I miss “making the video”
where’s my ring pop and password journal? I have some feelings about this n*sync episode
I have a confession to make: I did not have cable television growing up. I think my dad splurged for it during the 1996, 1997, and 1998 nba championship seasons because of the chicago bulls..duh. other than that, I only got my mtv fix at katey campbell’s apartment or my disney channel fix while hiding in my aunt rachel’s room after christmas dinner. that was until one fateful day when the universe blessed me by showing lizzie mcguire and mary-kate and ashley’s animated carmen san diego-type show on abc’s one saturday morning segment. sigh. I digress! I was obsessed with magazines and got my pop culture fix there, but at the true emergence of the “digital age”, the new millennium, I wanted to see MOVING images! I wanted to see the culmination of all trends, brands, and up-and-coming celebs together with music. I wanted music videos, and that’s how I fell in love with “making the video”.
another confession: I have never been the biggest fan of music videos. only because I didn’t understand why they weren’t more attuned (pun intended) to the theme of the song. I generally felt like they were completely unrelated, which I think is okay now because I’m an adult and understand the concept of various art mediums. as a kid though, I was looking for literality. and that’s why I loved “making the video” - because I got to see both sides and get an understanding for why the concept for the music video might be different than the message or storyline of the song. I got to see the artist in their true form and the process at its “rawest” (you know, for television). it was the beginning of reality tv as we know it. like the pages of my magazines jumped into my tv and not in an annoying commercial way - in a vibrant, cool way.
you know when you’re really little and you’re in pre-school and the teacher shows you different professions you can aspire to like a teacher, veterinarian, fire fighter, postal service worker, or the president? I never felt like anything I saw in school even came close to what I wanted for my life, but when I saw “making the video” it opened up my world. I wanted to dress celebrities and tell stories and see ideas come to life. and here we are today.
if you’re feeling nostalgic, I found this youtube playlist with 55 different episodes from the show. granted there were 12 seasons in total, but these are the early y2k highlights (like britney’s “oops!…I did it again”!!!) enjoy!
