Okay. This video pretty much speaks for itself, but I'll attempt a few comments. There is so much going on here in terms of drag, masquerade, race, age, and performance. Here we have a plump, writhing child doing an eerily accurate and very serviceable rendition of a Christina Aguilera video, spawning divergent reactions in people.
This video is often labeled as "disturbing," and it's hard to discern if people are bothered by the overt sexualization of a child, or the cross-dressing element.
Personally, I'm kinda blown away by the virtuosity and precision of this kid's performance: any chubby five-year old who can do a body roll (a choreographic undulation that plenty of adults can't master) gets a pass in my book. On the other hand, the intent and production of this video does disturb me a bit: there seems to be a enforced trick-pony element here that doesn't look entirely voluntary. This isn't a candid, captured moment of a little boy indulging in some playful, entertaining cross-dressing, as if his parents just found him joyfully running around in his mom's shoes and jewelry and decided to tape it. Rather, this is a rigorously rehearsed, highly constructed mimetic performance where the little boy is going through the motions with intense concentration.
Since a lot of the videos are consciously labeled "Little Asian Boy,"I wonder if viewers are making inevitable connections with race, i.e. asian children are perfectionist prodigies no matter what they do. I have to admit, I was powerfully reminded of when I used to play cello and went to Suzuki workshops. If you're not familiar, Suzuki is the school of musical pedagogy that emphasizes utterly flawless technique and almost mind-numbing repetition until you are perfect. I remember going to a workshop when I was about 10 (already ancient by Suzuki standards), and seeing this asian toddler with a cello that was the size of a viola, sitting on a foot stool because she was so small and rocking the shit out of the pieces we were playing. She was undeniably perfect, but her parents were watching her with close scrutiny, and there didn't seem to be any joy or freedom to her performance--rather like this little boy, who doesn't seem to be having fun playing dress up
No comments:
Post a Comment