I saw a new Bethke spoken word video yesterday. This post is not about agreement or disagreement.* What I have to say is that I realized, while watching it, that he falls right into the sweet spot of Pop. He sits squarely on a mat made of interweaving artistic skill and pedestrian abilities. Whoever is producing the videos has yet to be rivaled, but only because no professional has bothered. Yet, there’s more to Bethke than pure amateurism- including but not limited to his sex appeal. This is, to me, worth observing as a study of Pop Culture in the YouTube age. This guy has a future. It could be sensational or abysmal. He may never see a dime from it, or he may leverage it into a sustainable career. Either way this mixture of ambiguity, hyperbole, sleek but not too sleek production, sex, cultural temperament and social media has created a cocktail that which the exact recipe has not yet made it into the books. I always tip my bartender, but often so begrudgingly.** Time will tell.
*full disclosure: I almost entirely agreed with what I watched of this one (though I didn’t finish it.) I was also amused that it was shot in a traditionally styled church building.
**I’m just saying, if you can’t make a delicious Manhattan, you’re in the wrong business. That drink is a workhorse; it practically makes itself.
