Montmartre “Out of Violence”
It feels like everyone complains about the Winter, but in Montmartre’s video for “Out of Violence” we can see that when unhindered, Winter can make for beautiful scenery. When the young man takes off in the second half of the video, we find him essentially trekking across a snowy desert. Again, when he reaches the sea, it’s as though he’s lost on a snowy beach. None of this has to do with the violence, which isn’t really violence but a large, dark cloud that overwhelms everything. The first time he notices it he is outside in the night. He turns to see all the lights in the village houses start to go out as though a blackout were occurring. When he makes it home, he is able to see the cloud coming towards his house, and then seep through the windows. It surrounds him, but leaves him mostly untouched. Save for his house being left a bit messy, no damage seems to done by the cloud. This drives the man out into the wilderness where he finds himself by the sea, which only allows for the cloud to trap him when it returns. What is curious is that after having done no harm the first time, this man still runs from the cloud. A second time he is trapped between water and the cloud, so again, he is passed over by the cloud. And when it’s gone, he’s standing in the brilliant, lighted night of stars, and moon, and sea, and snow. Maybe that’s the point, that if you try to run from your anger, you won’t outrun it. You have to let it just go and then you can find a peace that is worth it.
All Boy/All Girl “Glitters”
Long gone are the Wink Martindale’s of the world. In fact, if you’re watching a modern day game show, there’s more than likely a comedian hosting it. While The Price is Right and a few other shows seem to have stood the test of time, when coming up with a new show it takes thinking out of the box. You have to do something never seen before, and often you’ll find plenty of people enthusiastic to do it. Anyone remember Fear Factor? Or just look at how long Survivor has been going on. In the video for All Boy/All Girl’s “Glitter” we get a game show. It takes a wacky host, two attractive women, a lot of tongues wiggling and licking lips, and makes the contestants do stupid things. Whether it’s eating cinnamon or beating one another, it does show how people are willing to do almost anything to win money. And the whole time they’ll laugh about it.
Meghan Trainor “Dear Future Husband”
If you’ve been paying attention to Meghan Trainor’s music videos, you’ll have picked up that they zoom in an awful lot on her face. At this point, we get it. She’s got a pretty face and pretty eyes, but that part of the Meghan Trainor music video doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. “Dear Future Husband” has this 1950’s to 1960’s feel both musically and lyrically. She croons about all the things you have to do to be her husband. Tell her she’s beautiful every night. Don’t argue with her, even if she’s wrong, which is never. As much as there is misogyny in the world, this seems more like misandry. Meghan’s basically putting all the emphasis on she get’s treated. She can’t cook, so you better be able to. You may have a full day of work, but so does she. You have to treat her right. What get’s me about the music video is the setting. It may be modern day, but the outfits, and the furnishings of the house have a 1950’s feel to them. This was a time where misogyny was still the norm. The man went to work, the woman stayed home to care for it. They cooked, they cleaned. They were promised physical acts of love, that maybe weren’t all they could be. It was wrong, but this song takes that and turns it around. The video shows men getting rejected for cooking food that Meghan won’t eat. Or they aren’t strong enough to hit the bell on the high striker. Her sailor is a failure because he gets her wet. Only the guy who comes by with a pizza seems to be doing her right. Oh, and don’t forget to buy her a ring. Still with all that, this video doesn’t feel violent or angry towards men. Let’s face it, this wouldn’t be the first time Meghan has presented herself as a princess who just wants to be treated like one. Make no mistake, I think she should be, as all good women should. I’m just sure her list for her future husband is a bit more endearing.
The Offspring “Coming for You”
The Offspring’s music video for “Coming for You” is Fight Club for clowns. There’s clowns of all types. You have rodeo clowns. You have circus clowns. You have your thug clowns (I’m looking at Insane Clown Posse). Hobo clowns are around, you get the drift. They all fight, but they’re fatal finishers are all gags, too. There’s the electric hand buzzer. The pie in the face. The jack in the box, that opens with a giant boxing glove that will knock your head off. The kicker to this is that a mime shows up in the end. Clowns hate mimes, as this video and other sources of entertainment would have us believe. This mime takes everyone out by simply miming. His invisible wall can hold them back. His invisible sword can pierce them. And when it’s all said and done, his invisible grenade can blow it all up.
Carnage featuring ILoveMakonnen “I Like Tuh”
Carnage’s video for “I Like Tuh”, which features ILoveMakonnen on the track, in the long run feels like a Hunter S. Thompson story. It starts with two large men dressed like Elvis. One has a jar of yellow happy pills, while the other an entire duffel bag filled with blue sad pills. This is where the tension lies, as happy Elvis shoots sad Elvis. He then gets taken out by an arrow to the neck which appears to have been shot by either Ari or Uzi Tenenbaum . The two men who appear look like the young lads from the film The Royal Tenenbaums grew up into thugs after their grandfather died. They steal the blue pills, and start taking them. But mostly, they just go around selling them. Aside from having Peptop-Bismol come out of your eyes, the blue pill is supposed to make you feel quite good. The duo go on a spree of selling their drugs. This winds up troubling a pair of female dealers who aren’t happy about the competition on their turf, which is supposed to be a happy place. Still, when they show up at the Thing 1 and Thing 2’s trailer, they pop some pills and what is supposed to be a robbery turns into a love fest. Eventually they make their way to Carnage, where they party hard. Unlike most, if not all, other rap videos, there are consequences to Carnage’s partying. Basically, everyone who pops the blue pills winds up having their head explode. Carnage even winds up as carnage. Don’t do drugs, kids.
