Gangnam Style
Posted on October 11th, 2012 by Jenny White
I’m totally hooked on this deliciously fun music video. No, it’s not about Turkey. It’s a spoof on an upper-class district called Gangnam in Seoul, South Korea. So I can claim it as social criticism. And the performer PSY was once a student at Boston University. But really, I thought this might distract us just for a moment from the brutality besetting the world. A mental health break, if you will.
Look up “Mitt Romney Style”
Saw that. Hilarious.
I heard someone translate one of the lines in the song as having to do with downing a coffee, all in one go, “before it even cools down.” I talked about this with a Turk—how coffee is quite a luxury in Korea, and you could buy a meal for the price of a coffee.
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She seem to think that, really, it’s the same way in Turkey. Going to Starbucks is more a status symbol than anything else. People will scrimp on food so they can get a cup of coffee—and “be seen”—in the local Starbucks.
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There. Just brought it back to Turkey.
Here’s a quote from Psy: “People who are actually from Gangnam never proclaim that they are—it’s only the posers and wannabes that put on these airs and say that they are “Gangnam Style” — so this song is actually poking fun at those kinds of people who are trying so hard to be something that they’re not.” That should explain its slick irreverence a bit – fun!
Just for the record, the price of coffee in a Seoul cafe is not that much more expensive than one in the US. In fact, coffee bars are ubiquitous in Seoul and are very popular hangouts for young people on dates. Things really heat up at those places around 10PM at night.