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| The infamous horse dance |
The song instantly becomes a phenomenan & trending rapidly worldwide; and Malaysia is not behind in this. Talking about Gangnam Style particularly in Malaysia, the reactions were diverse. When I say diverse, it means the video received different response from different group of viewers. For some, it was received with much interest & people starts making parody of the video. Example from Malaysian are those from Hitz FM, Fly FM, Jinny Boy, and lots of other Youtubers. This lot regards this song as a total wrecking-brain song, make fun of it and make their own crazy version just for the sake of fun. Others like the catchy beat of the songs, and were addicted to it.
Some others might like it because of the naughty dance shown in the video. Coincidence or not, I have to admit that the dance move does look a bit like imitation of sex position. However it really depends on one's perspective - one might interpreted it as imitation of sex position, and another might looked at it as just a silly crazy horse dance move.
I would like to particularly comment on reaction by the 'religious' groups. You know, youngsters talking about religious stuff and attained a lot of favors and 'followers'. Some familiar names such as Hilal Asyraf, Angel Pakai Gucci, Rose Vermin, might comes to mind. I would also like to comment on some other Syeikh Facebook & Ustazah Twitter, and also the famous-anonymous Illuminati & anti-Yahudi freaks.
Before I start, let me clarify something. This is my personal opinion in my personal blog. Hence my disclaimer is, this entry is by no means a personal attack to any individual or religious group. This is just my general observation of situation & hence I deduce my opinion based on that. No offense is intended.
I believe that when one deals with a culture which is different from his or hers, one should realized that he or she must not only consider the exterior view of the culture. It is not only just about the culture itself, but the more important aspect of it - on how to perceive a culture, how to receive a culture, how to react to a culture, and how to think about a culture. Living abroad for 4 years & a half, I personally feel that such experience has trained us to step back, observe and give a deep thought about what is presented in front of us, grab a hold of clear & thorough view of the subject, to avoid from coming out with half-cooked or hasten judgment. This also explained why am I being meticulous over such a feeble (to some) subject like Gangnam Style. For me, it is more than just a silly video or a catchy-meaningless song.
From religion (specifically speaking, Islam) perspective, they are some very strict opinions which did not allow any form of music at all by or for a Muslim, where it has been perceived as 'haraam'. Some other opinions from other scholars suggested that music are 'halaal' as long as it doesn't lead us away from Allah & Islam.
Few reactions I've observed could be summarized as follows:
1. Music is haraam, and so automatically it applies to Gangnam Style as 'haraam' and so nullify all other arguments.
2. Following opinion which suggest music as 'halaal' as long as it is not associated with 'haraam' elements, it invites listeners & viewers to evaluate on the following aspects:
a. Does the song bring a good message to the listener?
b. Does the video contribute a good value to the viewers?
c. Does the dance reflect a good image & virtue of a Muslim/ Islam?
From the above questions and honest answers, one could find the answer to the question, 'Is Gangnam Style suitable for Muslims?'
3. For Illuminati-freaks, all elements in Gangnam Style video & song are associated with Illuminati conspiracies such as 'one-eye', peace-sign, cross-sign, etc. Such group claimed the ultimate goal behind Gangnam Style is to spread the influence of 'Illuminati'.
4. For anti-Yahudi freaks, all elements in Gangnam Style video & song are associated with 'Jewish conspiracy'. For example, lyrics of the song has been said to meant 'I want to be a Jew' or 'saya nak jadi Yahudi'. Hence this song is labelled as a 'soft weapon' by the Jewish to bring Muslims down and astray from Islam via entertainment & sex promotion.
5. For anti-Kpop group, they will generally oppose and sneer at everything related to KPop, be it Gangnam Style or not Gangnam Style.
For group 3 and 4, I advice for them to get a life. Such claims are irrelevant, illogical, groundless, and blatant nonsense. To all Muslims or non-Muslims out there, please do not get caught or tricked by such nonsense claim. First, the dance is a horse dance. Or might be a sexual dance -_-" It is normal in that sense, and has no relation to Illuminati. All the speculations about Illuminati in Gangnam Style is overrated, and are illusions of those who are obsessed with Illuminati. For the love of God, stop associating everything in the world with Illuminati.
Second, before jumping into conclusion, we might want to learn a bit of Korean language. To associate Gangnam Style lyrics with 'I want to be a Jew' is the most ignorant thing one could come out with. To those who spread out this false tales, please find something better to do. And to those who apparently fall into this trap and believe this propaganda, maybe can take this as a lesson learned - so that we will be reminded to ALWAYS RESEARCH first, before believing in something blindly.
