Welcome to the first semester of Music Video Mystery School.
I'm your professor, Professor Gray Balls—headmaster, secretary, guidance counselor, coach of all sports ball events, janitor, and currently the entire faculty of Music Video Mystery School.
Before we begin the beginning semester of this newly born educational institution, it seems appropriate to answer two questions I receive frequently:
“How'd you get to be a professor?”
And,
“Are your balls really gray?”
Today we'll be addressing the former.
The short answer is I became a professor by declaring myself to be a professor.
Some people say, “You can't do that. You gotta pay a school your time and money so they can give you a sheet of paper that allows you to write on another sheet of paper saying you have that first sheet of paper that says you're a professor.” This is the viewpoint shared by many, especially those who have spent time and money obtaining papers to write on papers to prove they have the papers.
But since anyone can learn from anyone at any time, technically we're all professors.
But if that answer doesn't satisfy, a deeper examination of education and how it correlates with this class will be explored throughout this first semester of Music Video Mystery School entitled...
Why Music Videos Though?
Why is that the title?
Because we're exploring the reasons why to even pay attention to music videos in the first place. What do they have to teach us about art, ourselves, existence, and how it all relates to one another—and is it even helpful?
Out of all the videos on the internet, music videos are the most watched, surpassing cat videos and porn. At this current time, the most watched video, according to YouTube and the search engines that agree with YouTube, is “Baby Shark Dance” by Pinkfong.
If "Baby Shark Dance" is so popular, why I ain't see it at da club?
The mass popularity of this video is of course in no small part thanks to it being made for kids, maximizing the age-range reach of its audience. It's currently close to 16 billion views.
So this video has a powerful influence in our society, shaping upcoming generations with its messages.
What are those messages?
On the surface (pun intended), this clip inspires little depth (still punning), but there's intrigue to be found in considering the ways this seemingly simple tale reflects our society at large.
Its catchy song and animated/live-action video establish a multi-generational shark family cast of characters joining our two child narrators, who are singing this story.
At first it seems like the kids are part of the shark family crew. When they sing about going “on the hunt,” they've got their hands over their heads in shark-fin shape as they move with the sharks—until the very next line, when we find out that no, they actually need to “run away” from these sharks.
This adds a surprise twist to the story, and I'm not just talking about the impossibility of running underwater.
These kids immediately become afraid of the thing they were just pretending to be, and in the very next line they're safe again, with the sharks just hanging out behind them with friendly smiles on their faces.
In attempting to make sense of this nonsensical plot, perhaps the only proper comparison is existence itself.
It reflects the view that what can be considered an antagonist is only in that position because we've given it our attention in the first place.
Why would we do that?
Perhaps on some subconscious level we know that feeling the juxtaposition between danger and the safety that can follow is one of the juicy parts of being alive.
Then at the video's end, all the protagonists and antagonists are smiling together like we've all just done a great job acting out a drama.
We are sharks, and we are also what runs away from sharks.
We create the antagonist, then enjoy the drama it creates, because both of those roles make our story all the more interesting.
On a subconscious level, I believe this is why this video has been viewed more times than there are people on this planet—and how this thought process can serve as an example of what we're trying to do at Music Video Mystery School: gain a greater understanding of this realm through my favorite form of art—music vids.
As professor in this course, I'll be sharing my arguments, theses, and dissertation defendings in support of the music video art form as an important teacher and shaper of culture.
How either because of this—or despite it—music videos have often received disrespectful disregard as disposable marketing, especially by the very entities that utilize them for gain (looking at you, MTV and YouTube).
This calls to action those who value this art to unite in efforts to learn from it and enjoy it to its highest capacity.
I look forward to enjoying an enjoyable semester with you.
H o m e w o r k
Check out this mash up of popular shark related media that the internet has bestowed us. It's the “Baby Shark Dance” accompanying footage from the movie Jaws to present it as if it were a movie trailer for Jaws.
No need to imagine "Baby Shark Dance" as ad for Jaws, cause internet made it.
Your assignment — if you're so bold to accept it — is this watch all one minutes and thirty seven seconds of this clip and write down a one sentence (or more) thought about it.
Example Thought/Sentence(s):
It's interesting to notice which shark scenes the editor assigns to which shark family member.
Or.
The original "Jaws" narrator voice-over usage at the end made me laugh.
Or.
The title of the vid alludes to kids enjoying this version of a Jaws movie trailer more than the regular Jaws movie trailer. It's fun to imagine a kid watching the for-kids trailer and then watching the movie and being disappointed that the "Baby Shark Dance" song did not get utilized in the film, at all.
Member discussion: