Leave Rebecca Black Alone!
Manolo says, the entire interwebs are in the uproarious uproar over the ridiculous and inane pop video from the moderately untalented singing teen girl named Rebecca Black.
Frankly, the Manolo does not see what is about all of the fuss.
Yes, the lyrics are silly, and the girl’s voice, or what can be heard of it through the auto-tuning, is not especially good, and the rap break is perhaps the little bit creepy, but otherwise this is not even close to being the Worst Song Ever. Indeed, it admirably fulfills the pop necessity of catchieness, sticking in your head long after you wish it would go far, far away.
However, what the contrarian Manolo appreciates the most is that this video is so innocently innocent.
Rather than the hyper-sexualized Cryus-beast, gyrating lewdly to the salacious music, we have the real-life, dippy, thirteen-year-old girl innocently singing about hangin’ with her extra double dippy friends…
The video for the “Friday” is refreshing and honest and silly, and it makes the Manolo unexpectedly happy. There is none of that pose of adult dissipation and sexual knowingness that makes much of the teen pop music tiresome. It is just the silly fun video.
So, please, leave the Rebecca Black alone. She is having fun.
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Comments
Genna 13 years ago
I happen to agree with you. No need to make fun of her. She’s precious and for how terrible the song is (lyrics mainly), she kind of pulls it off! So I say leave R Bizzle alone and pump this jam after your 3rd glass of champers!
'nora 13 years ago
It is on the days when I am most jaded and cynical that the Manolo somehow manages to come to the rescue with the kindness and the generosity of spirit as well as with the beautiful shoes.
I do not know how the Manolo manages to time these things so well, but I am grateful.
katkova 13 years ago
My dear Manolo- Although I thought it not possible, my love for you has just grown! Thank you for standing up for this sweet girl. Among all the tasteless and crass media strewn along the highway of the internets, this is an oasis of innocence.
Alell 13 years ago
Amen amen amen. Poor girl didn’t write the song, she won a contest. Let her be a carefree teen, world! Leave her alone.
Virginia Postrel 13 years ago
You’re so right, Manolo. She’s adorable. But it’s hard to believe she’s really 13. She looks much older. And how many 13 year olds have friends who can drive?
Jenifersf 13 years ago
I don’t see it as any worse than any Katy Perry or Lady Gaga or Rihanna song, in fact, I prefer it.
Cris 13 years ago
The world’s opinion makers need someone made up as a corpse, dressed like a hooker, moaning gloom and doom to validate their malaise.
Meh.
The kid’s all right.
Dani 13 years ago
Any girl who lets her friends with braces be in her video is all right by me. Rock on, Rebecca!
erik nabler 13 years ago
I heartily concur with the Manolo and the above sentiments. The girl seems nice, the song is catchy and frothy. Not bad to listen to. I hope the girl enjoys the benefits of brief fame and does not let the haters get to her.
raincoaster 13 years ago
Oh, I dunno. The thing about people who make music videos and have PR campaigns and makeup artists and stylists for their Big Break is, they WANT you to look at them. Sure, she’s not vulgar. She’s not, as far as I can tell, felonious either, but simply not possessing negative traits exhibited by other exhibitionists isn’t laudatory. It’s just, well, what people should be like. I refer you to Chris Rock’s infamous N-word vs Black People rant.
It’s perfectly fair to judge her on what she does, not what she doesn’t. She is autotuned to within an inch of her life and it’s STILL obvious that she’s a rotten singer. It’s an awful song. Every single “Day of the week” song the video references is VASTLY better than this tissue-weight earworm.
The thing about the Rickroll is, that song is actually GOOD.
Erik Nabler 13 years ago
Ah Raincoaster, I must disagree. In the kingdom of the blind a one-eyed man would be king. Not having the negative traits of others is indeed laudatory. Everything is relative, my son. Or my daughter (although not as far as I know) as the case may be.
Many people are judged on what they don’t do. By not doing bad things, you certainly exhibit a certain degree of wholesomeness, or at least the ability to dissemble.
K2 13 years ago
In the spirit of full disclosure and information awareness, I think the Manolo may be interested to know Ms. Black’s song and video is the production work of an outfit called Ark Music Factory, where parents who have more money than their offspring have ability can pay for pop-stardom to be manufactured.
Personally I think she’s a great kid with much poise (as demonstrated in numerous interviews and appearances since the song debut), but her perma-smile in the video creeps me out.
theDiva 13 years ago
Dear Manolo, you are a truly sweet spirit.
Miss Black is very cute, as are her pals, and it’s refreshing to see an aspiring teen popstar without 90% of her flesh showing.
As for her musical chops, in my estimation such videos and songs are not made for the aficionados among us. Despite living in a home where Thelonious Monk and Vivaldi and the Goose Creek Symphony were in heavy rotation, I listened an awful lot to !!77-WABC!! as a youngster. Our tastes mature as we do.
ChaChaheels 13 years ago
There’s something to be said for the fact that teenaged girls this age rarely see themselves in the media as they actually are. Since so much of the pop music marketing is aimed directly at girls this age, it’s sad they aren’t actually seeing themselves reflected in the media around them. Yes this girl is kind of dippy, and sweet, and having a good time with her friends–but she’s almost completely on her own out there. I like that she’s decided to make her own media, and have a good time while she’s doing just that.
Bridey 13 years ago
I don’t see how it much matters that her parents indulged her by paying for the production; it’s obviously professionally produced, and most 13-year-olds can’t do that on their allowance money. She seems like a nice kid, she didn’t choose friends who look like models and/or hookers, and she doesn’t sing any worse than Taylor Swift (who has considerable songwriting abilities, but as a singer — well).
Anyway, it always startles me a bit that grownups care about this stuff at all. I’m an old-fashioned soul, but the hostility adults show toward, say, Justin Bieber — a perfectly harmless artist of the venerable bubblegum variety — seems very strange. I can’t imagine my parents having given even two minutes’ thought to Bobby Sherman or David Cassidy.
raincoaster 13 years ago
I’d bet when Bobby Sherman or David Cassidy made a million dollars in one week, our parents noticed.
Bridey 13 years ago
Perhaps. But my parents, anyway, wouldn’t have noticed, or cared if they had. They were a bit on the boho side, as far as pop culture, and figured things like prefab sugar pop were for children and harmless in that context.
As I said, adults even thinking about, much less spewing venom about, a 16-year-old who sings pop for tween girls just strikes me as a very odd use of emotional energy.
Karlo 13 years ago
I agree with Raincoaster.
Long Island 13 years ago
Lady Gaga has now defended Rebecca Black. She must read the Manolo!
Gregory Despain 13 years ago
And I wrote my first comment before watching her interview on Good Morning America. I’m even more impressed now with this bright, articulate young lady who has a very appealing singing voice and no shortage of stage presence. I wish her well.
lolooool 12 years ago
someone please tell me the name of the girl on the left