Yes, but I really liked it. The music is good, and the visuals are compelling.
Black Panther? Who didn’t like Black Panther? Okay, how about Infinity Wars?
I understood all the symbolism, if you want to call it that. I define symbolism as something symbolic of something else, not just directly showing it. The gun execution of the guy in the hood wasnt symbolic, it was a situational reference. Kinda poorly done IMO but that’s art, some people will disagree.
I thought the red cloth was nicely done.
I guess at it’s base I didn’t like the music or the goofy dance. All other higher artistic merit gets lost it you don’t like the base art.
If we are referencing music to point to a black man’s interpretation of life in America, I choose to quote the poet Chuck D:
“Elvis, was a hero to most
Elvis, was a hero to most.
Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.”
I liked the musical hook and almost angry delivery of this line in this song.
Do you guys like the song or the high school deep art stuff going on behind him?
I like this because it seems popular and it bounced so hard off me. I’m wondering why.
I didn’t like the music, the dance or the visuals but I still tried to understand it, and I can appreciate it for what it is. I don’t think it’s overblown, overrated or at least no more so than any other pushing the envelope art others do.I also suspect my negative reaction to it is… well an expected one from one perspective.
It also has nothing to do with Lamar.
Are you confusing this with a video where you’re supposed to like the dancing? It’s foreground vs background. Like so:
I genuinely loved all the dancing (Glover’s and the kids behind him in the first half). I loved every damn step of it except for everything on top of the car.
I look forward to all the inevitable parodies and Halloween costumes/performances.
And based on some talk I’ve seen about this video, it also makes me want to discover more about “Trap Music,” a genre I’d never heard of before.
Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast, I would catch it.
You get internet points!
My wife, my daughters and I spent a wonderful hour or so watching and rewatching the video, watching/reading a couple essays on interpretations, and then discussing our own feelings and/or interpretations of what it all meant. My younger daughter spent some additional time reading even more articles on it and brought it up again at dinner.
So if Glover’s intent was to raise awareness of black culture and/or the issues afflicting minorities in America, he can count at least some success.
I personally was really impressed by all the craftsmanship and symbolism that Glover was able to stuff in there. I have some personal theories on some of the gestures and background items myself.
Pretty much all of the dance moves he does are from other sources – viral videos, minstrel shows, traditional dances, South African dances, etc. I would be surprised to find that any dancing in there was ad hoc or included as filler without some kind of subtext.
The music… I didn’t care for it either, but I’m not sure you were really supposed to. Meaning, I don’t think he wrote it to be played on the radio or even to be listened to without the accompanying video. I reckon the video and song are a set piece performance.
I added the song to my rotation for normal listening. It’s very good if you’re into that kind of music.
Very good. That is pretty much how I feel about anything that is “full of symbolism”. Just using that phrase about something is enough to make me not watch it.
Damn, you didn’t have any Simpson’s recorded? I can’t imagine anyone I know making that statement about anything political.
Good for you I guess.
Yeah, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the song after listening to all the criticism here. I love the contrast between the soothing choir sections and the harsh beat sections that make me want to a dance in a different way.
I think the music itself is brilliant, and I can barely believe how much narrative was stuffed into four minutes.
Every time I watch, I understand something new; for example, I most recently noticed that each shooting occurs immediately before the “This is America” chorus, and near the end, when Glover is dancing with the schoolkids and suddenly strikes a pose that looks like he’s holding a pistol, and everyone scatters, and you hear scuffles and doors closing and then complete silence – that everyone else knows that the chorus is about to start, and they are fleeing for their lives.
He’s a force of nature, and as long as he’s dancing, and no one’s singing, “This is America,” everything is cool, but when he whimsically decides that bullets are going to fly, it doesn’t even help if you’re in a church choir.
Thanks, @geggis!
Just want to add that I cannot take my eyes off of the dancing in order to process what’s going on in the background, and I’ve watched a half dozen times. I am pretty sure that this is one of the video’s main points – that entertainment distracts from horror – and it totally works on me.
I think Glover’s dancing is fantastic. My way of evaluating dance is to ask: “Could I do that?” Consequently, I think a LOT of dancing is fantastic. :)
BlocBoy JB’s “shoot dance” is a particularly inspired choice in this music video.
I love it, even though it’s incredibly uncomfortable, just like watching the news on any day of the week in 2018 America. I knew Donald Glover was a good actor but I had no idea he had an alter ego before he was on SNL.
I’ll also add that I saw the short mash-up of the video with Call Me Maybe that someone posted on Reddit and it was amazing how well it fit.
Yeah, I got that impression too.
I had no idea that’s what it’s called but it’s a striking dance and transfixes me every time.