Use and Reuse

With globalization and technology’s reduction of relative space, more media from more

places becomes more accessible. Advances in technology also make media easier to create;

youtube is flooded with amateur covers of songs, re-edits of films, parodies of films, remixes of

songs. In a world where anything from anywhere is accessible anytime, truly original content is

virtually impossible to find.

Nobody’s going to argue with amateur parodies and remakes, it’s a great way to learn and

be creative. Some might be really awful, such as a “Call of Duty” parody of Britney Spears’s

recent single, “Hold it Against Me.” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEd9gg3sw3Y) My film production classmates have made excellent use of sampling and parodying for class exercises. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyuPwh79-Ks “Picard Practice” Ian Von Hollidayʼs re-edit of Star Trek to “Soccer Practice” by Johnny McGovern. Neither the song nor the footage was Hollidayʼs work, but the first comment my professor made was, “that was very original.” After watching these videos, it is hard to take the originals seriously.

While nobody in the Western world is really going to be too concerned about Star Trek,

or the work of Britney Spears losing artistic or cultural value. One might begin to take issue with

parodies when the subject has not established the same iconic success and respect. In his article,

“Cosmopolitanism, Remediation and the Ghost World of Bollywood,” Novak explains how

people in the US view Bollywood as kitschy and our use and references to it sort of poke fun at it

rather than respect it. Many people (young people especially) in the Western world, such as Enid,

in Ghost World, are familiar with Bollywood films but only because they find them funny or

novel; many might critique them for not having a genuine appreciation, or for undermining their

artistic value. One such example is the YouTube clip, “Benny Lava.3” User, “kbhurosah” added

his own English subtitles to a song and dance sequence from an Indian movie. In my high school

one of our top varsity football players had the nickname “Chubbs.” He got the nickname on his

grade six football team and it stuck, most teachers even used it. Nobody ever questioned the

name and it never phased him because he was considered “cool” and was respected by the

general masses. Give a similar nickname to an insecure immigrant with a thyroid condition and it

might not go over so well.

Free speech is a sign of progress, people need to push the envelope to move forward. The

creators of South Park received death threats from a radical Islam group after a particularly

offensive episode; do they sometimes take their parodies too far? Yes. Should they stop? No.

Everyone can laugh together when you make fun of Jacob Goldstein for being cheap and having

a big nose, but make a holocaust joke, everyone will fall silent and glare at you.

Novak criticizes Bollywood for making direct copies of American movies. Most people

would say Bollywood copying western films is wrong, but they love the American version of The

Office. The bottom line is, the American versions of the films wouldn’t work in India, just like

the British version of The Office didn’t work in the US. With remakes and sampling, nothing can

really be done in this day and age. “Imitation is the greatest form of praise.” Any publicity is

good publicity, just look at Rebecca Black. She is earning roughly 30,000 a week, at thirteen

years old, for singing “the worst song ever.”