I had the same thought(s). This false binary disgusts me.

Then again, I'm not much a fan of Kanye. My instinctive response to the "primitive" drummers and dancers was WTF?

This is interesting. Perhaps the broad understadability of this film serves as further support for Levi-Strauss' notion that humans universally conceive of their world as composed of dualities in opposition. Here, West presents us with structural anthropology's classic tribal:modern, man:woman, white:black, painted:bare, telescope:no telescope syntactic dichotomies, which we instantly recognize. Further, the spatial incursion of the "tribal" element into West's "modern" kitchen, as well as the Tribal-Techno women at the film's conclusion stand as visual symbolism for the liminality typical of the "love lockdown", where ego finds himself "...far from home, in the danger zone". It clearly, yet subtly embodies a Von Gennepian reorganization and suspension of social boundaries surrounding these dichotomies.

However, should we take this film at face value as a blatant espousal of these oppositions? By viewing film with a literal eye, do we miss out on a deeper, thoughtful probing of the nature of these dualities? It is almost as if, in blatantly appealing to simple binary symbolism, West is slyly goading us to recognize and challenge our participation in society's dialogue of duality. Taken this way, this film stands, not as rigid support for unavoidable opposition between social phonemes, but as an examination of the social construction of order and conflict.

Yep, my first thought was 'WTF' too, as with so many contemporary music videos. But I do think there's something in the modern-primitive argument ... especially as the feminine is so clearly associated with the primitive (and a bit of faux-lesbianism thrown in for good measure).

However, I'd also agree that I think West has a bit much nous to not be aware of the politics around the dichotomy ... maybe not with quite as much awareness as the above post suggests (because I'd not want to be crediting Kanye West with TOO much intelligence, given his recent 'performances'), but my reading of the video wouldn't be that 'rationality' is the winner on the day. In fact, this video seems to very much pull on the romanticism that contemporary western culture views 'the primitive' with, as representing 'our' 'real' selves/emotions/psyches/etc etc. That romantic notion would seem to be what he's drawing on here ... and my summation would be that 'we' in the contemporary west have lost something by not being in touch with 'our' more 'primitive' selves. (I'm open to the possibility that he's primarily addressing a black audience here, so I'm not sure whether 'I'm' included in that equation or not.)

Either that, or it's just an excuse to have some pretty people wearing some cool stuff doing some funky dancing? It must be getting increasingly more difficult to make an original music video. Good work getting in the scantily clad sexy girls without actually having them in bikinis by a pool at a mansion in the Hollywood hills!

Hey, this comes from a person very ignorant on the subject, can someone provide links to some of those research the post talked about? Just because I like the subject and would love to know more.

I do not agree with your last example.
One - most of the terrorists (at least the popular ones) are from countries which are viewed as backwards (just check the way they are portrayed in the media - the dichotomy is in presence again) - laws against women, laws again homosexuality, as I said, most of them are from a world mostly knows as the third world countries (and this is how westerns think about them, their reasoning and their views).
Second of all - religion is viewed as something backwards too and opposing modernity. Their religious background and reasons for actions are used as a proof how backwards they are.

Although the terrorism has much more complicated causes than just religion, it is the most obvious and easily to dismiss as emotional, interstitial and illiterate. And this is what the western world is doing.

However, I am interested why you used that particular example, not many others.

I'm not a super fan of the typical female music video objectification, but I do think that there's a deeper reason for the use of the modern/primitive dichotomy. It seems to play on stereotypes of both worlds.

was that a spaceship?

Interesting video.

One thing I found interesting was the transitions between the primitive and the modern - very smooth and fluid panning shots. It made a smoother, more continuous connection between the two than if it had cut from the primitive to the modern abruptly.

The video works because Kanye’s audience recognizes the modern/primitive binary and all that it implies. But, of course, it’s false. Psychological research (and, as far as I can tell, all of the research on voting behavior) demonstrates again and again that rationality is not our strong point as a species. If anything, what is modern is the inferring of rationality (hello rational choice theorists!), something that we see clearly in this video.

Actually, it's false not because "rationality is not our strong point as a species", but because in Western discourse, rationality/modernity is almost always associated with white anglo cultures, and primitiveness/ancientness is almost always associated with non-white cultures. Japan's culture (Japan is a developed country and more technologically advanced than the U.S.) is still seen as having ancient/primitive aspects, while old Western/Christian superstitions about the number 13, knocking on wood, ladders, as well as those involving New Year's Day, etc. are seen as "normal" and part of contemporary culture.

What if he's singing not about a woman but Africa?

This video is damn beautiful.

I think we all are going Free vbucks to have a lot of fun.