sure. looks like some people don't feel like that's the case here, though. i'm not saying he's not talented, just that this performance is dumb. way over the top is notoriously hit or miss (hint: miss). they look like dickheads.
i could really do without this thing where overwrought indie bands have ridiculous backing singers/dancers. first dirty projectors, now sufjan. maybe grizzly bear can get some and complete the triforce of hilarity.
does anyone else think this record is kinda scary? i mean, what the fuck is going on inside this dude's head that we DON'T get to see? to me, the most interesting thing about the record is the lyrical content. the beats are a little weaker than i had expected, but overall it sounds like it's coming from a really dark place. looks like the title and cover art could not be more accurate.
i have no idea how many 'serious' songwriters were rich kids from the suburbs. who knows? i'm pretty sure this guy was one, though. but you're right, it doesn't really speak to anything about his intentions as a songwriter. i'm sure he's serious about the cause. i happen to disagree with artists boycotting shows in arizona, but that's just me.
also, it doesn't really matter if it features immigrants or not. personally, i kind of don't like watching artists do their little video acting jobs. it has always just seemed vain to me. maybe i'm being irrational. i've been following this guy loosely for about a decade or so, and surely i don't know him personally, but everything about his art to me says 'look at me'. so, in that respect, it doesn't make sense to me that he would make a video for other people starring himself.
maybe featuring him makes more sense from a business/fundraising perspective, which, in that case, at least he's a savvy marketer.
no one said anything about actors. it's a real issue, why not use real people? you know, to put an actual face to the problem. i'd rather see that than this dude and his trite, tired "look at me, i'm a serious songwriter" tactics. if you want the song to speak for itself, why make a video at all? just a little weird to me, that's all.
i thought this video would maybe have some, well, immigrants in it. you know, to put the focus on the people who are actually suffering. i guess it just had to star the pasty, weird looking rich kid from middle america.
now i remember why i don't post on stereogum articles like this. if you offer a simple critique of some partially famous dude's opinion on a massively complicated issue, even if you agree in principle, people (fanboys?) will disagree but they never quite step up enough to let you know why. an op-ed like this could benefit from an honest, sarcasm-free discussion board. otherwise, the site is just wasting their time publishing it. maybe that's not your average stereogum reader's preference, though, who knows...
what i think you're really getting at is that people with power are people with money, and in america those people tend to be white. i don't think you can deny that there are homeless or uneducated or drug-addicted white people, or white southerners who are discriminated against based on their voices, or white people out in the sticks so poor they have to eat dirt and collect tin cans to survive. i don't think anyone has ever watched jerry springer and said hey, that white trash guy won't ever have to worry about anything because he's white. so when you say something like "you wont ever have to worry about it nor have your type ever had to" i think you're basically refuting yourself. racism is fueled by the ignorant, which any "type" can be.
jesus, dude, calm down. judging by their music, i would say that some of his main point-making tools are humor and sarcasm, which unfortunately are not so easily translated to print. so in that respect, it's kind of an inflammatory way to start talking about an inflammatory subject. if a minority knows how it feels to be lumped into a group unfairly, then surely they can understand how it might feel to get lumped unfairly into the "white oppressor" group. it's offensive to be preemptively called something you're not, regardless of your race. i think we're all on the same side, which is that the show will in fact tank and sooner or later there will be indian actors on american tv who say and do things that have nothing to do with indian-ness, or do, but accurately. that's what we're all hoping for here.
i disagree. i liked the op-ed, and i agree with most of his points, but i think it speaks more to the absurdity of network sitcoms than to some kind of ominous racist characterization of indian-americans by white people. he says it himself in the first paragraph: "Although rather than being offended on the grounds of racial insensitivity, I was more offended by how unfunny the show was." furthermore, i'm curious to know if heems would direct some of his anger (or whatever it is) to the show's indian-american actors. at least half the cast has indian ethnicity. he praises nbc for putting more indian actors on tv, but then he rips the shows they're in for being racist. is he saying the actors shouldn't shoulder any of the blame?
hahaha good one. did you read past my first sentence? hard to tell from your response. let me clarify: outsourced looks like it's an unfunny show that does a poor job of portraying indian-americans. i agree with everything heems is saying. my point is that a shitty nbc sitcom is an easy target and if he wanted to, he could have gone for something bigger, like how unfamiliar cultures in general are white-washed/reduced to stereotypes or quirky accents, or what that says about who tv executives think the average tv consumer is. i'm all for a program about indian-americans that gets it right, but i don't think anyone anywhere thinks outsourced is that show.
what is this guy so mad at? does anyone really expect a thoughtful, understanding commentary about indian call-center culture from nbc, in sitcom form no less? heems is just shooting fish in a barrel. i mean, what don't network execs get wrong? if nbc wanted to market a show specifically for indian-americans, they would have just gotten some indian-american writers to develop scripts for a largely indian-american cast, but apparently they'd rather make a fish-out-of-water story in which indian culture plays the foil. that way, their overwhelmingly white audiences can identify better. seriously, what do you expect? i understand that he's indian-american so it might be personal, but it seems to me that he could have made the issue something bigger, like the way network tv distills most unfamiliar cultures into amusing oddities that others (i.e. people that don't have much exposure to the culture in question) don't understand, or the frequent white-washing of characters regardless of ethnicity. i don't watch tv very much because i don't think it reflects real life very well, but if anyone knows of a show on network tv that actually does, i'd be interested to know what it is.
this video is hilarious. they couldn't parody the laughable brooklyn hard-ass hipster stereotype any better if they tried. everything about this band is a joke.
i see the 'aeroplane-as-sacred-text' crowd is still going strong. it's always funny how people think other people aren't qualified to listen to/like/interpret nmh because it's just that magical. you sound like a hardline muslim cleric.
holy shit this is terrible. interpol's lyrics have always been the worst part about the band, but i think maybe this time out their music and aesthetic have caught up.
you better watch what you say about not liking stuff, otherwise you might get massively downvoted. actually, i happen to agree that it's a terrible title, but i really like the song. it also seems that i'm in the extreme minority about disliking the cover art, which is fine, but isn't downvoting reserved for hateful or antagonistic commenting?
not trying to be a dick, i guess i just don't think little kids trying to look tough is cute, funny, cool, etc...i mean i get it if it's trying to be nostalgic for childhood, but it's just not up my alley.
i gotta admit, i was initially down on the first two songs that were posted about a week ago. but after listening to them in the context of the whole album, i'm definitely more into them. this should be a record that gets better with each listen.
that's a pretty good point. i think isaac brock from modest mouse gave a similar response when he caught a ton of flack for letting nissan use gravity rides everything in one of their commercials. he was basically like, 'fuck off, i have to pay the bills.'
your little avatar makes you look like a total douche, but based on your comment, i can see that's clearly not the case. truth be told, their music tells me they fucking blow.
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