There's something about that 'date my avatar' video that I find ... creepy. Depressingly creepy.
It has a lot to do with how the lead singer (Felicia Day I think?) is -- of course -- a tall skinny white girl, and how she and the producers of the video have placed her front and center, writhing around and making pouty faces, with supreme confidence that this is the pinnacle of desirability for all of computer-user-dom.
If she were rendered, I would see it as a fun satire and it would end there. But the fact that she's a living, flesh-and-blood, tall skinny white girl, bony chest and all ... pushes it out of the "subversive" category and into the "exploitative" category.
I guess too much of the cultural programming has worn off in my mind.
supreme confidence that this is the pinnacle of desirability for all of computer-user-dom
Wow, I took it completely differently: that these were a bunch of `dorky nerds who need to get an [offline] life.' And after watching Episode 1 of the series, my opinion was strengthened: that actress plays a character with a bit of an MMORPG addiction; all the other characters from the video are primary characters in the series (the bald white guy plays the guild leader).
As did I. But hearing the lyrics--"[My avatar] is hotter than reality by far", "you'll never see my actual face", "I hack and slash--who the heck's more heroic?" plus the parodies of classic imagery (laying on a bed of gold coins instead of rose petals*) all indicate to me that this is a parody.
*(And every time I watch that scene I feel bad for the camera crew for having to illuminate and film a background that was so reflective as to backlight the subject...)
Oh, I'm well aware it's a parody. Still, I also recognize it as an exploitation of the cultural condition it claims to subvert. It's popular because it's good. It's VERY popular because it's good and it happens to hit those same old buttons.
Tall slim white woman, front and center, striking a sexy pose. The gist of the humor is, "everyone online pretends to look like this, but they don't really, isn't it pathetic, har har!" But the unfortunate (or not so unfortunate, depending on your point of view) side-effect of a live actress in the lead, instead of an avatar, is to make the video an example of - a member of - the media content that aggravates the condition the video lampoons
( ... )
I'm sorry that you don't find it as amusing as I do; apparently I just see it differently.
When I look at it, I see an over-the-top video anchored by a woman who's only striking because she's so plain (bordering on gaunt at times)--and in fact the less attractive she is the funnier/more accurate the video becomes, reaching the extreme if they were to have `male Fae Valentine' lip-syncing to the woman's voice. (And would arguably still be accurate: there's a joke about the definition being ``MMORPG - Many Men Online Role-Playing as Girls''.)
I suppose that if we assume the lead is a sexy actress that it would be annoying, but it would also mean that the Casting Department didn't do their job correctly because the lyrics no longer hold (```She's hotter than reality by far'--wait, no, the /actress/ is hotter...'')
For me though, I just see a bunch of average-looking people doing a cosplay skit, so I find it highly amusing.
It has a lot to do with how the lead singer (Felicia Day I think?) is -- of course -- a tall skinny white girl, and how she and the producers of the video have placed her front and center, writhing around and making pouty faces, with supreme confidence that this is the pinnacle of desirability for all of computer-user-dom.
If she were rendered, I would see it as a fun satire and it would end there. But the fact that she's a living, flesh-and-blood, tall skinny white girl, bony chest and all ... pushes it out of the "subversive" category and into the "exploitative" category.
I guess too much of the cultural programming has worn off in my mind.
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Wow, I took it completely differently: that these were a bunch of `dorky nerds who need to get an [offline] life.' And after watching Episode 1 of the series, my opinion was strengthened: that actress plays a character with a bit of an MMORPG addiction; all the other characters from the video are primary characters in the series (the bald white guy plays the guild leader).
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*(And every time I watch that scene I feel bad for the camera crew for having to illuminate and film a background that was so reflective as to backlight the subject...)
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Still, I also recognize it as an exploitation of the cultural condition it claims to subvert.
It's popular because it's good. It's VERY popular because it's good and it happens to hit those same old buttons.
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When I look at it, I see an over-the-top video anchored by a woman who's only striking because she's so plain (bordering on gaunt at times)--and in fact the less attractive she is the funnier/more accurate the video becomes, reaching the extreme if they were to have `male Fae Valentine' lip-syncing to the woman's voice. (And would arguably still be accurate: there's a joke about the definition being ``MMORPG - Many Men Online Role-Playing as Girls''.)
I suppose that if we assume the lead is a sexy actress that it would be annoying, but it would also mean that the Casting Department didn't do their job correctly because the lyrics no longer hold (```She's hotter than reality by far'--wait, no, the /actress/ is hotter...'')
For me though, I just see a bunch of average-looking people doing a cosplay skit, so I find it highly amusing.
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