Do New Age People Like Kanye's New Age Video?

Kanye West just released his new video clip for "Bound 2" yesterday and boy, is it weird. It’s the last track off Yeezus that you never quite got to, and now he’s inflated it with all the usual Kanye CGI and high-powered egotism but minus a budget. Picture this: A time lapse panorama of Yosemite set to big piano. So far so good. The clouds race overhead and the sun sets like it did for Moses and then suddenly this ultra-CGIish eagle appears, like from the 90s BBC adaptation of Narnia, and then there’s all these prancing ponies and more bubble-gum sunsets and tie-dyed shirts and just new age everything. Finally Kim Kardashian shows up, naked yet nipple-less, and the rest of the video involves them gyrating through yet more sunsets on a motorbike.

Given the amount of new-age vibe about the clip, we were curious about what other new age people make of it. Cut to me visiting some healing crystal stores around Melbourne. Do new age people like Kanye’s new video?

Peggy: I liked the scenery at the beginning but I thought it would be nicer. I was thinking it was like John Lennon with some nice, universal message about love but then it turned into this thing about possessive love. But then again, because he’s a rapper it’s different to what John Lennon would do. It’s just a couple’s love, just about each other, so that I couldn’t get into it. So they’re doing sex on the motorbike, why should I care?

VICE: Because they love each other. Did you pick up their love?
No. To love someone you don’t have to show others how you have sex on a motorbike. That’s an animalistic thing and it’s not private or intimate, and it’s not love. With Kim, she was already married and it only lasted a few weeks. That says it all.

Did you like it Carly?
It’s not like it’s anything revolutionary, it’s just another video clip with people pretending to have sex.

What did you think Camille?
The landscapes are great but then it goes into this trashy stuff.

The motorbike sex?
Well, that doesn’t worry me. The eagles and the horses are fine because they all relate to nature and freedom and earth but then you go into a complete contradiction. Then you’ve just got him talking about breaking women’s hearts. Maybe I’m too old to understand that.

And what did you think Elizabeth?
It just screams cliché, tacky, corny and it’s just not cool.

Why isn’t it cool?
Because new age stuff isn’t cool. It’s cool to us but it’s not cool to the mainstream because we’re the odd balls. And I definitely don’t buy his version of it. I think there’s a disconnect between who he is as a person and new age spirituality. And it also just looks a bit cheap. The cinematography looks cheap and I don’t think it’s on trend and I don’t think anyone’s going to like it.

Theresa:I’ve always loved Kanye. I’ve always seen him as a little boy and I don’t see what’s so controversial about this video. He’s just putting his truth out there and it makes sense to me.

Is it cool?
Yeah. It represents not giving a shit about what anyone else thinks and just putting it out there. He can come across as full of ego but that’s cool. And he is in love with Kim, as much as people belittle that.

What did the horses mean to you?
Freedom. And the motorbike was about just not giving a fuck, which is what I love about him.

You love people who don’t give a fuck?
Yes because we’re so constantly clouded by what other people think. We don’t even listen to our own truth and, wow, I’m starting to sound like a real hippie.

Nah, go on.
Well, I do a bit of acting and what really holds you back from being able to play any character is fear of judgement. He obviously doesn’t have any of that, which is great. He’s like a little child and that’s where we should all be acting from.

Did you think it was sexy?
I thought it was hilarious. Not demeaning, just hilarious.

And Jess, what was your take on it?
The song didn’t do it for me and the video didn’t do it for me. You could tell it was all simulated so it wasn’t real or honest. Given that the talk has been about it being sexual, I thought that it might involve some nature but it was all just on a motorbike. It looked awkward and I didn’t find it enjoyable to watch at all. To do that stuff on a video clip also made their relationship look tacky and cheap.

Did you connect with the hippie visuals?
No, absolutely not. It’s not honest. It was like pop-art hippie stuff.

How many stars?
Based on his other work, I’d give it a two. But this just looked really average and simulated.

@MorgansJulian