Tuesday, May 12, 2009

American Money

There is a glimpse of money in the music video below, and it says something about the perceived value of money. (If you’re in a hurry, just watch the segment from 0:49 to 0:54.)

This is a Russian band, singing in Russian to a mostly European audience, yet when the video shows money, it’s U.S. currency. My guess is that the reasons t.a.t.u. are showing American money in this particular video are:

  1. When it comes to the physical form of money, the U.S. $100 bill is still the ultimate.
  2. In popular culture, U.S. money is the most closely associated with the kind of mindless materialism depicted in the beginning sequence of the video.

It is good to use money well, but money also has a basic appeal quite independent of that. This is a very small point in the story of the “Snegopady” music video, but it reinforces the larger points that the video makes.