Certain groups (sad to say) especially Malay Muslims, could easily fall into this type of lie. I would like to stress that when we received a news or statement, it is very important for us to do fact-check or research on that matter first, before coming out with any conclusion. There is no harm in researching; and for sure it is very easy to do. Access to Internet make you capable of almost anything - we can try to find the fact by ourselves first. Research and curiosity of truth is the key. The most important thing to keep in mind is, 'THINK first before believing.'
To put all the blames of entertainment & sex trend among the new generation solely on foreign culture also doesn't help. Most of us are well-aware that such entertainment from foreign countries might not be good for us and might not blend well within our local culture. However the root of the problem does not lies solely on the entertainment or sex promotion itself, but on the fact that we are easily influenced by those; which shows we do not have concrete self-belief, principle and true identity to face such waves. Our society has reached a worrying & alarming state.
Coming back to the issue of response by the religious group, I can't help but feeling disappointed.
The ultimate goal for a Muslim is to please God, and there is nothing more important than that. This is acknowledged by all practicing Muslims in the world, and because of this virtue that we hold, every Muslims' action will need to be referred to God. Will this please God or displeases Him? This is the question that we will asked.
However by focusing on this question alone, we forgot the fact that we live in a world which inhabited not only by Muslims, but also non-Muslims from various background. Hence it is crucial to realize that this world does not evolves around Muslims only. A thing shouldn't be viewed from Muslim's acceptance only. A culture should not be viewed from Islamic perspective only or it will do injustice to it. Such approach may block our curiosity to explore other culture - or the most dangerous - it will block our capacity, capability & curiosity to LEARN about other people.
It is not a few - where I stumbled upon comments such as, 'tak senonoh betul Gangnam Style ni... buang masa je tengok' or 'Gangnam Style ni merosakkan akhlak...terkangkang-kangkang...lirik ntah hape-hape...tak takut Tuhan ke tiru bende macam ni?'
With all respects, I have no intention whatsover to object this. I agree, too, that the dance really does not represent a very good image. It has no Islamic value; neither the video nor the lyrics. However, such comments stop there. And this is the very fact that is disturbing to me. Because it stops there. People discussed about music, choreography and lyrics of a song from Islamic perspective only, and it stops there.
Why does it happened?
Why is it happened in such a way?
Muslims or non-Muslims, we have to understand that a song is a form of arts. And so it shouldn't be discussed in such a shallow way as that. Art is abstract; it has no boundary. Behind arts, there is a story. The story can be as ridiculous as it can get, but there is always one. Hence, art can also bring us to history, culture, science, custom, literature, etc. Why are we, Muslims, restricted our mind and think from one view only, and did not venture to other field of discussions?
We have a Korean song in hand. First, it is in Korean (Hangul). From here, this song easily lead us to one topic: Language. Discuss about the lyrics. What do the lyrics mean? Is it justifiable for us to conclude this song as meaningless or nonsense if we don't even understand what does it talks about?
This song titled 'Gangnam Style'. What is Gangnam? It is the name of a district in South Korea. Now it leads us to geography of Korea. What is it so special about Gangnam? Is there any particular interesting aspect about Gangnam till it is featured in this song? There you go, it leads us to the culture & social life in Gangnam. What does it says about Gangnam? Lavish lifestyle, girls trying hard to be cool & hip. Is it always the case? Why the lyrics mentioned about the girl in two different situations? How is the situation in Gangnam evolved? Then we will be taken to its community & background history of the people there.
How about the video? Why does it shows the singer in a luxurious place, only to realize that most of them are actually just common places of regular folks in Gangnam? Is there a satire or cynical elements tried to be put forth here?
See? There are just so much things to discuss about here. Music has so much things to offer. Why are we, Muslims, restricted our mind goggling around aspects that concerned only Islam and refuse to open our mind to learn about other things? Why are we always so uninterested in learning? Why are we always refuse to open ourselves to discussion of various aspects? Why are we so comfortable in our own cocoon, our own world that we do not have even a slightest interest to think about other views, other perspectives, other 'world' outside 'us'? Why are we so ignorant about other knowledge that does not concern Islamic value? Why do we stop thinking beyond our boundaries? Why do we stop thinking beyond our Muslims community & culture?
Is this all we are made of? Is this all Muslims are made of? Is this all we can think of, all we can offer? This is really sad. How selfish we can be - that we talked about Islam as 'global' and 'universal', and yet we do not even try to think twice before tossing and condemning things that we don't even understand.
All am I trying to say is, maybe we can try to change. Maybe we can try to change our way of thinking, the way we react to something. Knowledge is just too vast, deeper than the oceans, wider than the sea. Don't take it for granted out of arrogance as a Muslim.
An excellent intellectual discussion about Gangnam Style under the lights of culture, history, arts & literature here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/gangnam-style-dissected-the-subversive-message-within-south-koreas-music-video-sensation/261462/#.UEWvtd9YPjk.facebook
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