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A Pseudo-intellectual on the K-Pop break


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Saw the video on the K-pop break from Blue Devils a while back, wasn’t opposed to the idea wanted to see it live and get the effect before I passed judgement.
I finally saw it live and as of now, I’m not sold and I think it’s poorly designed. Still not opposed to the idea and I’ll start off ignoring the typical gripe some have about a corps dancing to sampled music.
Having seen the Got7 rehearsal video, I understand the dance is basically a riff of the Got7 dance but that dance doesn’t read well from up in the stands, more so with their baggy, multi-colored uniforms. The shoulder shimmy really gets lost, cluttered, looks spastic. I think it will always look dirty, by design. Currently it is preformed poorly. From member to member there is a great variation in angles, how far they push shoulders to the side etc..they are staged so closely, it looks like some have to twist to fit the dance in which, makes it look even worse. They generally have the basics and timing but…I don’t expect horn players to sell a unified dance number such as this and they don’t. Credit for the attempt, to get that many people in-synch (nsync?) on that sort of dance is a difficult task. They seem to try and mitigate the dirt by keeping it short, plugging the guard in front to lead the dance and then scatter out of it but we’re use to a bit better visual technique in the top corps. The Guard then continues the dance and they do an alright good job but wow, Got7 are far better dancers, it’s a Box 3 to a Box 5 comparison… guess that’s the problem with lifting from the pros.
I was also confused at how a boy-band pop song fit the theme, more so one in Korean where it’s lyric would be lost on most the crowd. Why not just use a One Direction, Back Street Boys or…. I’d guess any of those band would have something that fits. Why use K-pop and not just pop? Is it more artful? Less Tween? Is it less blatant they are presenting a boy bands’ music and visual package in their show because it foreign? Is Got7 therefore, more respectable than Boyz 2 Men? I just don’t get why they aren’t doing a Westlife song and dance instead. I don’t feel the sound or samples are such a prefect fit that it’s the only thing that can be used.
I’ve been told on this board, it is meant to the seductive dance a version of ‘Hey Little Gril’ from the musical so let’s go to the lyrics of the original and then some comments I found about the Disney Version and then the Got7 lyrics’ English version which appear to have a completely different intent, which makes the choice of Got7 even more confounding. About the only connection I can find between the songs is that the girl, Little Red is chubby or plump
Overall, it doesn’t read well, isn’t done well and doesn’t fit according to the original intent of the composer.
Musically, you can tell me
an interesting bit I found on Into the Woods that K-pop fills in for
Countless theater chatroom commenters have debated the song's double-meanings, pointing out lascivious symbols like Red's lust-colored cape and object of exploration: flowers, alluding to virginity. The companion number to "Hello, Little Girl" is Red's "I Know Things Now," which has often been interpreted as the character's response to a first sexual encounter. Sondheim has said this was an objection during the adaptation process, along with the onscreen fate of some characters.
So how did the Disney release specifically handle Depp and Crawford's sexualized song?
"Delicately, very delicately; we were aware of the implications," producer John DeLuca told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's premiere earlier this month. "And we really wanted to hire kids on this — you don’t do that onstage, they're [usually] older. ... So we just found our way, not making it too heavy on the pedophilia front."
Musically, "it's a very difficult thing because it's inherent in the lyrics," said music producer and supervisor Michael Higham, who also collaborated with Depp on the 2007 movie-musicalSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. While the arrangement remains largely untouched, "we emphasized the woodwinds to make it feel a little lighter, especially the flutes. And we just made it a little jazzier — played more on the walking bass line. Inherently, when it has a jazz feel, it just feels lighter."
The key of the original song was also lowered to fit Depp's range, which presents an even starker contrast to Crawford's pure soprano lines. "The nice thing is that the introduction of the song is still dark, so you don't quite know where you are," Higham added of the low notes that ground Depp's growls and initial lyrics. "The moment Johnny starts into his upbeat section [with Crawford], it's just fun."
Crawford wasn't intimidated to star as the target of the film's most predatory scene. "You can play it so many ways, so just don't play it that way!" she laughed. "We kind of staged it as maybe that creepy guy who's like, 'Hey, get in the van, and he turns out to be a kidnapper.' That's kind of how it was."
Despite the changes to the arrangements and costume designer Colleen Atwood's Tex Avery-inspired lupine zoot suit, which hides the character's animalistic anatomy, the Wolf still circles around Red with enough suggestion to trigger some shivers, especially as he sings, "Look at that flesh, pink and plump, Hello, little girl."
Of the decision to keep enough of the track's innuendo of insatiability onscreen, DeLuca said, "You have to — he has to be the temptation of pulling her off this path to the flowers, to the awakening. The temptation of something alluring, something attractive. But no, we couldn't hit it over the head."
The lyrics also include the kicker: "There's no possible way to describe what you feel when you're talking to your meal!" But DeLuca isn't concerned about a backlash from parents who see the Christmas Day release with their young ones.
"I'm not worried about that at all, because of the way we treated it," he explained. "See, because the child sees life so much differently: you see what you look for in something, and the child sees this crazy wolf that she has made human. He just wants to eat her, he really wants to devour her — he's hungry! So many people that have brought their kids to see it, the kids love it because they see it from their vantage point." DeLuca also noted that parents "love it too," because they understand the suggestiveness that goes over their children's heads.
"This movie is a reality check, but it's also mixed with fantasy," added Crawford of her character's interaction with Depp's Wolf. "It's all about growing up and becoming an adult, leaving your childhood and becoming a young woman. I think so many girls my age can relate to that — even I can, and that's what so special about Little Red Riding Hood in this version."
here is Hello, little Girl
Look at that flesh
Pink and plump.
Hello, little girl...
Tender and fresh,
Not one lump.
Hello, little girl...
This one's especially lush,
Delicious...
Hello, little girl,
What's your rush?
You're missing all the flowers.
The sun won't set for hours,
Take your time.
[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
Mother said,
"Straight ahead,"
Not to delay or be misled.
[WOLF]
But slow, little girl,
Hark and hush-
The birds are singing sweetly.
You'll miss the birds completely,
You're traveling so fleetly.
Grandmother first,
Then Miss Plump...
What a delectable couple:
Utter perfection-
One brittle, one supple-
One moment, my dear-!
[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
Mother said,
"Come what may,
Follow the path
And never stray."
[WOLF]
Just so, little girl-
Any path.
So many worth exploring.
Just one would be so boring.
And look what you're ignoring...
Think of those crisp,
Aging bones,
Then something fresh on the palate,
Think of that scrumptious carnality
Twice in one day-!
There's no possible way
To describe what you feel
When you're talking to your meal. (GROWL) for granny
[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
Mother said
Not to stray.
Still I suppose,
A small delay...
Granny might like
A fresh bouquet...
Goodbye, Mr. Wolf.
[WOLF]
Goodbye, little girl.
And hello...
(howls)

