Edd’s MANtra: Kanye West’s “Runaway”

October 27, 2010Edward BowserEdd's MANtra, music0

It was my hope that I could chill on the constant Kanye West postings.

I ignored the so-called scandal over his so-called banned album cover (which really wasn’t banned at all), replacing his bottom teeth with diamonds like some kind of ghetto Trap-Jaw, and worst of all, rumors that he hooked up with Kim Kardashian!

That’s just unforgivable. Kanye, Ray J – you’d think a woman that fine would have better taste in men.

Kanye is a one-man PR machine. But I had to do a post on Ye’s latest “masterpiece” – his video for the single “Runaway.”

Clocking in at nearly 35 freaking minutes, “Runaway” aims to be this generation’s “Thriller.”

Or Captain Eo.

The film is pretty ambitious, I’ll give it that. Written by Hype Williams, who gave us such cinematic masterpieces as “Belly” and, uh, “Belly,” and directed by Ye himself, the film explores Kanye’s encounter with a bizarre looking bird lady.

She didn’t look quite that bizarre.

The bird lady struggles to adjust to human life (foolishly turning down a turkey dinner!) while Ye ponders the plight of mankind. It ain’t Shakespeare – although it tries really, really hard to be. It’s hard to take the video seriously when it features the worst acting I’ve seen since Under The Cherry Moon (sorry, Javacia). Kanye can’t even run down the street convincingly. And with such a looooooong running time, things really start to drag about 20 minutes in. I never remember looking down at the YouTube timeline, saying “ugh, 10 more minutes…”while watching “Thriller.”

Yeah, yeah, I know there was no YouTube back then. But you get my point.

Don’t completely write off “Runaway” though – visually, it’s pretty stunning. The vivid imagery is by far its saving grace. Also, the video serves as an sampler of Kanye’s new album. Nearly every track is played in some form. If you ignore Nicki Minaj talking like Mary Poppins and Rihanna howling at the moon, it sounds like Kanye is crafting quite an album. It has me eager to check it out next month. And really, that’s the whole point of the video.

While it’s nowhere near as brilliant as some people would lead you to believe, “Runaway” is worth a look. If nothing else, give him props for creativity. I’d rather see him flirt with bird lady than jump around a dark club throwing money in the air.

What do you think of “Runaway?”

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