Saturday, December 29, 2012

One Pound Racism

Just caught the new youtube sensation, One Pound Fish.

Interesting, not as interesting as Gangnam Style, but a pretty catchy tune.

Before I say anything else -- good for this guy, I hope he makes some money.  The broader context of what I say next, really don't reflect on him at all.

 I started reading some of the comments.  And there are some knee-jerk racism in the comments.

So what's happening here?  On one hand, we're getting some exposure to other ways and other cultures.  On the other hand, it seems to bring out the xenophobia in people.

When I watched the original video, it seemed to me that the people were enjoying it, but also -- I don't know -- being a little patronizing.  Not in a mean way, but still...

Maybe the whole thing plays up to cultural stereotypes, which then brings out the automatic resistance to other cultures.

Then again, maybe I'm overthinking it.

Maybe it's just a catchy tune...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Reading comments on Youtube videos and news stories will make you despair of the human race.

People with the cloak of anonymity are largely ignorant and hateful.

I swear off for my mental health, then curiosity gets the better of me...

Jim