September 3, 1999

Okay, it's official. I am now goddamned tired of these stupid "dance breaks" or sometimes "drama breaks" in what are otherwise perfectly fine music videos.

Yes, I understand "Thriller" is one of the most amazing videos of all time. But Will Smith saving Salma Hayek from Kenneth Branagh does not a "Thriller" make.

And since "Wild Wild West," now every video needs a little interlude. Suddenly Jennifer Lopez is interrupting "If You Had My Love" to do an impromptu and inexplicable dance number. Mariah Carey is abandoning her new "Heartbreaker" single to beat the shit out of herself in the girls' john. They're just ditching the song and doing stupid crap.

I could be old-fashioned, but when I turn on a music video, I just want the song with some slightly clever visuals in the background. Nothing more, nothing less. When the video becomes more boring than the song--a tough feat to master with something as ins! ipid as Jennifer Lopez--then you know you're doing something wrong.