30 Days with BTR: Day 27
[mood:
Silly]
[music: Big Time Rush - Any Kind of Guy]
Day 27 - Your Favorite BTR Music Video - Any Kind of Guy (Official Version)
It was a close call between "Any Kind of Guy" and "City is Ours" for my favorite music video, but because I already discussed the musical aspect of "City is Ours" in my favorite song post and have not yet talked about "Any Kind of Guy" in this meme, I decided to use this post to address it.
As a brief recap, the "City is Ours" video won major points because:
1) They captured the thrill of joyriding in a car with your best friends and the energy of a rooftop flash party. You believed everyone was having an amazing time.
2) Carlos and Kendall held hands.
3) Logan and James molested each other in every scene they were in: smooshed in a back seat, epic leap frog, grinding back to back, Logan randomly grabbing James's arms, or James and Logan wrapping their arms around each other.
4) The small bits of choreography were a perfect addition. I really, really liked the use of an open-leg drop kick. Nothing says fun like synchronized round house kicks.
"Any Kind of Guy" on the other hand is a weird amalgam that succeeds in being a favorite of mine despite having three things I really dislike: 1) bad message, 2) blatant product placement, and 3) prominent autotune.
1) I think "Any Kind of Guy" sends a terrible message lyrically (i.e., I'll completely change everything about myself just so you'll like me). That's about the worst thing you can be teaching kids about what they should expect from a love interest; it only results in hurt. When someone feels like they have to lie about who they are to be liked, it's never a good thing. Whether or not the person they were lying to realized it/encouraged it, the situation can escalate into "All this time, and I didn't even know you" accusations and become a giant snowball of suck. Then again, musical groups have been singing that terrible message for years (e.g., "Any way you want me" and "Any way you want it"), so it's not as though Big Time Rush is the first to sing a song endorsing bad relationship advice. The lyrics read like a covert admission that the boys are transforming themselves into whatever Nick says the tween market demands by representing each archetype and pretending to care about girls.
2) Even if I feel they could have done without it, the touch phone bit worked because of the way technology is integrated into this show. Both on the show and in real life, the band attempts to take advantage of modern technological avenues for promotion/communication, especially social media.
3) Despite my dislike of autotune on principle, I have to admit that Logan's autotuned "Yes I will" makes me laugh.
I loved the song's use of a minor key for its ridiculously catchy hook. Their chanting of "any kind" was instantly my favorite moment for this reason. I have always had a special appreciation for minor keys being used in music.
The concept for the video itself (the full version, not the episode version) was wildly entertaining. Let's move onto the video aspect!
Any Kind of Guy video won major points for:
1) Having a song about girls featuring no girls. I realize that this allows the target audience to imagine themselves being sung to directly and that it is likely the video producer holding up the photos to emphasize it was his concept/have an understated onscreen role in the video, but I loved that even the person holding up the Polaroids was a male. I feel like "Big Time Video" was lampshading this music video when the producers emphasize "Just Big Time Rush, no girls."
2) Kendall's head flip and face during "change your point of view." Those kind of smirking eyes go right to my pants heart.
3) The boys shaking their heads to turn into each other and exchanging body parts in the good old strips of eyes, nose, and mouth effect. Logan had James's mouth. Just like real life. I felt like I had just revisited a fashion mix-n-match toy from childhood. You swapped in different plates to make outfits, then used crayons to do a rubbing. Anyone remember that?
4) Hot damn, it's about time primary colors (and green) got their shot at fame!
5) All your base are belong to Nerd!Carlos. I laugh aloud every single time I see him in the get-up, and I have such an intense, overwhelming affection for Nerd!Carlos I can barely stand it. Especially when he steps on his own feet toward the end of the video.
6) Kendall licking his fingers and double smoothing his eyebrows as the plane steward/flight captain.
7) James managing to get the gayest Polaroid option possible. What is that, a French mime pirate? And why is he standing like he's a dancer on the main stage at Fire Island?
8) The faces Logan made during the behind-the-scenes moments of filming this video (read: my mood icon).
9) Cop!Logan. It gives me the need to write Cop!Logan thanking Bandana Man for saving the Palm Woods with gratuitous sexy time.
10) Nerd!Carlos's shimmy dance. "Any Kind of Guy" wins life through sheer presence of his glasses, sweater vest, bow tie, and dorky shoulder shimmy.
11) Hot ER doctor James making a return from Diamond's portfolio. For some reason, it really pleased me that James was the ER doc instead of Logan...I think because it inadvertently connected the two of them. And I laughed thinking of James as Noah Carter. XD
12) James and Logan doing "Hippy Haw" dances as Li'l Abner and Hippie!Davy Crocket respectively.
13) Logan looks like he is thinking something very, very lusty when he is matched up to James's voice singing "want so bad." This is cut back-to-back with shots of James in a way that pleases me immensely.
14) Kendall randomly looking straight at James with a smirk when Logan sings "If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead."
15) The episode version get points for random!Cavemen Big Time Rush, Dr. Hollywood brandishing an enema syringe while Logan dons scrubs and grins down at allergic!James (also, Kendall with the old fashioned metal reflector on his forehead = love). The cut aways to Griffin looking unamused were also terrific.
16) The boys used the green scene to jump on a roller coaster, and Logan followed in James's footsteps and pretended to puke over the edge. Add that to James talking about his tradition of eating until he's sick at Thanksgiving and Logan repeatedly asking "Are you going to throw up?" to Carlos (like five times) when he was being spun around, and they've become my obsessed with puke!OTP. Seriously guys, I don't know what goes on in your minds, but don't ever change.
17) Heaping amounts of close ups of the boys' incredibly gorgeous eyes. Kendall's hair seems dyed to match his eyes, Logan's are warm chocolate abysses, James's hazel treats are veiled by thick curtains of lashes, and Carlos's are shining with laughter and exuberance.
18) Kendall's eyes when the football uniform is held up to him. BWAH. Aha. AHAHAHA. Kendall seemed to get most of the athletic outfits, though I was curious about the hockey jersey they selected. Perhaps the producer was sneaking in a joke or inside reference to Michigan hockey or a specific player. I thought it very odd that it was a Michigan jersey, since we know Kendall is from Minnesota and would therefore want to play for the Minnesota Wild. *ends train of thought before it tumbles into raving about hockey*