Normative: Remix Culture’s Evolution

While it was a little bit boring watching this video the day after watching Lessig’s Webside presentation (considering all of the clips and points that the former made were present in the latter’s).  That said, I do find his points valid and entertaining.  I also find the comments on youtube that follow to be quite funny; the way in which some people really do enjoy just hating on people who put their ideas out for the public.  Many of the commenters point out that they believe the Lisztomania example that normative uses is not in fact remix and nothing is original about it.  They would rather see an epic Girl Talk vid to show what a remix is.  I think that the cause for this anger is that their definition of remix is too narrow-minded.  It is true that the three videos that normative shows are all set to the same, unmixed soundtrack, but you cannot deny that each video is different in its own way and evokes different emotions while at the same time building on each other and giving a nod back to the video that came before it.

I think what makes normative’s video so relevant is not that he is giving a definition of what a “remix” is (which I think is what many of these angry commenters were looking for), but rather he is illustrating how the new remix culture has become a part of our culture.  The Brat Pack Lisztomania example is simple but really does get at the heart of what he is trying to show, which is communication, dialogue, creativity, and homage.

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