Say Hello To My Little Friends

As someone who is a huge fan of the Al Pacino version of Scarface, I'm not sure whether or not this YouTube video of elementary students reenacting Scarface for a school play is horribly disturbing or the best thing ever. In any case, it's probably going to make its rounds as the viral video du jour. Click through to see the video and some of my impressions.

This video hit the Internet today care of YouTube user cindymomof6. At face value, the responsible side of me feels really uncomfortable watching this. I have no idea what benefit the kids would get from re-enacting a movie involving gang members, drugs and tons of violence. Even the kids self-censorship makes me feel weird, even though I love fudge. How did any school approve of this? The other side of me thinks that this is freaking hilarious. I've watched it three times over, posted it on my Twitter and Facebook, sent it via IM to a bunch of other people, and am now writing a blog post about it.

Is there more going on here? Or is this just the Internet being the Internet? The idea of a kids version of Scarface that was sanctioned by any school just does not compute in my head. Also, this user's favourite videos are all very religious, which kind of contradicts the life and times of Tony Montana. I guess until we learn more about why this video exists, I'll go back to watching Tony Montana go out with a bang.

UPDATE: This was not a school play. This was done by director Marc Klasfeld and Rockhard Films, whose credits include Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" and Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment. Thanks to TMZ for cracking that case pretty quick!

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List of 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos Makes Me Wonder If This Is Real Life

Urlesque has compiled a fairly solid list of the top 100 most iconic Internet videos. You've seen a lot of these before, but if you're a sucker for Internet culture like me, the list is definitely worth a look. As a capsule of the Internet as a society, I think it's fascinating.

I'm such a sucker for anything Internet culture related. It's amazing to me to see the world that we've collectively made through this "series of tubes". It's a world that has its own language and dialects (ex. LOL, pwnd, anything on urbandictionary.com). It has its own rule set and etiquette (ex. no all-caps, "first" posts will not be tolerated). And as this list clearly shows, it has its own video culture.

Like the "terrestrial world", the list does feature a few celebrities that are popular everywhere. But the brunt of this list is "local talent", and that "local talent" is what makes Internet video culture so cool and diverse. With much more creative control, letting the average person go nuts with a video camera has led to some amazing moments caught on film. "Star Wars Kid" made us laugh. Miss Teen South Carolina made us cringe. And "2 Girls 1 Cup", well...I guess it depends what you're into (you can find your own link).

The Urlesque list is a great testament to the power of the people in the age of "web 2.0" or however you want to classify it. The best part? Internet culture evolves all the time and more people are adding their touch to the culture every second. Will it be you? It surely won't be me.

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