Vancouver has never really had a definitive novel that captures the character of the city, its history, its culture. There’s not a movie that uses the city as an unambiguous setting so integral to the plot that it becomes a kind of character. There’s no equivalent of ‘Portlandia.’
I wondered if some day that novel or movie might originate from, say, Korea, where the characters from a more constrained culture find themselves in this city, after which hilarity or tragedy ensues.
Well, this aint it.
From the Georgia Straight:
Korean-pop group Twice, composed of nine female members, released the Vancouver-shot music video for their single “Likey” from their first studio album Twicetagram …
Set to an effervescent ditty about the agony of trying to elicit a social-media “like” from a crush (because c’mon, who hasn’t experienced that?), the video follows a high school student who pulls a video camera out of a locker to make a film of her friends making their way about the city and breaking into choreographed dance routines (just like all Vancouverites do on a daily basis).
If you have diabetes, trigger alert. But it is interesting to see what the producers decided captured the essence of teenage Vancouver.
And it will certainly have an impact on shaping young Asians’ view of the city. At the moment, the video has close to 50 million views – yes, close to one and a half times the population of Canada.
I always thought “Everything’s Gone Green” was the best example of a film where the city actually played a role as a character in the movie. Definitely worth seeing.
I see they found a use for that painted alley.
Hmm – is it concerning that the design and colours of the alley match the candy floss pop of the singers so well?
What does that say about the design concept for the “revitalization” of the alley and what influence superficial projects like that will have on shaping people’s views of the city.
“Vancouver has never really had a definitive novel that captures the character of the city, its history, its culture.”
Wrong. Go read “Stanley Park”, by Timothy Taylor.