Not worried at all anymore.
May 29, 2011 4:25 PM Subscribe
Best Millennium Falcon cameo ever?
posted by secondhand pho at 4:42 PM on May 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by secondhand pho at 4:42 PM on May 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
No way, man - the Burlesque video is the best of the bunch. That kid's going to grow up just fine and one day someone's girlfriend is going to ask him how to teach your kid how to dance.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:45 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:45 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Mommy's alright & Daddy's all right. We're all alright, actually.
posted by jonmc at 4:47 PM on May 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 4:47 PM on May 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
One of your kids appears to be a little person.
posted by anotherkate at 5:00 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by anotherkate at 5:00 PM on May 29, 2011
yeah keenan cahill is a teen. he made a pretty great video with a couple SF giants - one of the games the teams played this week was a benefit for kids with his syndrome.
posted by lapolla at 5:09 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by lapolla at 5:09 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
The darbuka kids are alright, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:09 PM on May 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:09 PM on May 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
Also, can you do this for cute kitten videos too?
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:10 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:10 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can I post Chloe's Just Walk Away Rene here?
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:17 PM on May 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:17 PM on May 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
Mod note: MetaTalk is your option, folks. "Kiss my ass" really isn't.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:17 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:17 PM on May 29, 2011
what's with the burlesque boy?
does anybody know the story behind his videos?
is it even legal to post them?
posted by liza at 5:18 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
does anybody know the story behind his videos?
is it even legal to post them?
posted by liza at 5:18 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
No idea, but I found a link to a bunch more videos of his under the Youtube one from above. Not that I'm gonna watch any of them.
posted by gman at 5:26 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by gman at 5:26 PM on May 29, 2011
Yeah, that third one made want to clear my browser, delete the cookies, and change my IP address... we need a little warning about something like that.
posted by tomswift at 5:26 PM on May 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by tomswift at 5:26 PM on May 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
I'm kind of torn on the burlesque kid. On the one hand, HELLO INAPPROPRIATE SEXUALIZATION PLEASE TO BE GOING AWAY NOW. On the other hand, if the kid is doing this of his own free will because, hey, fun times and music videos are cool and all is well, ooookay that's kinda weird. (at his age, I was running around in an old hoodie decorated with a makeshift underdog, personally) On the other other hand, who THE FUCK in this kid's life decided it was a good idea to upload this stuff to fuckin youtube?
posted by rmd1023 at 5:29 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 5:29 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
I clicked the random links under ARE and ALL. NO these kids are NOT alright. They are all wrong. They represent precisely what is wrong with internet culture, constantly aping something original and thinking they are original too.
Now, these guys, the kids are alright.
posted by charlie don't surf at 5:31 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Now, these guys, the kids are alright.
posted by charlie don't surf at 5:31 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
er, makeshift underdog logo, that is. not an actual underdog
posted by rmd1023 at 5:31 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by rmd1023 at 5:31 PM on May 29, 2011
Perhaps another teen, but for me Emerson Millar's version compares with merit to Jascha Heifetz's version.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:43 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:43 PM on May 29, 2011
The parents of the little Asian boy are definitely not all right.
Mimicking what you see on MTV is one thing and if that's all the child was doing we could marvel at his talent but to have him made up and dressed up by an adult - and very clearly coached - is exploitive; posting on youtube is advertising.
posted by ofelia at 5:50 PM on May 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
Mimicking what you see on MTV is one thing and if that's all the child was doing we could marvel at his talent but to have him made up and dressed up by an adult - and very clearly coached - is exploitive; posting on youtube is advertising.
posted by ofelia at 5:50 PM on May 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
"God DAMN! You play a mean banjo! ... Hey, you wanna play another one?"
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:56 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:56 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I say that saying, "Not that there's anything wrong with what this kid's doing," and then following up with, "BUT PEOPLE SHOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT OR BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN," is only lip service. It's ok to do what you want, but only when it's certain not to negatively impact others' perception of your psychosexual space?
