This is a quote commonly attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche
who is a German philosopher although some people claim it's by Mark Twain.
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy he "challenged the
foundations of Christianity and traditional morality. […]Central to his
philosophy is the idea of 'life-affirmation,' which involves an honest questioning of all doctrines that
drain life's energies, however socially prevalent those views might be"(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche)In addition, Twain and Nietzsche both extensively wrote about the stifling
nature of "civilized adult society".
By introducing this quote at the start of the video, the viewer can
guess that the music video is related to the quote. Therefore, the question is
why did MGMT decide to put this captivating quote in the music video and what
this reveal about MGMT?
To answer that
question, we need to analyze the
music video after the quote. Before the song
is played, a countdown of numbers appears. In the background we can hear voices
of children counting down.However, if we take a closer look at the numbers,
the numbers have abnormal eyes and mouths on them. These numbers can be
interpreted as almost terrifying and monster like. This is an indicator that
the music video is going to be dark and disturbing although the music is upbeat
and happy.
The video starts out
with a horrified baby crying in his crib. Disturbing monsters are surrounding
the crib while the upbeat music is plays in the background. The scene is very
dark and upsetting, setting out the tone for the entire music video. These monsters
are also intertextual because they are monsters that would typically appear in
nightmares of children. Additionally the child can't escape from the monsters
because he's trapped inside the crib. Therefore, the crib can be suggested as a
semiotic for a cage-like structure of society where a child can't escape, which
also ties into the studies of Twain and Nietzsche.
As the mother walks
through walks through what appears to be a town or a city while holding her
baby, the baby starts crying again because he's seeing frightening monsters
dressed like adults everywhere. This scene reveals that the monsters are
actually adults who have become this way through the ugly nature of adult
society. This representation of adults again connects to the quote of Twain and
Nietzsche. Additionally, while the child is crying, we can see that the mother
doesn't notice her child because she's staring at her phone the entire time.
This reveals that only the child can see the monsters. Hence, the mother has
been shaped by society so she can't see the monsters and the child hasn't been
affected by society yet. In addition, while child walks between the monsters
the lyrics "control yourself take only what you need from it" is
heard. It can be suggested that the adults have become monsters because they
couldn't control themselves and took too much which can mean the adults also
represents the greed inside humans. 
Following this
another disturbing scene, the child runs away from the concrete town and
escapes into what appears to be the woods or a jungle. When he has finally
escaped from adult society he shows a cute smile.(I can't help but smile when I
see that grin.) This scene is significant because it shows that the child is
happy when he's alone and escaped the ugliness of adult society. Furthermore,
the back ground of trees and nature contrast with the concrete town from the
previous scene. Therefore, the freedom and wildness of nature where everything
can grow freely is contrasted with the constraining and terrifying nature of
adult society.
Next, out of nowhere
we are introduced to the artists of this song who are wearing a cross of 1980s
glam rock outfits and tins suits. The lead singer only looks once at the camera
and they are exuding an atmosphere of nostalgia. Because they were born around
the 1980s it can be interpreted that the artists are looking back at their own
childhoods are remembering how innocent they were. Moreover, the tin suits can
be understood as an reference to the idea of wearing hats to prevent the
government from acquiring your thoughts and brainwashing you. Therefore, the
artists are tying to avoid being corrupted by adult society and becoming
monsters.
Then, child is
returned to his mother by a police officer who's also a monster revealing that
law enforcement is also corrupted. Then, the baby is sitting in a baby seat
with bars like prison bars on the side of it. Just as the crib earlier in the
video, the bars are a representation of the constraining nature of adult
society.
From the scene
inside the car the video takes a weird turn. Suddenly, a wolf and Muppet-like
toys appear on the screen. However, the way they're conveyed is very unnatural
and possibly upsetting. The depiction of
the wolf and toys are similar to the kids shows "Sesame Street" and
"The Muppets", possibly suggesting these shows are what's turning
innocent children into corrupted adults.
Finally, the video
alters into a cartoon where a naked women, a crying baby, a witch, fishes eaten
by bigger fish, a pig ballerina, hotdogs, pizza, ghosts and many more absurd
images appear. Each image can be interpreted as a reference to the idea of greed,
monsters, adult society and the quote at the beginning of the video.
For
example, the naked women could act as a symbol for mother nature and her
expanding hair perhaps represents the resources it provides. In that case, the
following depictions of hot dogs, eaten fish and a face of man on a boat
polluting the ocean could be interpreted a the greed of humans which are
destroying mother nature.
Another example is the witch and ghosts. These are
images that are generally regarded as scary therefore reinforcing the
nightmarish nature of adult society. At the very end of the cartoon, the child
is chased after by a monster and then picked up by the cartoon of the lead
singer which turns into a monster then into an abyss which the child is thrown
into. This final scene has a clear connection with the quote introduced in the
beginning of the video and depicts how the child was swallowed by the monsters
representing adult society and wasn't able to escape from the abyss.
So, what does this
video reveal about MGMT? It reveals their cynical view towards adult society as well as how they think many adults have become monsters because they were
"not able to control themselves" and succumbed to the "abyss"
of greed. It also reveals their emphasis on the innocence of children and
possible sentimental feelings towards their childhoods. Perhaps MGMT made this
video to warn the viewers of the ugly nature of society and to encourage people
not to succumb to greed. Or perhaps they wanted to express their ideas about
adult society and the innocence of children to the worlds.
Although there are
some corrupted parts in adult society,
everything isn't negative. There can be positives found such as
kindness. Personally, I like to view the world optimistically. However, it's
important that people have negative views towards society like MGMT because we
can identify and fix the negatives of society and make it better.
