An interesting concept from the article is the idea that remix media can sometimes be represented as creating a false expression, however, Lessig (2008, p. 74) suggests that in fact it is often leveraged to tell the whole truth or make an important argument far better and reach a greater audience than words ever could. Lessig (75) also proposes that remixes are powerful because they contain cultural references that the audience can relate to. Finally, the article provides two positive outcomes of remix culture: a sense of community in creating and sharing remixed content, as well as a successful form of teaching in education (77-80).

 

A strength of the article is its ability to represent remix as an extremely important form of influence in culture today. Lessig (2008, 74) highlights viral remixed media as a virus we cannot get out of our head. The reason for this powerfulness is the way that remixed content “trades upon a truth we all…recognise as true” (74). The ability to highlight essential truths in a collage of written, visual and sound media has a way of playing on the emotions of people and enabling them to ask important questions and think through hard topics. Furthermore, Lessig (77) suggests that remix creates community amongst remix media creators, but it can be said that remix culture also creates community amongst viewers who share, discuss and bond over their favourite remixes (80).

 

A weakness of the article is that it does not give a standard for what is considered a ‘good’ remix. Although Lessig (2008, p. 81) did note that there is bad and good remix, the question should be raised as to how one determines if a remix creation is good or bad? Is it judged subjectively or objectively? If the former, then it is likely that there are many different opinions about whether a remix creation is good or bad and if the latter, what are the standards for a good or bad remix? The article does not touch on how to view a remix as good or bad, but simply states that “bad remix is not an argument against remix” (81).

 

Lessig, L 2008, ‘RW, Revived’, in Remix : Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, 1st edn, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 68–83.

 

The most comical part of the remix (Jardz 2014) is when Sir Attenborough observes the behaviour of an animal hunting their prey, which is paired with a girl spotting her idol and breaking away from her group of friends to hunt him down. This part of the clip is notable because it trades upon a fact that we know to be true (Lessig 2008, p.74) – that fangirls can exhibit hysterical behaviours around their idols. 

 

Jardz’s (2014) parody has over one million views and over 10,000 comments on YouTube, which shows its popularity. A reason for its popularity could be that it has cultural reference (Lessig 2008, p.75) and we have all seen the hyperemotional behaviour of fangirls in our culture, whether on television or in person. Additionally, Sir Attenborough’s film Planet Earth ll is currently rated the most popular nature documentary on IMDb (IMDb.com 2020), emphasising its cultural significance. It is obvious that this clip of images and sounds has been able to successfully deliver it’s point far more effectively in our digital culture than written words could have (Lessig 2008, p.74).

 

In his book entitled Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive and Hybrid Economy, Lawrence Lessig (2008, p. 69) suggests that remix clips are affordable, and their content easily accessible. It is significant to note that the Jardz’s (2014) parody, although it is only a 2:04 minute clip, would have taken a large amount of time, effort and money if it were created from scratch, and would also not have had the impact that it did. It would have been unnecessary to employ Sir Attenborough to record the narrative when the audio is already available and the content so perfectly fits the images of screaming, running fangirls. The reason the parody is so effective is because we can picture the animal kingdom imagery that Sir Attenborough is referring to, having be viewers of his documentaries. Thus, it would be unnecessary and even senseless to create the parody as an original. In essence, remix content like this, plays an important part in truth-telling in our culture due to its relevance and impact.

 

IMDb.com 2020, Most popular nature documentary movies and tv shows, Amazon, viewed 11 August 2020, <https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=nature-documentary>.

Jardz, A 2014, David Attenborough Observes Fangirls | PARODY | #FangirlPlanet, video, YouTube, 12 August, viewed 11 August 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YhOBw_lk18>.

Lessig, L 2008, ‘RW, Revived’, in Remix : Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, 1st edn, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 68–83.

University of South Australia (UniSA) 2020, Lawrence Lessig on remix, University of South Australia, viewed 11 August, <https://uo.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=743&sectionid=54680>.

Uhm, J 2014, A week in New York, video, YouTube, 2 December, viewed 11 August 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am2REE4141k&t=18s>.