He's not doing anything wrong by any stretch of rational decency, and the chances that a kid that old doesn't understand YouTube are pretty slim.
posted by cmoj at 5:59 PM on May 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
He's not doing anything wrong by any stretch of rational decency, and the chances that a kid that old doesn't understand YouTube are pretty slim.
posted by cmoj at 5:59 PM on May 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Mom and Dad can dress you up like a lady, but they can't teach you that kind of swagger. You go, Number 3!
posted by pugh at 6:00 PM on May 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by pugh at 6:00 PM on May 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
The parents of the little Asian boy are definitely not all right.
Do any of us have evidence that he's not posting the videos himself? I hate to break it to us old folks here at MeFi, but it's remarkably easy to take a video on your phone and put it on YouTube, and kids today are a lot more tech savvy than I was as a kid.
Also, while I agree that it's disturbingly sexualized, that kid does kind of totally rock.
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:04 PM on May 29, 2011
Do any of us have evidence that he's not posting the videos himself? I hate to break it to us old folks here at MeFi, but it's remarkably easy to take a video on your phone and put it on YouTube, and kids today are a lot more tech savvy than I was as a kid.
Also, while I agree that it's disturbingly sexualized, that kid does kind of totally rock.
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:04 PM on May 29, 2011
Either the kids are all right or they're not. Six of one half dozen of another.
posted by Sailormom at 6:06 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by Sailormom at 6:06 PM on May 29, 2011
That kid is not doing anything more suggestive than you'd see at your average grade-school dance. Perhaps what's so unsettling is the fact that he has a little more poise and conviction than you're used to seeing in someone of that age. Which is great -- he seems to have some talent. And also people's reactions are obviously colored by the fact that it's a little boy doing this -- which, who cares?
posted by hermitosis at 6:07 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by hermitosis at 6:07 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Are people really more upset about this than they were back when little Timmy sang "I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand"?
If so, why?
posted by hermitosis at 6:09 PM on May 29, 2011
If so, why?
posted by hermitosis at 6:09 PM on May 29, 2011
Peoples' reactions are colored by their offense at watching two young musicians and then getting that. People don't like it when you deliberately fuck with them.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:10 PM on May 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:10 PM on May 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yeah, the burlesque boy is getting his groove on (and well, I might add.) I thought it was awesome - he totally blazed. It might be his idea of the greatest song ever and what-all.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:11 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:11 PM on May 29, 2011
...back when little Timmy sang "I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand"?
But he's sing into a dead parakeet.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:17 PM on May 29, 2011
But he's sing into a dead parakeet.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:17 PM on May 29, 2011
There's a discomfort with the burlesque kid because of the gap between his knowledge and our knowledge --- he's imitating a striptease, and should not, at his age, have a clear understanding of the sexual desire a striptease is meant to evoke.
Are people really more upset about this than they were back when little Timmy yt sang "I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand"?
If so, why?
A kind of uncanny valley, in part. The make-up and the moves in some respects are quite close to the real thing, but off, wrong. It's disturbing the same way a real doll's disturbing.
I fear that in saying that, I will provoke a defense of the child and his right to his fantasy. And he does have that right. But his world ain't our world, his perspective, his understanding, is not ours. We can't unknow what we know, and an adult watching his performance has an entirely different understanding of its content than he does. It's weird.
posted by Diablevert at 6:31 PM on May 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Are people really more upset about this than they were back when little Timmy yt sang "I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand"?
If so, why?
A kind of uncanny valley, in part. The make-up and the moves in some respects are quite close to the real thing, but off, wrong. It's disturbing the same way a real doll's disturbing.
