In our digital age, where we are (or should be) trained to be skeptical about everything we read and see – was that model photoshopped? Was that anti-vaccine information published in a scientific journal or by a non-PhD holding, former Playmate? Was that B-level celebrity’s meltdown just an attempt to gain publicity and attention? – I especially enjoy coming across moments that reveal genuine emotion.
Last night, the Grammy Awards had just such a moment.
Macklemore & Lewis took the stage to perform their equality anthem, “Same Love” and near the end of the song, Queen Latifah came out and performed a brief ceremony to wed 35 couples – gay straight, inter-racial, young and old – all at the same time.
Witnessing the emotions of the couples getting married would’ve been enough (er, if you can overlook the Moonie overtones!) but even better was seeing the celebrities in the audience, most of whom have been probably been media-trained to be near robots (“when you see a camera – any camera – big smile!”) crying and hugging and smiling widely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwlNbLdP7fo
“Same Love” – Macklemore & Lewis
On a similar note but focused on humour, I love this parody of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” performed by a “unique” looking man on ChatRoulette. Normally, ChatRoulette videos result in a range of emotions. But usually that range is limited to horror, revulsion and disgust.
The beauty of this clip is not one onlooker, no matter how “cool” or “detached” they try to stay, ends up doing anything but smiling, laughing, or singing along when they see what’s popped up on their screen.
Again, I just love the genuine humanity of the reactions in this clip – no cynicism, no attitude, just pure unfiltered human joy…
“Wrecking Ball” (ChatRoulette Parody) – Steve Kardynl