Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten (2005)
**1/2 (of four)
Natasha Bedingfield has been popular in England for months or years or since they took prayer out of schools, some undetermined period of time. But Bedingfield had a hard time smashing through stateside. Until her fluffy white-girl hip-pop song "These Words" crossed over (an uber-guilty pleasure of mine, believe it or not, the kind of track I skip over other songs to get to) last fall. Twice as successful was the follow-up, "Unwritten," even fluffier and white-girl and this time features a big, glowing gospel choir.
So be forewarned - this video will, in a way not seen since "The Wonderful World of Disney" was canceled, attempt to pull a terrorist hijacking on your smile muscles. It's like a four-minute fucking toothpaste commercial, with Bedingfield riding an elevator up and down the same building and observing Real People from the corner. Smilers, laughers, cryers, lovers, families, more smilers, more smilers, more laughers.
Rest assured there's also a sequence with little smiling kids outdoors, playing in the spray of a popped fire hydrant. Eventually, the gospel choir comes marching down the hallway, gunning down innocent bystanders with their contagious happiness, and it's just a goddamned joyous bloodbath. It's all just so cheesy, but between the lines of the obviousness and calculation of the cheer, there's something intangibly appealing about this shit. To me, anyway. And I hardly ever smile.
Natasha Bedingfield has been popular in England for months or years or since they took prayer out of schools, some undetermined period of time. But Bedingfield had a hard time smashing through stateside. Until her fluffy white-girl hip-pop song "These Words" crossed over (an uber-guilty pleasure of mine, believe it or not, the kind of track I skip over other songs to get to) last fall. Twice as successful was the follow-up, "Unwritten," even fluffier and white-girl and this time features a big, glowing gospel choir.
So be forewarned - this video will, in a way not seen since "The Wonderful World of Disney" was canceled, attempt to pull a terrorist hijacking on your smile muscles. It's like a four-minute fucking toothpaste commercial, with Bedingfield riding an elevator up and down the same building and observing Real People from the corner. Smilers, laughers, cryers, lovers, families, more smilers, more smilers, more laughers.
Rest assured there's also a sequence with little smiling kids outdoors, playing in the spray of a popped fire hydrant. Eventually, the gospel choir comes marching down the hallway, gunning down innocent bystanders with their contagious happiness, and it's just a goddamned joyous bloodbath. It's all just so cheesy, but between the lines of the obviousness and calculation of the cheer, there's something intangibly appealing about this shit. To me, anyway. And I hardly ever smile.
posted by daytime at 1:28 AM
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