We can learn a lot about our culture by comparing Mariah Carey's original video for "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with the 2011 duet version with Justin Bieber. How a simple and jubilant message of Christmas cheer from the pre-internet era has been lost in this translation.
In 1994, Mariah Carey wrote an original Christmas song called "All I Want For Christmas Is You." It clipped the charts at #83, but was revived for Christmas playlists year after year, until it became a holiday classic. This was an extraordinary accomplishment: any conceivable Christmas theme was commandeered by the (often Jewish) New York songwriters of the '40s and '50s, who knew that Christmas was a shared experience full of songwriting fodder - an experience that returned, along with their songs, every December. There was still room for songs with a gimmick like "Wonderful Christmastime" (Christmas with Synthesizers) or "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (Christmas to Feed the World), but any standard holiday theme had long since been covered by guys like Irving Berlin.
Mariah, four years after her debut album was released, found a new hook: "All I Want For Christmas Is You." A sentiment that wraps up the Christmas spirit in 7 easy words. Watch the video - Mariah is joyful, playful, and adorable. There's no lip-synching, and it's shot to look like old home movies. She promotes nothing but the Christmas spirit. The biggest budget items in the clip are Santa outfits and reindeer. The snow is real.
Mariah's song became so popular that 17 years later, Justin Bieber, born the year it first came out, recorded his own version with Mariah. In the new video, she has traded in her snowsuit for a sexy Santa outfit showing off her post-twins childbirth rebound. Her scenes are shot in her preferred style - recorded double speed and slowed down in editing - and she keeps turned to the right, which she did in 1994 as well. Mariah's look and sound, as always, presented with the highest standards for quality.
It's a respectable modern update of the song until the 1:20 mark, when Justin Beiber starts singing. Reports are that his voice changed just before he recorded the song, and producers apparently tried to make up for this by slathering him in auto-tune. On his own songs, you get used to his sound pretty quickly, but hearing him directly after Mariah is like flipping the radio dial from FM to AM. It's a vocal train wreck, but musical standards were clearly taken off the table in favor of promotional value. In other words, this has a sponsor.
Even if you can get past the aural assault of Beiber's vocals, there's still the matter of the video. A song about wanting nothing but the presence of a loved one is now set in a department store where Justin and his friends from central casting are shopping like maniacs. Santa is outside handing out golden tickets that get you into the store. In the 1994 video, Mariah did get a rabbit under the tree, but Justin is after a Nintendo 3DS, shilled in the video along with the promotional tie in with Shazam.
We get that the big story here is Mariah and Justin joining forces for a multi-generational Christmas romp, but it's a shame that the joy and spirit of goodness from the original have been replaced with crass commercialism. This might be a good time to look back at our most memorable Christmas moments and remember what makes them special. They probably have nothing to do with Nintendo.
~Carl Wiser
Comments: 12
Sick, poor pop music is norm nowadays. Saw this once, never want to see, hear or hear of it again.
-Jimbo from Goochville, GA
Shameful and sick. I am working on a high school project about development, and treating the topic of poverty extensively (and having seen in person)makes you a different person.
Just a few days ago the Philippines
Bieber is the perfect incarnation of today's greedy consumerist pop lifestyle. What's that of a Christmas song showing him on a shopping spree, and Mariah Carey dressed in a provocative way.
And they didn't even bother to skip the "I don't care about the presents" line. Yes, you clearly show you don't care about the presents. I don't mind about Bieber, but this one doesn't make me a fan of his.
In my family there are a few presents prepared, I don't have a whole lot of excitement about this. But this kind of consumerism and sexism makes me sick.
Merry Christmas, by the way. There is no better christmas than one with the family, who cares about the presents.
-George from Spain
Carey & beiber make me sick. Carey was good in the 90s but now shes trash. Beiber needs to go away. Maybe to afganistan PERMANENTLY.
-James from yucaipa, CA
Besides the crass commercialism and aural atrocities, the worst part is that I've always thought the song was really romantic, and so... :P *blech*
-Disgusted from Grand Rapids, MI
I know Christmass songs are about family,love and spirit of Christmass,but,lets face it - they are used for commercial reasons.But,this version of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is just...bad.
