I was turned on to this video by one of our esteemed editors (Hi, Jonathan!). And I love it.
This is why we’re here–at the crossroads of media, culture, and technology. It’s so easy to sit and click on the “donate now” tab on the social change fundraising page, but quite another to endanger your life because you post a music video on YouTube.
A little background: Beygairat Brigade are three young Pakistani men whose satire video “Aalu Anday” has become a huge success in their home country as well as now being forwarded around the world. Not only does it have a meaningful message about the dangers of extremism, but it’s a really good song, too.
Well, the reason that I wanted to see this on our site is that, in my opinion, many of us in the West are not using social media and YouTube to its full power as a tool of societal change. Perhaps that’s what made Dan Savage’s ‘It Gets Better’ campaign so refreshing.
In other parts of the globe however, making something as benign as a music video like this really is radical. And it can cost you your life.
The makers of this song are clever to have such a heavy topic coded in a song about egg and potato curry.
They took a huge risk. And they’re able to get their frustrations about Islamic fundamentalism out to the world at large via a well-produced video. It shouldn’t be ignored that the three young Pakistani men are clearly of means and were able to have a polished music video created in the first place.
Still, the use of YouTube to challenge the status quo is done very well with this song and I applaud it.
The impact of video messages in a country like Pakistan, where low literacy rates undermine print media, can be huge.
A viral video that came out when I was in Pakistan back in 2009, showing the Pakistani Taliban publicly flogging a women, had a huge impact in turning popular opinion against them (more here: http://bit.ly/sDHeid)
That said, this looks to be targeted more toward the educated set, or maybe even foreigners like us, hence the signs in English.
My favorite is the “This Video Made by Zionists” one, poking fun at the habit in Pakistani politics of writing off anything you disagree with as a zionist conspiracy.