With the rise of “democratic” public media, the internet, and YouTube, we have been given the almost mythic capacity to scavenge our collective memory and stroll through its dark corridors.
These days, our childhood memories are comprised of bits of reality interwoven with shreds of media images. In the past fifty years of popular media, the content viewed on television or in cinemas has become an essential part of our memory and thus our identity. This “old medium” of television and cinema, unlike YouTube, did enable us to choose, but from a more passive and limited array of possibilities.
A confrontation with personal childhood memories beyond their ever-changing impression is impossible. Memory is a shape-shifter that adjusts according to our current interpretations of the past depending on our present personal state. Like gold fish that can only retain 3 seconds of memory, our original experiences repeatedly dissolve into dust and we are left with only their shadow.
What a delight it is then, to discover that a confrontation with media memory is possible and just one click away via YouTube. Nevertheless, it is a brave decision, considering the possible consequences. The sparkly layer of nostalgia and magic which covers our childhood memories might maintain its place or be blown away only to reveal primitive media props and the overly active imagination of a child.
One of the examples I found in common with many friends is the reencounter with BBC’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. It was an insightful yet painful incident in which a once charismatic lion in a magical British land (imagine that), turned in front of my now mature eyes, into a lion whose mouth was terribly out of sync with his still charismatic voice, and roamed his not so magical land with some second rate child actors - probably the producers kids. A swift transition from magic to cheese ensued. All viewers, disenchanted by what they saw, agreed this one should have been left untouched and regretted succumbing to the moment of temptation. Some magic should stay in its realm.
But not all quests, adventures, and YouTube dives come to such a tragic ending, and some actually age as well as good wine. During one of my own recent dives into the YouTube arena, I stumbled upon a music video that has long been one of my most vivid childhood memories; sitting too close to the TV in my parent’s living room in Israel watching Channel 1 - the single and only channel available at the time. Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was one of the fillers that the station used to broadcast in those days before commercials, in between endless re-runs of only two selected shows.
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” is a classic cheesy pop song, embarrassing in its heart throbbing effectiveness. Like all pop classics, this song combines nauseating artificiality and shallowness with deep, dark sentimentality which enables it to tap into a common denominator. Doing so, it transcends time and thus is still on playlists. The music video, viewed again today has the original and intended affect, but it also has layers of meaning that originally went unnoticed, thus lying in wait to be rediscovered by some unsuspecting viewer. I was about to be just such a viewer.
One thing is for certain, this music video is bizarre and hilarious.
It offers impossible combinations of floating choir boys with glowing eyes, fighting ninjas, football players, religious images of “the Last Supper” with the holy ghost’s white dove, and half naked prep school boys circling an innocent looking lamb, Bonnie Tyler herself. Upon initial viewing it might look like a real mess, but that is not the case. Russell Mulcahy, one of the pioneers of the music video format as we know it, and the one responsible for the video that launched MTV broadcasts, knew what he was doing when he made this video.
Looking past my own vague childhood memories, the smoke machine, the strong back light, the lubed bodies, and Tyler’s overly puffy hair, I was able to discover something new.
Beyond the typically “over the top” 80’s images cut together in a seemingly random way, there is an underlying narrative which is concealed ever so politely. The video tells the story of a modest school teacher’s struggle with a consuming sexual fantasy about her students, a group of young, virile teenaged boys. The sexual context is revealed in various ways. My favorite is when Tyler words stir nature when she sings “sometimes I think of something wild” and a strong gust of wind suddenly bursts open the uniforms of proper school boys, exposing their bald and bare chests. In another instant, Tyler runs towards the boys dressed in their Football uniforms, only to bump into a mirror and be faced with her own reflection. White table cloths, lit candles, and religious symbols crash to the floor in an oversaturated depiction of Tyler’s moral struggle..
Curiosity can kill a cat, but sometimes it might lead one on a really awesome adventure. Unlike the BBC’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, (of which I am not even including a link so as to protect the innocent), I am very proud to present my recent re-discovery for all those who have not been overtaken with the cynicism of our times, and are shamelessly and fearlessly willing to be moved again by cheese at its darkest, deepest, and highest level.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND DIVE HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-SR6EA-JtA
Shoval Zohar is a filmmaker, animator and when th emood strikes her performer. In exile from her native Israel, she currently dwells in NYC where she is finishing two shorts and curating screenings in NYC, Chicago, Europe and hopefully later the Middle East!
www.thefuturefilms.com
www.shovalzohar.com
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