Cold Star Pool Video

In class last Tuesday, we watched a seven-minute video on a subject much deeper than what we first notice in the clip. There were so many subtleties, and it was more than just about a boy who jumped in a pool with a man in drag. This music video embodied the fragility of the subject of sexuality in society. It may come off as bizarre, but we should take a look at why we think it's bizarre. To me, I was uncomfortable seeing an old man in drag exchanging in sexual relations with a young man. But, who am I to judge someone's sexuality?

The pool represented a free sexual world. One where there were no bounds, no stereotypes, no expectations. It is human nature to produce sexual desires, but we live in a world where these desires must be oppressed or limited, or else. The woman eating french fries in the corner of the room, watching this sex-fest unfold, represented those with heavily repressed feelings. She may have been internally fighting her desire to jump in the pool and carry on with what she really wanted to do. By keeping herself isolated and doing what she felt was socially "right," she ended up sad and alone, eating her french fries with a frown. The music lyrics in the background of the video were suggesting a change in tradition, so that stereotypes are no longer "normal." The lyrics read, "I like to hear confusion . . . I like to see through construction, contradiction." Gender and sexual norms are being challenged in this video, and it is a clear message that these challenges should live on.