Hey there, rockstars. You made it through another week! Your reward is a brand new edition of Fan Video Friday, the series that enables your work wind-down.
Today’s FVF is all about Pink’s party anthem “Raise Your Glass.” That’s right – after last Friday’s ode to bittersweet soulmates via Of Monsters & Men’s “King And Lionheart,” we are lightening up everything but our blood alcohol level. (Hey-ooooo!) This song is a tribute to the misfits, so I hope you’re ready for rowdy times with your favorite groups of underdogs. Here’s to the “dirty little freaks.” AMERICA.
–Sage
Rose and The Doctor – Doctor Who
Sage: Like the Doctor told Jackie, all the troubles and the near-deaths are just the “bits in between.” Whether you ship Ten and Rose or not (And if you don’t, I’m amazed that you’re still here!), it’s impossible to deny how much they enjoyed each other. They made traveling through time and space look like an afternoon lark – like they were playing hooky from real life. Why so serious?
The Cast of Community
Kim: “So raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways, all my underdogs! We will never be never be anything but loud and nitty-gritty, dirty little freaks!”
Is there a more perfect song for my beautiful misfits of Greendale Community College? I think not. I love how this video not only focuses on the Greendale Seven but also all the dirty little freaks that make up Community‘s ensemble from the faculty members to the students to all the guest stars. The vidder also makes excellent use of moments like Troy and Britta’s recital for “let’s get dancey” and Todd crying over his microscope for “treated like a fool”. But my favorite part of this is the shot of Abed as Batman for “Why so Serious?”. GENIUS.
The Cast of The Office
Sage: Sometimes “wrong in all the right ways,” but often wrong in all the wrong ways, the employees of Dundler Mifflin Scranton have always lived outside the norm. The everyday setting of the show led to the most ridiculous of sitcom antics. This video makes incredible use of so many of them, from Jim’s “Future Dwight” fax to Cafe Disco to Meredith’s penchant for flashing. The Office is all about people who never would have chosen to hang out with each other, but whom fate decided to throw together anyway. Weird apart, but even weirder together – that’s the best kind of accidental family.
The Cast of Parks and Recreation
Kim: First, I have to say this: there aren’t NEARLY enough Parks and Rec fan videos out there. I don’t understand why. It’s a perfect show for fun ensemble videos to peppy songs (for example: “It’s Time”…HOW is there no video to that?). Needless to say, we were delighted to find this one. Like Community and The Office, we love Parks and Rec for its ensemble of misfits. All of the employees of the Parks department are incredibly different, and had they not all been working in the same place, they probably never would have become friends (or in Ron’s case workplace acquaintances). But they DID and they are all the better for it. They’re like 5000 Candles in the Wind, you guys.
The Lads of One Direction
Sage: If Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram had been around when *N Sync was touring, I never would have graduated college. As it is, my fall down the 1D rabbit hole has already generated a lot of unnecessary distraction. In the time that I’ve cared, the band has only played shows overseas. Yet, thanks to vigilant and plugged-in fans, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen and reblogged every waterfight, telling reaction to a pro-Larry sign, fan-mocking, and slaying of a Zayn solo, proving that four are just as strong as five. Before I became a person who talks seriously about the viability of using the 500 gigawatt smile of Harry Styles to bring about peace around the globe, I complained that boy bands these days don’t dance. But the lack of any choreography in a 1D show just means more time for fucking around. And those are the most gif-able and fanvid-able kind of moments anyway.
The Cast of Friends
Kim: It’s funny how well this song works here because I never used to consider the Friends as a ragtag group of misfits or losers (except for Ross). As I watched them all through high school, college, and beyond, they were always the coolest people in the universe to me. But then I remembered the words of my spirit animal Monica Geller…
“FINE! Judge all you want but married a lesbian, left a man at the altar, fell in love with a gay ice dancer, threw a girl’s wooden leg in the fire, LIVE IN A BOX.”
Yeah they were all messes weren’t they? I was just blinded by the beautiful purple apartment and trendy 90’s haircuts.
The Cast of Happy Endings
Sage: I promised no sadness in this post, and I LIED. I LIED TO YOU. Because Happy Endings was once here, and now it’s gone. Networks tried for decades to create the new Friends. And once ABC had it, they let it go.
Penny, Brad, Jane, Alex, Dave, and Max were the absurdist’s version of the West Village 6. Co-dependent, unfocused, and generally unfit for public life, I still wanted to be every single one of them, simultaneously. My heart aches with every beat of this video, especially since the vidder cut in several of my favorite pieces of dialogue (“Bitch, it is 5:30!”; “But he didn’t touch me here…why didn’t he?”). It’s a solid reminder of what we had and the reason that fans still haven’t given up hope of a new beginning for Happy Endings.
The Cast of Sherlock
Kim: At first glance/listen, Pink’s rollicking party anthem and the brainy and witty Sherlock have little in common. But we can never pass up an opportunity to ogle Benny Batch’s diamond cut cheekbones or a chance to wallow in all that JohnLock UST, so naturally this makes the cut. The video has tons of clever moments like cutting to a long-suffering Molly on “What’s the deal-io?” and using a John reaction shot for “treated like a fool”. Sherlock may think he doesn’t fit in with the rest of society because he’s ABOVE it…so that makes him a misfit, even if it’s a high functioning one, right? Right.
Disney Villains
Kim: Let’s be honest. Disney Princesses are great and all but my enjoyment level of the movie USUALLY rests on the shoulders of the villain. The best Disney villains are over-the-top and self-indulgent. They are narcissists and laser-focused on their endgame (to a fault…which is why they always lose to the pretty pretty princesses). They have WICKED senses of humor (why do you think there are so many more reaction gifs of Hades over Hercules?). Basically they are awesome and deserve to be celebrated.
This vidder deserves all the props for often timing the characters speaking to the lyrics to make it seem as if they were actually saying them. Seriously…that’s a skill. Throw in your standard use of Maleficent on “party-crasher” (as she’s the ultimate) and Ursula’s skills for “dancey” (Never underestimate the importance of body language) and you have a fantastic video. My only complaint is the lack of two of my FAVORITE villains, Cruella DeVil and Prince John, both of whom would fit perfectly in this song.
The Cast of Harry Potter
Sage: Every internet savvy HP fan must be familiar with the Wizarding World version of this song, which compels you to raise your glass if you are “Ron” and reminds you that we will “Neville be Neville be” anything but loud, and does exactly what this video does with the perfectly innocent adjective “serious.” Here we have a visual representation of that awesome parody, featuring not one but two Hermione/Draco face punches on “slam, slam” and that sociopath Dolores Umbridge on “too school for cool.” I call foul on that second “Why so Sirius?” though. Too soon. It’s been 12 years, but too soon.
Do you have a favorite “Raise Your Glass” video that we missed? Let us know in the comments! Fan Vid Friday will be taking a hiatus next week as we will be at San Diego Comic Con (THIS IS HAPPENING) but never fear…it will return!
