UNK SEZ: I've been listening to MGMT a bunch in the back yard this summer (where I recently suffered a near fatal kitten attack!), but I had never seen any of their videos. That just changed thanks to my visiting fellow LOTT D blogger Brad's cool site I LOVE HORROR. Thanks Brad, for turning me on to this very kindertraumatic video! Kids, you can visit Brad HERE!
Ok, its safe to say that i'm a bit obsessed with that music video now. I always loved that song, from the lyrics (that i can hear clearly) it sounds as if its a message to all youngsters to tighten-up their pampers and brace themselves for a cruel and hard world. I love how oblivious the skank-for-a-mom is, and that poor little guy….subjected to such horrors….you can see the look of sheer terror in his eye during the filming (borderline abuse if you ask me…)
The main reason this video got to me is because i have two little tots of my own, 4 and 1. In my own lifetime i've seen how violence and sex on TV and media in general has gone from taboo to readily available at the click of an ENTER button. My kids were born at a frigthening time. If they are exposed to all of this stuff now, imagine what will be the social norm in 20 years?!?
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I might be getting a bit too heavy for this whole discussion (which i inevitabely started…stupid brain!!!) but to quote the late and ever-so-sexy Maude Flanders:
"Oh won't someone please think of the CHILDREN!!!"
But with this band ever be big enough to pay for this kids therapy for life?
Fuck YOU, MGMT.
Sorry for the harshness. Unlike a lot of horror films with small kids, the child in this video is most definately looking directly at the disturbing make-up and prosthesis and reacting to it. Usually for a kid that young, they keep the monster in a seperate filmed framed, then edit footage of the kid crying, shot seperately, so in real life the toddler actor never actually sees anything traumatic.
I have a real issue with how this video was filmed, and how that poor kid was treated as a result. You're right, Eskimoposh, it IS borderline child abuse.
You know, I'm not sure. I think its unlikey that digital manipulation or spilt screen effects were used. I wonder what their definition of 'harmed' is. Bu I could be totally wrong about that.
ratsawgod,
Yeah, I totally get the feeling that that poor toddler was ACTUALLY being filmed with the 'monsters'…the camerawork isn't fancy enough to make room for anything else! That said: (a.) That POOR BABY, (b.) kids in another 10 years are gonna be trauma-ing this in….and (c.) this makes MGMT a repeat-creep-offense, considering that "Electric Feel" was the background for the Chuck-E-Cheez vid posted here a few months ago!