at age eleven.
After ordering (from another girl who is comparably as young) her Chinese food and eating it in the music video, Gold opens a fortune cookie that tells her she will make friends with a person dressed in a panda suit. This panda suit wearer turns out to be a rapper, who creepily ends up Miss Gold's bedroom and becomes involved in a slumber party type atmosphere with the tweens.
The final and most controversial note of the video is the girls are dressed in Geisha outfits, discussed specifically in ABC News' article "'Chinese Food' Song Deemed Offensive, Viral Video Producer Responds'". Geishas are specific to Japanese culture, and the video is clearly about Chinese food. People are really taking offense to this video, believing it to be racist. It is offensive, but calling it racist makes the video seem a little more intelligent than it actually is. It appears that this snafu was unintentional – the music company seems to have overlooked this crucial bit of information when filming. It doesn’t seem that they meant to offend anyone – at least on a racial level.
It seems that girls younger and younger by the day are getting roped into get-rich-quick schemes where they are sing slightly offensive songs that insult the intelligence of both the singers and the listeners. “Chinese Food,” in particular, crosses the line with the Geisha reference, as it seems that the producers didn't care at all that the Geisha is meant to be exclusive to Japanese culture. Ark Music Factory videos in general (like “Friday” and “Thanksgiving Dinner”) make the public uncomfortable enough to laugh, causing them spread the video around on the internet like wildfire. This video demonstrates that it is becoming more and more difficult to keep audiences entertained which causes producers to resort to inappropriate humor to draw in young audiences.
Want to watch it for yourself? Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWLhrHVySgA
Natalie Hamil is a Writing, Literature and Publishing major at Emerson College. She is on the pursuit of happiness. Her passions include reading, writing, crocheting and wearing interesting/colorful pants. Follow her on Twitter.
I can't deny that I announce to my suite mates that "IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY" whenever Friday rolls around. We all remember the fiasco that was Rebecca Black's "Friday" - the lyrics were parodied for months afterward. Americans had an unusual obsession with the music video, hating it so much they loved it. It turned into a pop-culture statement overnight.
Missing that monstrosity of a pop song? Never fear. Ark Music Factory, the masterminds behind "Friday," have created a new song to get permanently stuck in your head - "Chinese Food," starring Alison Gold.
Chinese food. Seriously. That's what this music video is about. And not in a metaphorical sense - oh no - it's about honest to goodness Chinese food. Also, this time, the singer is eleven.
Let's step back and think about the music video. How did this become a pop culture sensation? Do Americans really stoop so low as to think that this is high quality entertainment? I surely hope not. Is it a simple distraction meant to humor the most primate levels of our intelligence? Perhaps. Do we marvel in its offensive nature and ridiculous subject matter? Of course.
Just to reiterate - this girl is eleven. ELEVEN. I'm pretty sure most eleven-year-olds are scared of Chinese food because some dishes contain peas. But alas, Miss Gold seems to be obsessed with finding Chinese food after "ballin'" and then "clubbin'"... at age eleven.
After ordering (from another girl who is comparably as young) her Chinese food and eating it in the music video, Gold opens a fortune cookie that tells her she will make friends with a person dressed in a panda suit. This panda suit wearer turns out to be a rapper, who creepily ends up Miss Gold's bedroom and becomes involved in a slumber party type atmosphere with the tweens.
The final and most controversial note of the video is the girls are dressed in Geisha outfits, discussed specifically in ABC News' article "'Chinese Food' Song Deemed Offensive, Viral Video Producer Responds'". Geishas are specific to Japanese culture, and the video is clearly about Chinese food. People are really taking offense to this video, believing it to be racist. It is offensive, but calling it racist makes the video seem a little more intelligent than it actually is. It appears that this snafu was unintentional – the music company seems to have overlooked this crucial bit of information when filming. It doesn’t seem that they meant to offend anyone – at least on a racial level.
It seems that girls younger and younger by the day are getting roped into get-rich-quick schemes where they are sing slightly offensive songs that insult the intelligence of both the singers and the listeners. “Chinese Food,” in particular, crosses the line with the Geisha reference, as it seems that the producers didn't care at all that the Geisha is meant to be exclusive to Japanese culture. Ark Music Factory videos in general (like “Friday” and “Thanksgiving Dinner”) make the public uncomfortable enough to laugh, causing them spread the video around on the internet like wildfire. This video demonstrates that it is becoming more and more difficult to keep audiences entertained which causes producers to resort to inappropriate humor to draw in young audiences.
Want to watch it for yourself? Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWLhrHVySgA
Natalie Hamil is a Writing, Literature and Publishing major at Emerson College. She is on the pursuit of happiness. Her passions include reading, writing, crocheting and wearing interesting/colorful pants. Follow her on Twitter.