I fear that in saying that, I will provoke a defense of the child and his right to his fantasy. And he does have that right. But his world ain't our world, his perspective, his understanding, is not ours. We can't unknow what we know, and an adult watching his performance has an entirely different understanding of its content than he does. It's weird.
posted by Diablevert at 6:31 PM on May 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
People's reactions are obviously colored by the fact that it's a little boy doing this.
Honestly, I'd be far more disturbed if it were a little girl who thought that that was what she was supposed to do, as a girl. The fact that it's a boy is what redeems it in my mind - society sure isn't sending him messages that he's supposed to be doing this, which makes it feel a lot more genuine. And it means the haters haven't gotten to him yet. I hope they never do.
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:32 PM on May 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
Honestly, I'd be far more disturbed if it were a little girl who thought that that was what she was supposed to do, as a girl. The fact that it's a boy is what redeems it in my mind - society sure isn't sending him messages that he's supposed to be doing this, which makes it feel a lot more genuine. And it means the haters haven't gotten to him yet. I hope they never do.
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:32 PM on May 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
And let's not forget Rowan's Own Side cover, and Alexa's (and her dad's) cover of Home. The latter may win more on adorableness than talent, but whatever.
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:40 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:40 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I saw Alexa and her dad at SXSW. I think you can still catch a whiff of the contact adorableness on me.
posted by donnagirl at 6:51 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by donnagirl at 6:51 PM on May 29, 2011
Mystery meat YT post + responses about people clearing their browser cache = very much not going to click anything thanks.
posted by unSane at 7:06 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by unSane at 7:06 PM on May 29, 2011
I don't think it is a big deal, sure we as adults read a a lot into things like this, but for him it might be just a fun dance routine. Check out his Facebook page. It seems like he has been on tv and even does appearances.
Those bluegrass kids are awesome.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:17 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Those bluegrass kids are awesome.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:17 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
cmoj: my issue with someone deciding to post it on youtube is that i think the majority of the audience response will be youtube-commenter-assholes. and, from a quick skim of the comments, it looks like that's correct. it's entirely possible that whoever posted it is ignorant of the troll-like nature of the internet. i'd look at the video and think that this is going to be another instance of star wars kid or something else where it's going to result in more negative attention than positive.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:22 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by rmd1023 at 8:22 PM on May 29, 2011
Just clicked on that third link. Pretty sure I'm going to be arrested now.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:56 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:56 PM on May 29, 2011
Enough of this.
Seen the "weird kid" in link 4 before; he always makes me feel good.
El Cumbanchero (link 5) warmed my soul, because the kids were so clearly casual and happy. They weren't the Jackson Five, forced to PERFORM by an overbearing parent. They enjoyed playing, and were so casual about it they needed Dad to step in and provide a moment as a conductor... then were off on their own.
Ditto on the smiles from the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys (link 2).
And the 3yo uker (ukeleler?) from I'm Yours (link 1) completely melted me.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:07 PM on May 29, 2011
Seen the "weird kid" in link 4 before; he always makes me feel good.
El Cumbanchero (link 5) warmed my soul, because the kids were so clearly casual and happy. They weren't the Jackson Five, forced to PERFORM by an overbearing parent. They enjoyed playing, and were so casual about it they needed Dad to step in and provide a moment as a conductor... then were off on their own.
Ditto on the smiles from the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys (link 2).
And the 3yo uker (ukeleler?) from I'm Yours (link 1) completely melted me.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:07 PM on May 29, 2011
Each of those kids has way more talent than a football team of me-clones.
posted by dazed_one at 11:10 PM on May 29, 2011
posted by dazed_one at 11:10 PM on May 29, 2011
Does anyone know more about the burlesque boy? I'd like to have some more context.
