Assuming that everyone in the western hemisphere at this point has been exposed to Rebecca Black’s youtube-“hit” Friday I would like to offer my thoughts on the 13-year-old Bieber-Fan that apparently has set her mind on bringing us a lot of Fun Fun Fun.
First of all, I’m kinda surprised at the harshness of the response to this. People seem to feel very threatened by the tacky video, Miss Black’s obvious shortcomings in terms of vocal performance and the sillyness of the lyrics. Well, the song is terrible but have you ever checked out the Olsen Twins’ musical endeavours? Not better or more pleasant than this. Black’s voice is weak but since when are we looking for vocal master class in teen pop? Also could a better voice have saved this song? The words to the songs are pathetic but in terms of content, singing about having fun on the weekends is rather common. A little more attention could have been paid to the ryhming patterns – well, actually nothing here rhymes here – but still, few songs on the Billboard Hot 200 have deep meaning or poetic value. Overall, yeah, it’s awful, but the hype is kind of disproportional. Maybe it’s because it’s funny and in a way seems to poke fun at meaningless pop anthems. Whether this is intented or not remains the big question.
The only concern I have with it is the fact that a 13-year-old girls seems to be hangin out with people who already drive and goes to legit parties. She’s a little ahead of her age-group there but then Miley Cyrus started sliding down poles when she was 15 so the training these days apparently has to start early. After all, who are we to judge?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aATA60Vq6xo
This link is to Rebecca Black’s “Good Morning America” interview. It brings up cyber-bullying and her response, she smiles but you can tell that she’s been hurt. I think it brings up questions on what the internet has done for millennial morality. Teens seem to think it’s fine to verbally attack someone via the internet… why has this become ok?
What I really don’t understand is why her parents would PAY the music industry to have their daughter make this video, and why we as viewers don’t seem to care anymore that real musicians get paid, while wannabe “entertainers” have to pay to be seen and heard. (The Pussy Cat Dolls is another great example).