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Comment by quesera

4 days ago

> And you might remember the Oppa that is Gangnam Style:

My cultural awareness, which is distinctly non-Asian, assumed that this "Oppa" had something to do with horses.

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quesera

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fxtentacle  4 days ago

What a brilliant comment :) I'm not sure if you're joking, but it certainly brightened up my day.

That Gangnam Style song is about riding and the associated up and down motion, just not related to horses. In that scene where he's watching the horses, he's singing:

"A true lady who is warm and human during the day, who is classy and knows how to enjoy a cup of coffee. But when night comes, her heart gets hot..." and then you see the horse moving its head up and down and he sings: "A lady who is kinky in that way"

And then you see him with 2 girls in his arms and he's using rather suggestive language:

"A man who one-shots ... his coffee. A man who won't let things cool down ... A man who bursts when night comes ... his heart. A man with few muscles and he is bulging ... with ideas."

Also, if you pay attention to it, you can hear that both gangnam songs are littered with audio samples of him and her moaning, e.g:

https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0?feature=shared&t=151

https://youtu.be/wcLNteez3c4?feature=shared&t=68

And then there's the famous elevator scene where his lyrics are: "A good woman appears calm, but knows how to have fun. She's reasonable and when it's the right time, she will let her hair down ..."

https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0?feature=shared&t=114

  • quesera  3 days ago

    Aha, (literal) llol. That's interesting.

    I am realizing now, that with no research or even conscious thought, I had settled on the idea that the song was some goofy Korean dude making a statement about the absurdity of late-stage capitalist sexualized excess, perhaps metaphorically asking who really is the horse and who really is the rider. And how we're all simultaneously instigator, enabler, beneficiary, and victim of same.

    I can go a few directions from here...

      1. I'm completely wrong, because obviously. Never attribute to self-reflection what can equally be explained by misogyny.
  2. I'm right! For which I present as evidence: the Mercedes taillights blinking in time to the beat, and the existence of the yellow guy. I'll accept credit for this theory even if the message was unintentional. :)
  3. Neither/all of the above. The artist asks the question which the public misinterprets as the answer, etc.

    I don't know what to believe, but please be gentle with me and understand that I was raised in a culture where Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, and Creedence Clearwater Revival are used as patriotic anthems at political rallies. Nothing is required to make sense.