That's it, you say. The Piper's gone mad! Isn't the point of Saturday Music Blogging to share good music?
Well, yes. Most of the time. But sometimes it's to point out how nasty a pop culture phenomenon truly is. And dear reader, One Direction is truly heinous. There are no redeeming qualities to this over-produced noise; the boys don't play their own instruments, they don't write the songs or the choreography, and they don't sound good without studio magic.
But, these things are true of boy bands throughout history; from The Monkees to 'NSYNC to Menudo to New Kids on the Block, almost all boy bands have been mildly-talented, mass marketed fluff. What makes One Direction and those of its ilk so insidious compared to their musical forebears? One need only look to the lyrics.
There is a disturbing trend pervading popular culture: the naked exploitation of teenage insecurity, particularly the insecurities of teenage girls. In the Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer draws her lead female protagonist so thinly that any potential reader could imagine herself as the painfully personality-free Bella, being pursued by two comely, supernatural lads. One Direction, or more accurately, their corporate handlers, take this one step further.
In fact, the second word of this particular track is "insecure"! You see, the boys just can't understand why a girl like you doubts that she could be beautiful. You think you're ugly and you have no self-esteem, and that's why they think you're beautiful, plain teenage girl from the suburbs!
While there's nothing new about saccharin sweetness in a pop song, this song is really beyond the pale. I could only hope that One Direction's target demographic would see through this shallow manipulation. (After all, the lyrics suggest the boys only like you for your looks.) Suffice to say, as this music video has almost 170 million views, that's sadly not the case.
No comments:
Post a Comment