Thursday, April 26, 2012
What is happiness?
Our source is the music video “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi. The song was first released September 15th, 2009 off of the album Man on the Moon.
The song features Kid Cudi at a party with a bunch of well-dressed, wealthy-looking individuals who are dancing and drinking. The entire video is shot in slow motion with the exception of the artist who occasionally remains in normal time while he is singing. At the end of the song, the artist leaves the party in a somber state.
What do you find most interesting about the video? How does what you find interesting relate to the argument of the video? What do you think the video’s idea of happiness is, and how does that relate to the typical American idea of happiness?
[Composed by Blog Group 1]
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The funny thing is that Kid Cudi is just telling us what we already know about the whole idea of what it means to be happy. You know, get drunk, spend lots of money, party every night, you know the works. This is the modern American idea of happiness. What I find most interesting about the video is that Kid Cudi at the end of the video seems to regret what he did at what seems like a party the night before. He looks back in retrospect and asks himself why "did he drink and smoke so much." The typical American view of happiness leaves most people dissastisfied and regretful. Thank you Kid Cudi for showing us that.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of this music video shows how the world is focused on having fun. Drinking, smoking, and having fun are the most interesting things in this video which is how their world is depicted. The video just shows slow-motion scenes of young people partying it up and having a good time. These people would all be considered attractive, good looking, and successful. They are well-dressed, well-tattooed, and obviously affluent. The people in this video appear to be carefully chosen because the target audience probably aspires to be very much like these people. The video’s argument is that having a good time is good enough even knowing that in so doing they will run into some things that are not as good as they appear. The video illustrates happiness as being simply a party in which most everyone gets drunk. This is a pretty accurate representation of a life for a large number of young people, including most students.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that he says, "everything that shines aint always gold." This makes me think that though partying and drinking, etc. seems all fun and dandy, that is isnt "gold". Meaning it's not actually being happy. I feel like everyone else is in slow motion because they are too busy drinking and doing drugs rather than pursuing their dreams, and partying is slowing down the progression towards their dreams. I think that the end, when he is looking regretful he is showing his understanding that it isnt the way to achieve your goals. The video itself portrays happiness as partying though, so in a way I think the lyrics contradict the video.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the videos idea of happiness is having wealth, throwing parties, being popular, drinking and using drugs. Kid Kudi portrays the "American dream" as a lifestyle surrounded by money, fame, and having fun through the use of alcohol and drugs, but also shows that he may not agree with that concept. I think the use of him singing/rapping while everyone around him is getting drunk kind of shows that. It also seems like he might be taking a jab towards people who do think happiness is all about parties and wealth etc., in lines like "you don't really care about the trials of tomorrow/rather lay awake in the bed full of sorrow" he might be suggesting that his fans or people who think happiness is all about the money you make, social status and whatnot really have no idea what his idea of happiness is. Some more evidence towards the claim that Kid Kudi doesn't believe happiness can be achieved through the things portrayed in the video is the ending, when he seems to be hungover/regretful of what he did last night.
ReplyDeleteOne might look at this video and quickly say that to Kid Cudi, happiness is just partying. If you look into the song deeper though, it could say something different. The title is "Pursuit of Happiness" not just Happiness. That would imply that you don't actually achieve happiness, but rather try to. Kid Cudi is obviously pretty content throughout the video, but at the end, he doesn't look very happy at all. Maybe he is implying that people can't actually be happy by partying, and that it only helps people escape reality for a little bit.
ReplyDeleteit seems that the underlying message to this song is that partying sin't all it seems, and that there are other ways to make yourself happy. what I find most interesting about the video however, is the fact that Kudi decided to make it in the first place and go against his entire persona. i wonder if he actually practices what he preaches.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing of this music video is the singer's hand gesture at the beginning of the song. It is well-organized and it can well represent what the singer sings. We can consider it a visual presentation of the singer's thought. And in my opinion, the meaning of happiness in the first part of the video is to have fun with friends by drinking and dancing with them and hot girls. However, after all these noisy and busy moments, the main artist in the video finds it sad and lonely. Sometimes, happiness is not equal to have fun and drink a lot with many table friends but to stay with the one that you really want to cherish. The artist seems like hating his behavior on the last night and feeling guilty about what he did. Maybe he can get some pleasure at that night but he certainly can't obtain real happiness from that party. In addition, I feel like he is just pretending to enjoy it at the party to satisfy his friends.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the hook of the song is "I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know/ everything that shine ain't always gon be gold/ I'll be fine once i get it/ I'll be good" and even though he says he knows everything that shines isn't gold, he is still surrounded by glitz and glam in the video. Another view point of the video is that even though he is placed in a "happy" environment that really isn't true happiness to him. On the outside he is having fun but in the slow motion parts of the video where he is assumed to be sober he realizes that it isn't as great as it looks, its temporary happiness not eternal. I think many young people view happiness in whole socialite lifestyle, where as when they grow older they realize there is more to happiness than drinking and smoking and partying. He is looking for more in the video, he is done with the regretful nights.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting is that the whole video goes in a slow motion while Kid Cudi remains in the normal time. Here Kid Cudi creates a contrast to show his dissatisfaction with those who partying all night like he sings in the video " Tell Me What You Know About Dreaming/ You Don’t Really Know About Nothing." Moreover, Kid Cudi criticizes those who waste time rather than persuing their dreams.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found interesting was how Kid Cudi himself is a wealthy artist. It would seem that he's saying even after accomplishing many goals that he's set out for himself, wealth, recording contracts, ectera, that he is still unsatisfied with his life. The theme of drinking and partying could also be a reflection on American society and how the way we live our lives can be just following societal values of partying and drinking instead of staying focused on our goals. For example, "you don't really care about the trials of tomorrow/rather lay awake in the bed full of sorrow."
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that Kid Cudi poured Champagne on everyone at the party. He was relaxed and poised before but now as he is trying to find his happiness, he does so by ruining everyone else's fun. That is the only time when he gets involved in the party. And as someone stated before, I think him being in slow motion shows his distaste for what is going on around him and how he thinks he is above all of them. And I think in the morning he is regretting even going to the party.
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ReplyDeleteKid Cudi is criticizing the shortsightedness of mainstream culture. Instant gratification is not the best plan to use throughout life and he is trying to provide an example for his claim. He shows people having fun at a party while he is not. He feels that since they are having unintelligent fun and forgetting about their problems for the moment, that they must also not care about their future. It seems like he may be projecting an insecurity of his onto others.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting and smart song. In it, everyone and the whole world is on slow motion only the singer is normal. He just sits there and songs by himself. And others and their party seem none og his business. What is happiness to american now. Party, money, alcohol and beauty. These arew the answer to many people but these things can not give you really happiness. People are busy enjoying their life and they have no time to think about what they want
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