Parodies have been flying fast and thick since Tatia Pilieva’s “First Kiss” video hit the interwebs last week — but this one from Hye Yun Park might be the best yet. Like Pilieva’s original, Park’s comes complete with an edgy yet romantic indie pop soundtrack; unlike Pilieva’s, though, it’s full of ordinary, everyday, and (hoorah!) awesomely diverse people.
The 28 New Yorkers featured in this video from Wifey.tv may lack acting and modeling experience, but they’ve got “more color, dust, dirt, curves, spark, and queer juice” in exchange. Here’s how it goes down: The participants are first introduced to each other while blindfolded. Once the blindfolds come off, it’s time for a little awkward “getting to know you” chitchat — “My name is Mo, I work as a photographer,” “Oh, cool, I’m Karen, I’m a filmmaker,” “I like your sweatshirt,” “Oh, really?,” “I’m just saying that because I’m nervous,” you know the type.
Then, of course, comes the main event.
Sure, it’s a little awkward; in that respect, it’s a lot more truthful than Pilieva’s fashion film. But although Amanda Hess at Slate wrote that it was a little bit creepy, I still think it’s kind of cute. There’s a lot of laughter, and the ability to laugh — at yourself, at each other, at the absurdity of the universe — is something I value highly. My favorite couple? One guy who remarked to his lady afterwards, “Nice lipstick” — only to have her reply, “Yours too.” Because as anyone who has ever partaken in a little nooky while one of the participants has been wearing red lipstick knows, that shit gets everywhere. And the results are hilarious. If I walked away from a first date with an exchange like that, I’d feel pretty good about it.
I’ll admit that I still think the original was kind of neat for what it was. I do realize that it was full of professional pretty people (for what it’s worth, I did point out that it was produced by a fashion label!), but I still got something out of it other than “CLOTHES! PRETTY CLOTHES! ON PRETTY PEOPLE! BUY THEM! BUUUUUUUUUY!” That said, though, I love Park’s version. There’s nothing better than real life, amiright?
Check it out here:
Image: Hye Yun Park/First Kiss NYC
