http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A
^Watch me! :)Where to begin? This song/video brings a whole new meaning to the acronymn “T.G.I.F.” that we have all come to know as “Thank God It’s Friday.” Katy Perry is a huge pop artist with a voluptuous bod, YouTube is one of the two best sites for procrastination (the other being Facebook), and the whole video is one crazy night of drunken festivities and then waking up the next afternoon. Lez be honest… the audience is college students.
This video says a lot, or at least is structured to tell us, about what a GOOD, Friday night entails. It starts off with the aftermath; a stranger in my bed, a pounding in my head, glitter all over the room, DJ passed out in the yard, etc. that are then signs of an intense party, which we automatically conclude, was a very good time. What they did during that night: streaking in the park, skinny dipping in the dark, a ménage a trois, danced on table tops, are all making up a list for the subculture of college students’ Friday night. It seems a little crazy even for our generation to have this happen all the time, but Friday is a weekly thing, making it seem like a frequent, or even typical, occurrence.
I could say even more about the people portrayed, what their social status' are, even what a raging party actually looks like, but that could be never ending. When it comes down to it, everyone who has watched this video (over 105 million people currently) have already read and made conclusions about it. With that popularity comes an influential power, hence anyone hearing the letters “T.G.I.F.” now thinks of Katy Perry and a party like no other.
One last thing; I typed "T.G.I.F." into urbandictionary.com just to see what other cultural meanings it may have. They're pretty interesting… take a look at them: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=T.G.I.F.,
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=T.G.I.F. >make sure there's a period after the "F" on this one, you'll see a whole different definition.
I think this is a really interesting cultural point, as well as pertinent to our lives as college students. As Katy Perry's worst song yet (in my opinion), it didn't have a whole lot of impact, but had it gotten more popular it could do a lot for the already ridiculous image of college students and teenagers in general. Many of the things that I would imagine adults see of modern pop culture are digging our generation deeper and deeper into a superficial, self-destructive hole of a reputation. I find it an interesting reflection on our culture that a song and video like this, despite so many blatant heinous messages, would become popular.
ReplyDeleteI think this video is absolutely ridiculous because it is stereotyping almost every type of person. The “nerdy” person in the corner at a party, the “popular” guy ignoring everyone less cool then him, and the unpopular girl getting a makeover that makes her the “best” girl at the party with her parents being the “cool” parents that don’t care if their daughter throws a huge party and ruins their house. Including Rebecca Black who everyone was joking about a few months ago and is one of the main people in the video. It’s interesting how she made the video to look like it was from back in the 80’s when she is truly talking about this day and age and what happens, unrealistically, on Friday nights.
ReplyDeleteI dont want to be the odd one out here, but I just have to say I love Katy Perry. She has a great song that everyone has heard around the world. Why not monopolize herself by making a music video that deals with the audience her music pertains to? By doing so she is has almost as many #1 hits as Micheal Jackson. I do agree the video sends a terrible message, because being a college student ive been out on those Friday nights and experience exactly that, well not exactly but you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteI think although this song isn't the most lyrically attractive song there is, it's still a work of genius. The song represents everything that we, as teenagers are familiar with or envious of. In a dream world wouldn't we all like to just cut lose on a Friday night with our friends and have an adventure? The song is something we can associate an experience with and for a lot of us we can't just go out on a Friday night and live it up, because, there's consequences. So I think this song gives us a good way to almost live that experience through a controlled environment; the song!
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