-UraharaZR from Serbia
I'm so sick of people making Christmas a time to go spend money and act stupid. I can still remember only getting l gift at Christmas and being thrilled about it. Sniffing the wonderful baking cookies and candies coming from my Mom's kitchen was worth more than gifts anyway. I used to love Mariah Carey - now she's just another silly pop singer parading her body around for guys to drool over. I have the Christmas album she made back in the 90's when she sang All I Want for Christmas and it is so wonderful. Maybe she needs to listen to her old stuff again and remember how good she used to sound.
-Terri from Kansas City
I thought the best part of the article was that most All the "original" Christmas songs came from Jewish writers. Hmm ... what was their motive?
-Dave from Santa Fe
The video with Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber SUCKS! It was so commercial and materialistic, it was downright laughable. Who could take that seriously? Mariah dancing in a slutty Santa suit, dancing against the wall like a stripper, and Justin is going on a major shopping spree. Seriously? That ain't Christmas. Mariah ruined her own otherwise good song, and Bieber needs to go away. I agree with Tozier from The North Pole. After seeing this, I feel like I need a shower. Awful!
-Svengali from Denver, Colorado
Crass to say the least. That product placement is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. The marketing breakdown:
1'00: Mariah Carey sells Black Friday deals with sex. Santa adds an element of trust. What's he passing out there? Why, tickets to a midnight Macy's sale, of course, with plenty of exaggerated facial expressions so we know what a WONDERFUL experience it is to be handed an advertisement on the street. It's the first of several Macy's placements in this video.
1'20: Am I the only one who's a bit creeped out by the alternation between Mariah Carey's best stripper impression and the not-yet-legal Beiber? Reverse the genders; put Prince in Mariah's place and a 16-year-old Taylor Swift in Beiber's shoes. How's this video any better?
2'00: Beiber sings "All I Want for Christmas is You" and points directly at the lens. My little teenaged heart, she's all melted! Then the camera cuts to the giant stack of Nintendo DS machines that's piled up right behind me. Oh... I thought for a second he was singing to ME, you guys.
2'05: Just in case you're not craving a DS as much as you should, let's get Beiber and a gaggle of teens to visibly salivate over it. Marketers call this social proof. If someone else wants it--especially someone we trust--we'll want it too. Look; they're all excited about the machine and sharing it amongst themselves. Don't you want to be part of this strangely well-dressed, stylish, grinning clique?
2'10: If you have any remaining doubts about what you must do, Beiber demonstrates your next action by impulsively stuffing several DS boxes into his already weighty shopping cart.
3'00: Jarring dissonance between the lyric "All I Want for Christmas is You" and imagery of grown adults freaking out and fondling presents, raising shiny wrapped boxes in the air like they just scored touchdowns.
3'13: Quick shot of Beiber doing something with his arms that I have no words for. Actually I shouldn't be making fun of this because it's how I dance too.
3'57: Some director knew they had to stir in a bit of sugar to sweeten those four minutes of hard selling. Can we get Petco on board for this?! No? Well, what the hell. Let's throw an unsponsored puppy in there anyway. It's Christmas. No closeup--just stick a bow on it and hand it off to Mariah real quick. 'attaboy.
4'09: Hug and smile big, everybody, so we're clear that buying Nintendos at Macy's always leads to puppies and physical affection.
RECAP: Santa's passing out advertisements for a Macy's sale. Mariah's turning her back and looking at us over her shoulder in a short Ms. Claus outfit, bracing herself against the wall. Justin Beiber, sexually underage in most of the U.S., fondles a Nintendo DS while Mariah writhes with something I can only describe as Christmas Joy. More reaction shots as Beiber ogles the DS machines and stuffs several in his cart. For yet more social proof, everybody surrounds Beiber and Mariah's department store sleigh and jumps up and down with glee. YAY DIGNITY!
I feel like I need a shower.
-Tozier from The North Pole, dammit
Christmas is quickly losing its meaning to commercialism and sex. Its a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus and now its more commercial then ever before and continues to get worse every year. Its sad to see. And for Beiber..well Ive never liked him much and to each his/her own but his parts are just awful and out of tune! I cant believe they even released that mess! Well..Happy Birthday Jesus!
-Sabrina from Kissimmee, FL