http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ejgq0r0SEU
In this video, Stephen Colbert satirizes the British music
band, One Direction on their title and song lyrics. First, he uses invective by
stating, “I don’t want a bunch of snaggletooth…union jackals telling America
the number of directions we can go at.” He also wants people to use their
common sense and recognize the message behind the band’s song, “What Makes You Beautiful”.
He distorts one specific part of the song and uses irony by stating that the
part when the band sings, “You don’t know you’re beautiful, that’s what makes
you beautiful” is an amazing dating advice because girls with low self-esteem
are the most attractive. In reality he means the opposite because girls with
low self-esteem are not attractive at all and the majority of men will not want
to date a girl like that. He also uses ambiguity because he states, “Guys
always go for the low hanging fruit, okay, easy pickings.” This statement has a
different meaning. It is a continuation of his irony about the idea of dating.
Overall, Stephen Colbert not only insults, but also distorts a specific lyric
of one of the band’s songs in order to show its idiocy. He further went on to
explain, that they just told the girl she’s beautiful, and so now that she
knows it, she is no longer beautiful. He wants to show people the flaws of the
band and the complex lyrics that eventually lead to an inadequate and stupid
point.
Most of the time nowadays, no song's lyrics have any true meaning behind them. They are just a bunch of rhyming words that have been strung together and put against an up beat rhythm. The definition of a song and a good band in general has changed greatly in the past decade and Stephen Colbert does a great job of pointing that out through his satire. To make a good band all you need is a group of handsome boys, and it does not even matter if they can sing because now we have auto-tune and millions of teenage girls obsessing over them. A song is meant to have lyrical meaning, and a band should have talent.
ReplyDeleteEven if I am a fan of One Direction, I still believe Stephen Colbert did a great job on satirizing their song "What Makes You Beautiful". It made me laugh and I'm sure it did the same to all the other One Direction fans out there who watched the video. Although there are a lot of fans who have already noticed how absurd and pointless half the lines from the song are, it will not keep them from loving the band. One Direction has made two albums already from the short amount of time they have been formed. While Colbert may believe the lyrics are ridiculous, I believe it is also ridiculous for him and others to judge One Direction based on only one of their songs. Besides, no one realizes how idiotic and meaningless some lyrics from the other songs played on the radio are.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Talar. Colbert was successful in satirizing One Direction. I am a huge fan of One Direction, but I laughed and also agreed with most of what Colbert was saying. However, One Direction, along with other artists, sing songs that can relate to most of the teenage population. Lyrics such as the ones in "What Makes You Beautiful" are what captures most of the fans' attentions and that is how a band will become popular. Most of the songs played over and over again on the radio have meaningless lyrics. They are played because of how catchy they are, and also because the words are what teenagers want to hear. One Direction is amazingly talented and the ability to sing from the members cannot be judged by the lyrics of their songs.
ReplyDeleteColbert was successful at satirizing One Direction and their songs by bringing up examples of the lines they used in their songs. I completely agree with Colbert because nowadays bands can sing about anything they want and yet there will be fans singing along. I find this ridiculous because no one knows what a real band or song is anymore due to these bands. He is trying to make people realize that these bands are killing the whole point of music and he did a great job at it.
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious! Men have the tendency to think they want a girl who is all "natural" and who is beautiful and does not know it yet. However, at the end of the day if a man was to chose a partner, they would most probably pick the girl with makeup on. I am not trying to say wearing makeup is a sin; but males, especially boy bands, like to present a certain facade. They want women and girls to feel loved and that they will be there for them no matter what. This is a perfect method to gain followers, "groupies", and customers. Nevertheless, Colbert is 100% right! I am actually quite jealous I was not the one who found this video.
ReplyDeleteColbert did an excellent job at satirizing the famous boy band and their songs. Perhaps his interpretation of the lyrics were a bit exaggerated, but they do make sense. Not only did he satirize and criticize the band, but also the mentality of almost all teenagers in this century.
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