With the release of this video, “I’ve Got A Boy” by Girls Generation, feminist commentators and experts in the semiotic analysis of Kpop now have years of work cut out for them. Girls Generation was the most popular act in Kpop, and probably in Asia, for several years before chubby newcomer Psy came along with his billion views global smash, “Gangnam Style.” Their recent hit, “Mr. Taxi,” for instance was the hugest deal in Kpop evah, by any standards, until Psy came along and won over the world with his delightfully comic horse-riding dance. Perhaps out of jealousy at being upstaged by Psy’s surprise success or perhaps sensing that the global Kpop moment is right now, Girls Generation have released their biggest and most elaborate video yet. Clocking in at over four minutes, “I Got a Boy” includes more color and movement than all of Disney’s Fantasia. The look is so big, the number of sexual suggestions so numerous, that the video strains not only credulity but also cliché. Old chestnuts like “over the top” and “pulling out all the stops” do nothing to describe this. This is a psychedelic empire of girlie teenage lust unto itself. The music too, is bigger and more portentous than usual. The several abrupt cuts and tempo changes grab the audience’s attention and heighten the drama of some of the costume changes. Whatever else this video is, it has more surprises in it than you could possibly imagine.