(His Facebook page, also referenced by Ad hominem above, could be a place to a start; but I don't read Chinese, and Google Translate is failing me.)
posted by WalkingAround at 5:52 AM on May 30, 2011
(His Facebook page, also referenced by Ad hominem above, could be a place to a start; but I don't read Chinese, and Google Translate is failing me.)
posted by WalkingAround at 5:52 AM on May 30, 2011
I suddenly know what it is like to be glad to be born not quite too early. I am quite sure my parents would have cheerfully posted videos of their two year old doing all of the lyrics to "Walk on the Wild Side" (this was apparently a big hit at parties and quickly eclipsed "Reelin' in the Years" and "Hotel California") to YouTube in a flash.
posted by adipocere at 6:17 AM on May 30, 2011
posted by adipocere at 6:17 AM on May 30, 2011
No one's giving this kid the mad props he so obviously deserves?
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 7:33 AM on May 30, 2011
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 7:33 AM on May 30, 2011
Fuck "inappropriate". I think hypersexualizing kids (boy or girl) only feeds pedophiles.
Should society's standards of self-expression and sexuality be set in response to the very lowest and crudest elements?
posted by hermitosis at 8:43 AM on May 30, 2011
Should society's standards of self-expression and sexuality be set in response to the very lowest and crudest elements?
posted by hermitosis at 8:43 AM on May 30, 2011
This is no more "self-expression"than 5 year old girls being forced to compete in beauty pageants.
How on earth can you know that?
Also, I don't think that the kid's dance was an expression of sexuality, but as a performance it was at least self-expression, and I think that looking at all such acts through a pedophile's-eye-view is actually what sickens us as a culture. To an average adult's eye the performance may have seemed suggestive, but did he do anything obscene or overtly sexual? No.
Also, you seem to think there is something inherently sexual or inappropriate about dancing on/with a chair.
posted by hermitosis at 4:50 PM on May 30, 2011
How on earth can you know that?
Also, I don't think that the kid's dance was an expression of sexuality, but as a performance it was at least self-expression, and I think that looking at all such acts through a pedophile's-eye-view is actually what sickens us as a culture. To an average adult's eye the performance may have seemed suggestive, but did he do anything obscene or overtly sexual? No.
Also, you seem to think there is something inherently sexual or inappropriate about dancing on/with a chair.
posted by hermitosis at 4:50 PM on May 30, 2011
my issue with someone deciding to post it on youtube is that i think the majority of the audience response will be youtube-commenter-assholes. and, from a quick skim of the comments, it looks like that's correct.
So? Since when are YouTube comments anything to give a shit about?
i'd look at the video and think that this is going to be another instance of star wars kid or something else where it's going to result in more negative attention than positive.
Neither of these situations are anything like this other than the involvement of a kid and the internet. Star Wars kid happened before it had become apparent what the internet would be like and it was done maliciously. That girl was posting purposefully inflammatory videos. Incidentally, I don't believe her story that she's scared and it's ruined her life and all that. If she were an LA Noire character I'd choose "lie."
I'd agree with you if I felt it wasn't the parents pushing him to do this.
I've seen absolutely nothing that indicates this.
posted by cmoj at 6:38 PM on May 30, 2011
So? Since when are YouTube comments anything to give a shit about?
i'd look at the video and think that this is going to be another instance of star wars kid or something else where it's going to result in more negative attention than positive.
Neither of these situations are anything like this other than the involvement of a kid and the internet. Star Wars kid happened before it had become apparent what the internet would be like and it was done maliciously. That girl was posting purposefully inflammatory videos. Incidentally, I don't believe her story that she's scared and it's ruined her life and all that. If she were an LA Noire character I'd choose "lie."
I'd agree with you if I felt it wasn't the parents pushing him to do this.
I've seen absolutely nothing that indicates this.
posted by cmoj at 6:38 PM on May 30, 2011
How did this post survive?
Roots, berries and rainwater.
Oh and it wrassled down a bear, and ate that, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:42 PM on June 1, 2011
Roots, berries and rainwater.
Oh and it wrassled down a bear, and ate that, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:42 PM on June 1, 2011
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posted by codacorolla at 4:34 PM on May 29, 2011 [2 favorites]