Osler's Razor

Earlier this week, I mentioned my odd obsession with LMFAO's video for the formulaic, autotuned "Party Rock Anthem." Yesterday, though, it came together in my head-- I am obsessed because it is the perfect Christian music video.

I know, I know... LMFAO is a group whose body of work revolves around drinking, stripping, and dancing. This is all true. However, the beauty of art is that each of us can strip away the artists' intent, and make what we want of their work. In that spirit, I am re-visioning this video as Christian artwork. Here's the deal: I will describe the video first, and then watch it while looking for what I describe. In the end, see if you don't agree with me.

At the start, our protagonists are lying in a spiritual coma. They are jolted to life by a blaze of light-- the Holy Spirit. They walk outside into a fallen world, devoid of life and meaning. Soon they are pulled to the ground by a mysterious figure in white, who tells them frantically that there is some kind of universal force at work. He tells them that it pervades "the whole world, everything-- it will get in your bones!" The universality of the Spirit is inescapable. At about 1:36, he urges them not to listen, and tells them to block their ears.

Suddenly, there is life, The street is filled with joy as people dance-- all the people of the kingdom of God-- young and old, black, white, hispanic, Asian, are possessed by this spirit. At about 2:04, there is a twist to the story. A young man, hood pulled up over his head, is trying to hide from the spirit. He runs into the street, and is quickly surrounded by the dancers. It transforms him, and as they pull away we see him joining in the dance of life.

At about 3:00, one of the protagonists is confessing his own sins ("I got the devilish blue, rock and roll, no halo"), and is followed by the others who are caught up in the spirit. At about 3:40, there is a fundamental change-- the group morphs from an uncoordinated mob into a tightly-knit cohort, joined together to dance as one. This continues until the protagonist announces "Hate is bad," which leads into an amazing display of individual acts of joy.

It is right then, at about 4:20, that Jesus appears (really). and the music shifts into overdrive. People are inspired to super-human acts, and Jesus wades right in, fully human, at one with the people of the street in all their diversity. At 5:45, Jesus briefly comes to the fore, in synch with the others, as the song comes to an end.

I doubt that LMFAO intended any of this, but it can be what I see, and I choose to see beauty everywhere it can be found.