This isn't exactly my musical style---metal is great but scream/growl metal has yet to grow on me---but I love the <i>commitment</i> in this video. Like, imagine they're spitballing what the video's going to be like and someone says, "Let's dub our song to what looks like an earnest but kinda lame, four-piece, mariachi-looking band." "Is that us? Is the band us?" "Yeah, of course. Who else is gonna do it?" "OK. Cool. But what if, and bear with me, aliens start abducting and replacing band members?" "What if that's us, too? Like, what if we're all dressed up in green alien suits and we beat ourselves up as the song plays?" "Yeah! And let's also do some breakdance moves in our little green suits." "Suits can be whatever color you want, man. The video's gonna be in black and white." "Yeah, sure, but they gotta be green. And we'll end with," <bq>It's funny how dumb you are.</bq> <media href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdadL7kay50" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/SdadL7kay50" source="YouTube" width="560px" author="BONG KONG" caption="Weirdmageddon (Official Music Video)"> And then they went out and <i>filmed</i> it. Like, they put on the suits, and pretended to be the lame band, then they put on alien suits and abducted themselves. And then they cut the video and still stuck to it. That is dedication to a shared vision. That is art. It is the shared experience that matters, not the superficial experience itself. I was able to enjoy this on other levels than just the musical---though their enthusiasm makes the music grow on me, if I'm honest---because they pulled me into it with their own dedication to their vision, because they <i>believe</i> in it enough to put a lot of <i>work</i> and <i>time</i> into it. If this were an AI-generated video, would it be the same? Possibly. Until I <i>learned</i> that it was an AI-generated video. Then, the illusion is gone. All of the meta-levels collapse, disappear in a puff of smoke. Then, there is nothing left of it but a moving image, a sound. But that's not what makes this video fun or great. Without those human things to scaffold it, this is just a bunch of noise and nonsensical imagery. We need a shared experience. We need consciousness. If you can fake it well enough that I don't notice? Fine. I didn't notice but I enjoyed it. I was able to build my palace in the sky without any substance. Good for me! The experience is the experience. But as soon as I notice, the illusion is gone and I'll feel cheated. I might even get mad, for a minute. Am I mad at myself for having been scammed? Am I mad at the creator for playing with my emotions? How will I respond? Will I stop trusting so much that I can no longer let myself enjoy anything for fear of looking stupid? Maybe that's the significance of the coda to the video. <bq>It's funny how dumb you are.</bq> <img src="{att_link}weirdmaggedon.webp" href="{att_link}weirdmaggedon.webp" align="none" title="Weirdmaggedon" scale="40%">