and Got7 I love you

English Translation:

Listen to me carefully, I like you
Your small height, your high-bridged nose, your cherry-like lips
Without any technique, when you put your lips on mine
You don’t know how pretty you are, it’s so sweet that I get shocked each time
But why don’t you know how special you are?
No matter what girl you bring me, I’ll pick you

You’re not flashy but you softly glow
Like the moon in the night sky
Like the flowers in the field
You seem plain but you’re special
Like a gem that can ben seen to people who know

You say you’re not pretty, that your eyes are small, your nose is small and you’re not skinny
You say you’re chubby, you’re short and that other girls are so pretty
You ask why I like you but stop worrying about that, trust me and don’t worry
You’re different from other girls, in a world where there’s so many party girls
You’re like a cold drink of water that will never make me go ill
If you’re not here, I get thirsty, I get dried up like a splitting ground
You don’t know how happy you make me

More than a pretty actress
More than a skinny model
I like your bright smile
More than anyone in this world
More than any other girl
You’re the prettiest to me
Trust me
No matter what anyone says (Let’s break it down now)

Edited by cowtown
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I was amused that Blue Devils had many on here defending their rip of a tween boy band as art so wanted to check it out. It doesn’t even withstand thematic scrutiny

It’s kind of cool as a drum corps troll though

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I know it doesn't translate well on Hi camera that's for sure.

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Is this the video of GOT7 rehearsing to which you were referring, cowtown?

Regarding the sexual undertones in the "Little Red Riding Hood" fairy tale, I'll just note that they were recognized long before Sondheim and Lapine wrote Into the Woods.

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From what I've read on this forum, the line "I like you" (which is apparently what the voice over is saying) is from some version of little red riding hood where the wolf is dancing around her and saying those words. Hence the guard members dressed like wolves.

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It's awful and now people are attempting to intellectualize it. Any other corps doing it, would to have referred to it as cheesy and a cheap shot at effect. I'm calling it as I see it regardless of what corps is doing it.

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Kpoop

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