Music Video Review 1: Pofig (In Yan)

For my first blog, I will be reviewing "Pofig" by the Ukranian band In Yan.  In Yan is a 4 member group that sings in Russian. They came in 3rd place on the Russian TV show "Star Factory 7." The group was put together to resemble the 70's Swedish band ABBA, including 2 men and 2 women, 2 with light hair and 2 with dark hair, resembling the "ying yang" that they are named after [In Yan, I see what you did there].  Enough rambling, on to the review!

Here is a link to the MV.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njywne4GbPU

The music video starts out with some sexually charged images to prove to you that regardless of what these people sound like, they are in fact better looking than most people [subject to debate, but let's be real, they are better looking than your average Joe].

I'm pretty sure these two have dated in real life. 

Read her face...go!

Fork seduction...right.

Ukranian fairy princesses have nothing on this girl.

The beat of this song is pretty solid and everyone in the group has a pretty good voice.  The blonde dude is the bass voice, the brunette guy is the tenor, the blonde lady is the alto, and the brunette female is the soprano.  I noticed in their other songs as well that their lines are evenly distributed and the harmonies are usually split evenly.  Sometimes the blonde girl will get an extra line, probably so they can give her more camera time.  She's clearly the money maker of the group, 3/5 of their official  music videos on Youtube use a still of her for the cover image. 

What do you mean we all get paid the same? Don't you see my face on all those thumb nails?

This video gets weird really fast.  Weird in an unexpected way...  I have noticed that Russian pop (R-Pop) music videos can be a bit more violent than pop music videos from other countries.  Usually the atmosphere is light, upbeat, or sexually charged.  R-Pop music videos aren't gory per say, but they do resort to a lot more than one would expect for a song with shallow lyrics and a catchy beat  I have noticed that the sexually charged aspects are still there though, as as a result, I think that Russian media portrays aggression and sometimes violence as sexy/hot/attractive. I can't speak for all R-Pop videos, but this video is definitely following that format. 

That hurt..teehee!

When he throws things at me #justgirlythings.tumblr.com

Around the 0:33 second mark of the video, the blonde girl is annoyed with the brunette dude (let's call him Fabio)  because he is texting and not paying attention to her. I highly doubt that any other guy would be texting if that girl was sitting across the table from him, but I digress.  Maybe he was committing brunettecest with the other girl.  She gently throws a fork at him from across the table.  This is where the video takes a turn for the scandalous. Fabio then chucks his cell phone at the blonde girl's face, practically giving her whip lash (it looks like he had a Nokia, that's gotta hurt).  The strangest part of the video is that the girl immediately bounces back with no consequences, she is not crying or bruised, she looks more aroused than upset.

Fabio endorsing Nokia at the dinner table.

After he chucked the phone... that's gotta hurt...

Serves you right for trying to have a conversation with the person sitting across from you instead of the virtual reality on your phone. 

 Now, in America, this music video would probably get a lot of flack, not only for the extreme violence, but also at how the violence isn't portrayed as anything consequential.  Domestic abuse is clearly not taken seriously in this video.  It's really just exaggeration, just as cartoon characters getting hurt is unrealistic/exaggerated.  

Also, Fabio missed the brunette girl (0:54 sec) and hit this poor bird instead.  Seriously, what's with the random bird?

 *For more unusual acts of violence, watch at 1:26, 1:41, 1:52, 1:58, 2:19-end

Hi, you're in my way Fabio...

Can you please move? I said move!

 

 

FABIO SMASH TV IN YOUR FACE!

Also to be noted, the blondes are usually paired with the brunettes.  A few of the videos have the blondes paired together and the brunettes together, but I feel like I'm watching blondecest or brunettecest or weird legal inbreeding...

You are the ying to my yang.

We're so beautiful.

Blondecest makes me uncomfortable.

Overall, this video is void of a serious plot.  The formula is really just SEX-VIOLENCE-SEX- VIOLENCE-BIRD-SEX-VIOLENCE... and don't forget to roll your R's, it's Russian!  The song is catchy, but clearly not very deep.  I've had Russian friends tell me this is a bad song, the lyrics suck, and why am I listening to this.  To prove the integrity of the lyrics, here they are:

"You pierced my heart with a poisoned arrow
You loved me, you played with me
You yourself looked for me, you lost me yourself
It was difficult not to go insane.

Chorus:
Don't be so happy, I'm not your foe
I just don't give a damn about anything, I don't give a damn about anything, baby
Full face, profile, I don't give a damn about anything
I read you between the lines, I don't leave and I don't become hindered
I just don't give a damn about anything, I don't give a damn about anything
You are a pro in this, but I don't give a damn about anything, get the point.

Little by little I'm getting used to not having your love
A tear fell, you said: "don't weep"
I'll never forgive you for that
My tears - they're not water."

Yeah...so I can see why Russian speakers don't respect the song that much, but I enjoy it for what it's worth.  This song and music video are both cheap thrills, the purpose of this video definitely trying to get attention for the song and band, which it did. A few closing thoughts:

Doesn't he look a bit like Raj from the Big Bang Theory?!

This guy barely emotes.  He has a good soccer kick though!

BAM!

My favorite shot in the video.