Have you ever watched old pop videos?
I mean really watched them.
Not just listened to the tune, but looked at everything on the screen. The outfits that they wear, things they do, the places they show.
Lionel richie’s 1984 hit ‘Hello’ is a straight up stalkers handbook. It’s about a college professor who is obsessed with one of his students and I mean he’s not just like obsessed – he’s scary obsessed; watching the video you see him following her around campus, including when she’s at dance class randomly walking down the corridor, anywhere and everywhere. He like literally hovers wherever the poor girl is.
And then there’s the chilling lyrics which, once you know it’s a song about stalking will send goosebumps popping out your arms….
I’ve been alone with you inside my mind
And in my dreams, I’ve kissed your lips a thousand times
I sometimes see you pass outside my door
But that’s nothing compared to the chorus…
Hello, is it me you’re looking for?
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
This is the classic moment where the stalker asks themselves if the victim loves them and then they answer the question themselves with some spurious evidence like “I can see it in your eyes’.
Now of course, some blockhead will try to argue that because she makes the sculpture of him (which I suppose means that she’s in love with him,) that somehow this excuses the stalking and the inappropriate relationship between teacher and student. Absolutely not!
…reciprocal feeling does not retroactively legitimise predatory behaviour, especially where power is unequal!
Conclusion: sorry, I’m just being humorous… I mean obviously I do not approve of any of that behaviour but who the hell knows what was happening in 1984… I don’t know… I’m not gonna get on my hobby horse. But I do, however, maintain the original premise: watching old pop videos is really mental.
P:S: interestingly, after talking about this with a friend he whipped his phone out and start doing a bit of research, and it turns out that Lionel Richie actually didn’t like the video or want the video to be anything to do with the blind girl or someone in college. The director, however… who also directed beat it by Michael Jackson… told him that the video was his responsibility and bad luck. So if anyone was the stalker, it was the director😂
