Oppa Gangnam Style!

I first heard about Psy when watching the Today Show. Then on Facebook one of my friends posted his music video, and under it someone commented a link to an article about it. Having a hard time deciding what to read for my final article, I thought this would be great. 

The most striking thing about this song is it's catchy chorus, "Oppa Gangnam Style". As I am typing this entry, I am bopping my head and singing this part of the song in my head, over and over again. At first glance the music video seems like a cool, quirky video. But this article analyzes it in depth, and reveals the hidden meaning behind the song and the video.

While this video has a silly surface, according to the author of the article, Max Fisher, there is more to it than that. He pointed out several times that Americans who viewed the video wouldn't pick up on the social criticism, one because they don't know Korean, and two because they aren't familiar with Korean culture. Fisher found two people who were familiar with Korean culture, and found out that the music and the video, "suggest a subtext with a surprisingly subversive message about class and wealth in contemporary South Korean society." (Fisher, "Gangnam...") Fisher compared the satire with that in America, but then reminded the reader that South Korean society is much different than American society. While, yes, they do have democracy, they're society and culture is much different than ours. Fisher talked to Adrian Hong, a Korean-American consultant, and Hong said, "Korea has not had a long history of nuanced satire," (Fisher, "Gangnam..."). This is very different from America, where we have shows like the Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Saturday Night Live, who regularly criticize society. 

Another difference that I noticed was that Psy's satire was more graceful than the satire in America. Psy says that he loves, "a classy lady who can afford a relaxing cup of coffee." Fisher brought this up in his article, and one of his sources, Jea Kim, said, "In Korean there's a joke poking fun at women who eat 2,000 won (about $2) ramen for lunch and then spend 6,000 won on Starbucks coffee." (Fisher, "Gangnam..."). This subtle, and not overdone, satire is invisible to the American eye. I am grateful to Max Fisher, for bringing this hidden meaning to my attention. It gives me a whole new take on the song, and I am able to appreciate it's silliness, but also the criticism underneath the craziness.

And even though I know that you've probably already seen it, I think that it is so awesome, you should see it again.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/gangnam-style-dissected-the-subversive-message-within-south-koreas-music-video-sensation/261462/