A Analysis of the Music Video "Kids" by MGMT

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

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.