If I told you I saw a video of a choir performing the Hallelujah Chorus in a food court in a mall, would you be interested?
Probably not. Firstly, the acoustics would not be that good. Secondly, the choir– having displayed their standards of professionalism by agreeing to perform in a food court– would probably not be all that good.
Thirdly, why would you want to hear the Hallelujah Chorus in a food court?
But that is exactly what the so-called “Hallelujah Flash Mob” is. It is neither a flash nor a mob. The entire event was meticulously planned out to the last detail, other than the unsuspecting shoppers. The event was staged not only with the approval of the mall owners, but with the active sponsorship of a camera store (note the number of cameras shown in the video).
The singing was pre-recorded and then dubbed.
This one, at least, is not dubbed. The original dubbed one doesn’t seem to be available anymore.
It is an average, possibly even mediocre choir performing one of the most over-exposed pieces of the music in history in front of a group of surprised shoppers. The entire “flash mob” thing is a con. There really are flash mobs and they really are spontaneous, and this is not one.
So why have 10 million people watched the video? Because the initial wave of viewers– upon whom “going viral” depends– thought it was this coolest thing they heard of, a “flash mob”, that is just so cool, and they heard it was cool, and they knew a little about flash mobs and they were supposed to be cool, so if I e-mail my friends about the video and tell them to watch it and then e-mail all their friends and Facebook it and tweet about, then I will be cool.
The flash mob aspect– the suggestion of spontaneity and risk– is the grossest deceit of the this video. There was not the slightest spontaneity nor risk involved in the making of the video. There is not much special about the video at all, other than the faked cache of the name.
There is a second aspect of the popularity of this video that I find disturbing. When you read the comments about it on Youtube, you find a kind of triumphalism among some Christians who are resentful of the courts removing overt testimonies of the Christian faith from city halls and courtrooms in the U.S. In your face, liberals! When the people are permitted to voice their convictions unfiltered by the left-wing media, they are overwhelmingly in favor of Jesus! It’s almost like we are all kind of martyrs.
The choice of “The Messiah” seems to prove that Christians can not only be as sophisticated as anyone else (the flash mob) but that they also have good taste (even if the hallelujah chorus from “The Messiah” is the only piece of classical music they can identify).
But… here’s a performance of “Hallelujah Chorus” I really like.
And if you like a good choir performance.
To those who found the Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob inspirational: I apologize. I know, it’s mean to find fault with something that seems that perfect. I can’t help it. We all crave the real, the authentic, the true. We owe to ourselves to not be taken in by people who just want to fake it.
Bill’s suggestion for future flash mobs to appeal to the same crowd that adored the Flash Mob Hallelujah Chorus:
- Flash Mob “Amazing Grace” at a funeral (preferably of an atheist).
- Flash Mob beer party at a Tea Party Event singing “Joe Hill”.
- Flash Mob “Copacabana” at a symphony orchestra performing Beethoven’s 5th.