Feb 262011
Dear RTH brethren,
I need your assistance in understanding a cultural movement. This series of videos were brought to my attention by Mr. Royale, who is a high school teacher, and who is able to tap in to the youth zeitgeist on a daily basis. Perhaps I’m too old. Perhaps there has been a shift in the cosmos. I need you to help me understand…The Double Rainbow (phenomenon).
Here is the original video. Perhaps you have seen it.
Since the original posting on 1/8/2010, it has spawned many imitators. Take your pick of just a few of the myriad of musical styles:
I thought the original was pretty funny, but the various “remixes” do little for me. It’s like The Kidz have trouble handling the idea of actually being blown away by anything and need to quickly “tie it down” in these contemporary formats.
How’s that for sounding a million years old?:)
My explanation,
These days viral videos are the equivalent of the yo-yo, hula hoop, rubix cube ..etc of yesteryear. Here today gone tomorrow. But once it’s here EVERYONE jumps on board to share in the cultural phenomenon.
The popularity of the double rainbow is rather intangible. If you were to describe the video to a friend you would be met with “that doesn’t sound funny at all”. But once you see the video, you walk away with you’re own interpretation. Was it funny, stupid, not funny at all or m’eh. In this case, we have no idea why the videographer reacted (re: overreacted) in such a way to a simple natural phenomenon. Which leaves the viewer to fill in the blanks with their own interpretation (rap, metal, folk versions).
That’s the way I see it.
Love it! I am dumb-founded by the virility of the original. I guess my clues about it’s success come from viewer comments that 1. it sounds like porn, and 2. it makes you wonder “what do you suppose he’s on.” There’s even a video showing a grandmother’s reaction to watching the original version – she is bewildered to say the least!
That shredder guy will latch onto anything to try and get noticed for his awesome shredding. These days, the Internet is full of people having inappropriate reactions to everything, so I tend to think it’s all bullshit just to get noticed.
Man, you’re just now digging the glory of the Double Rainbow? Hell, it’s so popular it even makes an appearance on the Nuketown multiplayer map in Call of Duty: Black Ops! Love the rainbow. Have the soundboard app on my iPod.
I gotta figure out the secret to instant celebrity online. Being regular just ain’t cutting it.
It’s like a t-shirt that has something kind of funny on it. That works once, maybe, but are you going to wear the damned thing a bunch of times, unless it actually has something else going for it?
I’m with stupid, indeed.
I know, I’m very late coming upon The Double Rainbow. Mr. Royale’s students were shocked that he hadn’t heard of the whole of it/him/them. But I guess that’s my point: I missed it and wouldn’t have known about it unless the youngsters had laughed at us for being so out of touch. And that these odd cultural swellings could occur around THAT? Tres bizarre, n’est ce-que pas?
This net celebrity thing is worth what you pay for it; nothing. It costs no money and very little time and creativity to piggyback on something already “liked” by 100,000 people who were so invested that they pressed a button. Do this and you too can be “liked” by a fraction of those 100,000.
I’m with the guys who are with Stupid.