Gorillaz - El Manana



Music Video. Not just music. Not just video. One with the other. Once seen together, inseparable. Most music videos... a means of entertainment. Entertainment... in this case, no longer. The Gorillaz, an innovative band that formed in 1998, has taken music and video to a new playing field. When people thinks Gorillaz, can they put faces to the name? Yes--2D, Murdoc, Russell, and Noodle. Can people put human faces to the characters? Most likely not. This is of major importance! The audience can no longer judge the band by the actual band members actions in the real world. They can only make connection with what is seen in video, or in concert. Talk about freedom! Any bias formed against the band can only be connected with the sound of the music or the issues addressed in video.

This concept gives the band great power in their music videos to address the given issue(s). In this case, childhood innocence, adulthood war, mental freedom, mass culture, paradise, even a view into the human psyche. What? All that was in this four minute video? ...hard to believe, now isn't it! It is misleading at first. Any video like this can be easily forgotten or pushed aside by a viewer that knows nothing about the Gorillaz. Concepts of video(see subtitle "Aura" and if even futher interested, this text) are just as easily forgotten or neglected. Do people actually realize that watching a violent movie is nothing compared to reality? Video as entertainment, can quickly desensitize the viewer, whereas in this case, every wit the same viewer has, must be used to understand the issues being addressed. Is the average citizen still even capable to do so after such numerous exposure and desensitization?

Question after question after question! In the end, all questions lead to one more important question that leads only to more questions. Just why is the creator(s) of the video addressing the issue given current worldly situations? Now thats a big question!