‘Viral videos – what fun! Let’s make a video of what we just saw, but with us in it this time!’ This, or some variant of it, is how it starts. First ‘Gangnam Style’, then ‘One Pound Fish’ and now ‘Harlem Shake’. It begins on the internet, then your friends are doing it, it goes crazy for while and ultimately ends with your mother sending you a mid-Shake snapchat for you to digest whilst you’re already trying your best not to break down on the library staircase.
There are a few things that feel particularly wrong about the explosion in popularity of the aforementioned viral crazes. There’s the fact that in the cases of ‘Gangnam Style’ and ‘Harlem Shake’ there are pretty strong cultural factors that come into play which being overlooked by many viewers. What do the people of Harlem make of the ‘Harlem Shake’? Not much. How many of the billion plus viewers of ‘Gangnam Style’ are explicitly aware that the song is heavily satirising Korean society? Not many. An issue I have with these particular viral videos is the associated appropriation and distortion of cultures which originally birthed these phenomena.
Now, I’m not saying these memes aren’t entertaining. And nor am I arguing that I don’t understand why they’ve gone viral. The raw fact is, seeing a seal in captivity going wild to some trap is fun. So is watching this guy. But these entertaining versions are the exception, rather than the rule. Seriously, what is the point in a mass ‘Harlem Shake’? Who finds these videos, where hundreds of blurry indistinguishable bodies move awkwardly to a backing track, enthralling? And further, why would someone participate in one? They begin as unique expressions of creativity, but quickly become subsumed and overwhelmed by a vapid internet culture which forcibly removes any semblance of genuine expression from the nth created video.
In a week where a mass ‘Harlem Shake’ is being orchestrated at UBU, I implore you to consider the implications of your potential participation. Sure, your doing a ‘Harlem Shake’ might not hurt anyone directly, but what does it actually do for you? It’s fun? Maybe try a Baauer Boiler Room mix, a bit of K-Pop beyond Psy or even learning how to really do the ‘Harlem Shake’. What’s quite unnecessary is taking part in a dance craze that reflects upon one of the most concerning aspects of modern internet virality, the bastardisation of alien cultural phenomena whose wider meaning and significance are ultimately lost in exchange for cheap transient thrills. Though presently harmless, current attitudes to viral culture are indicative of a worrying wider trend; the masses are easily influenced and swayed solely in the name of mindless fun. Don’t be corny, guys.
Rishi Modha 