You may split your sides, convulsing in derisive laughter at this example of unself-conscious feminist bathos.
Via Rod Dreher, one of whose commenters sums up quite nicely the atmosphere of the thing:
Tackiness aside, there is something sweet and sincere about it. It was probably put together by a nice middle-aged white lady after she finished putting up some felt banners at church.
Ah, yes, the unbearable tediousness of the obsessions of progressives of the Boomer generation....
Comments (11)
Maximos, after reading your comment and watching this video, I can see that you are rather in touch with the weltanschauung of white middle-aged church ladies--not that there's anything wrong with that (either such ladies, or being in touch with their W).
Posted by thebyronicman | February 21, 2008 4:51 PM
The horror......the horror....
Posted by Scott W. | February 21, 2008 5:53 PM
This cannot, cannot be real. The woman singing can't even _sing_. It's hilarious. Somebody tell me it's a fake for humor. Right?
Posted by Lydia | February 21, 2008 8:39 PM
It's a Rush Limbaugh satire.
Innit?
Posted by Grumpy Old Man | February 21, 2008 9:01 PM
This is America. It's real.
Posted by thebyronicman | February 21, 2008 10:04 PM
"She's gonna make our dreams come true".
Pathetic beyond description and understanding. Encapsulated in this horror is the devolution of the American mind, a dash of infantile emotion, a mind numbing misunderstanding of government & the citizen, a wrenching idolatry, religious in it's blind fervor to the point of parody, the willing submission and reliance to of all types of person, the politician.
Such dreams and hope are the confections of people who have surrendered themselves to a faith ridiculous and false in an unconscious need for substance and belief.
I wish I could say it's funny but it's sad and dangerous. And the other comments are right, she can't sing and this is America.
Posted by johnt | February 22, 2008 7:46 AM
Though I cannot tell exactly what the attitude of the maker's of this video is regarding their product, I think it is wise to be aware that kitsch can be used quite effectively. It demonstrates a pop-cultural literacy by using the Laverne & Shirley theme song to evoke a common cultural experience, seasoned with a bit of nostalgia, to establish a sense of belonging. Along with this a prevailing temper among many younger people is that kitsch is (or at least can be) cool. Kitsch is cool when it is held with an ironic hand. The idea is that we all get that it is goofy, and yet we find some kind of enjoyment in it, and since we get that it is goofy we demonstrate that we have on some level transcended it and can therefore enjoy it for what it is, but on our terms, which is understood to be cool.
Yes, it lacks substance, it lacks thought, it is not dealing with issues that matter. Instead it is playing with associations, allusions, references, images and kitschy semi-nostalgic irony to influence people's emotions. In rhetoric this is the appeal to pathos, which is a necessary component of effective communication.
So, I say all this to point out that we can pour our derision upon it, and criticize the heck out of it, but it could very well be that someone somewhere is using this quite effectively to promote their candidate. All of this further points to the question of audience, and out of this I am wondering if there is a way to meet this audience where they are at without feeling like we had to compromise our integrity.
Posted by Anthony | February 22, 2008 3:31 PM
Though I cannot tell exactly what the attitude of the maker's of this video is regarding their product, I think it is wise to be aware that kitsch can be used quite effectively. It demonstrates a pop-cultural literacy by using the Laverne & Shirley theme song to evoke a common cultural experience, seasoned with a bit of nostalgia, to establish a sense of belonging. Along with this a prevailing temper among many younger people is that kitsch is (or at least can be) cool. Kitsch is cool when it is held with an ironic hand. The idea is that we all get that it is goofy, and yet we find some kind of enjoyment in it, and since we get that it is goofy we demonstrate that we have on some level transcended it and can therefore enjoy it for what it is, but on our terms, which is understood to be cool.
Yes, it lacks substance, it lacks thought, it is not dealing with issues that matter. Instead it is playing with associations, allusions, references, images and kitschy semi-nostalgic irony to influence people's emotions. In rhetoric this is the appeal to pathos, which is a necessary component of effective communication.
So, I say all this to point out that we can pour our derision upon it, and criticize the heck out of it, but it could very well be that someone somewhere is using this quite effectively to promote their candidate. All of this further points to the question of audience, and out of this I am wondering if there is a way to meet this audience where they are at without feeling like we had to compromise our integrity.
Posted by Anthony | February 22, 2008 3:33 PM
I am sorry about the double post. I thought my computer froze and in response I hit the stop button and then hit the post button and "lo and behold' I had double posted against your wishes.
Again, I am sorry.
Posted by Anthony | February 22, 2008 3:38 PM
I think it is wise to be aware that kitsch can be used quite effectively.
Whoever wrote this song did it without the slightest hint of irony. As one of the Kool Kids, I know what you mean about kitsch, but usually it's done by taking the thing that is irony-free, and using it as found art piece, "re-contextualization", to use the art school term. Like the hip-hop group THE ROOTS using 70's TV show theme songs in their shows, or trendy retailers such as Urban Outfitters selling t-shirts with pics of Jesus ironed-on. The irony then comes from merely presenting the bad art-or-whatever just as-is. I suppose that outside of a larger context we can't tell for sure whether or not this video is being used in this way. But as it is in itself, it's deadly serious. Maximos got it right.
Posted by thebyronicman | February 22, 2008 3:41 PM
As I mentioned, I couldn't tell exactly what the video maker's attitude was towards his/her (their) work, and I was just kind of hoping that there was irony in this production. I mean otherwise... I am at a loss for words to identify what it would mean for someone to take this seriously.
Posted by Anthony | February 22, 2008 10:09 PM