case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2013-04-20 03:56 pm

[ SECRET POST #2300 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2300 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 093 secrets from Secret Submission Post #329.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Wait... what?

People didn't take Gangnam Style seriously because it was a silly novelty song. It wasn't a musical masterwork. I don't think failing to take a novelty song seriously is racist? I guess? I don't know, maybe I'm just a secret racist though.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree... I don't really get why Gangnam Style became such a giant meme (frankly, it's only vaguely entertaining to me, *unpopular opinion*) but I know for a fact that my opinion would be exactly the same, no matter the race of the person who sang it or the language it was in. IDK.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Something that makes me wonder is that I've never heard anyone call LMFAO's music "silly novelties." Even though they were just as silly, and most people have only heard of two songs by them. What's the difference, do you think? The only thing I can think of is race.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Really?

I don't know, I would definitely say that LMFAO's songs are silly novelties, and I don't know of anyone really taking their music at all seriously. They might not explicitly say that it's novelty, but I don't think the attitude is that different from Psy.

Can't speak for anyone else though, I guess.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
It feels to me like Sexy and I Know It gets treated as "look at these two guys pelvic thrusting in speedos, lol" and Gangnam Style gets treated as "look at this wacky foreign guy and his horse dance, lol Asians."

When it got to the point where hecklers were yelling at any and all Korean entertainers to "shut up and just do the horse dance," you could tell they perceived it as an "Asian thing" and not just a "funny thing."

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay yeah those people are racist as hell

I'm just saying, the level of seriousness that is appropriate for Gangam Style is not that high. It's a novelty song with a silly dance. Don't be a racist but also if people don't take it seriously, it doesn't mean they're racists, unless they're racists.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I think what the OP was going for was not to take the song itself seriously per se, but to recognize it for what it is. There are people who genuinely believe that PSY is a lol silly foreigner, because lol silly foreigners do lol silly entertainment things, and see Gangnam as an example of that... as opposed to viewing him like Weird AL or LMFAO who get credit for being stupid-popular on purpose.

PSY is good at silly, catchy, entertaining pop; he's been doing it for over a decade. But a lot of people don't see him as a musician with an intentional style meant to entertain, just a silly foreigner doing a laughable silly foreign thing.

If you're not one of them, great, but I don't think you were who OP was talking about.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
This is a great post regard to context. Thank you, I have learned something today.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
A lot more people have heard of Psy than LMFAO. It's very likely people would say their songs are silly novelties if they actually heard them.
itstopped: (Default)

[personal profile] itstopped 2013-04-20 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
This seems like a false dichotomy to me. I've never heard LMFAO referred to as anything but a goofy novelty act. There have been black novelty songs, white novelty songs...

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I think the problem was that a silly novelty song like Gangnam Style is probably the biggest hit out of Korea in the US. Like, there are tons of K-Pop artists that wanted to break out in America seriously but this silly song was the biggest thing and it wasn't even meant to be. And there's kind of a feeling that it got big because Westerns are like "OH LOOK AT THE SILLY ASIAN MAN ASIA'S SO WACKY" and that's what's kinda the problem?? Sorry if this doesn't make too much sense but basically, the most famous thing out of Korea is a wacky, silly, pretty much joke music video and that's what it'll be known for for awhile now.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-20 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I think that the trouble with selling a lot of K-Pop to a US autidence is that a lot of it's the sort of boyband and girlband music that's going to sell best when the audience is familiar with the language (think teenage girls posting lyric lines to match their moods on tumblr). Gangnam Style on the other hand is a dance track with a funny video and a catchphrase (you don't need to understand the nuances of the lyrics). Same kind of feel as the Eurodance tracks I heard when I was out clubbing in the early 00s.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
nah, people just like stuff now that's different from boy and girl band stuff. that's why kyary managed to get an audience beyond just people into kpop. it had some crossover appeal because here people either look down on boy bands or think we have enough of our own. see also how people used to cream themselves over lady gaga when she made ~wacky~ music videos, how people made memes out of kesha and lmfao.
tabaqui: (Default)

[personal profile] tabaqui 2013-04-20 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
It actually wasn't. It's actually fairly serious political commentary.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/19/the-social-commentary-behind-psys-gangnam-style/?page=all

You just have to, you know, be curious.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
no it's still a silly novelty pop song

it's one that maybe has a serious message behind it, or at least comes from the context of a political critique that people make, but that doesn't make it in itself serious political commentary. the fact that it deals with or is related to serious issues does not make it in itself serious.
tabaqui: (Default)

[personal profile] tabaqui 2013-04-21 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
Whatever, dude.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
So... do you also think Stephen Colbert is serious political commentary? Because he raises some pretty important issues but, well, the guy's a bit of a clown.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
You realize sometimes the purpose of one is to call attention to the other right?

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
nayrt

but I think so. Yes. Just like I think satire comics in newspapers can be serious political commentary. Just because something is funny and goofy doesn't mean its message can't be about serious issues.

And speaking of Colbert, I'm sure some people wouldn't even think about most stuff if it wasn't for the way people like him call attention to various issues. Comedy is always a great way to reach a broad audience.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
It's a silly novelty song which also contains serious socioeconomic parody. It can do both.

(Anonymous) 2013-04-21 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
It was not a novelty song.