James Franco and Seth Rogan’s shot-by-shot spoof of Kanye West’s video for “Bound 2 (Explicit).” This is almost as funny as Kanye’s version, although we’re pretty sure Kanye’s version isn’t supposed to be funny. Megalomania — it’s a helluva drug.
RELATED: The original “Bound 2? feels like nothing in rap, but mirrors much of modern comedy. It’s irony taken to the vanishing point, where no one knows if it’s supposed to be dumb-funny, a smart commentary on dumb-funny, or just dumb. There is something amazing about the “Bound 2? video. It evokes a response, it’s almost Warholian in it’s ability to make you question whether an episode of My Little Pony can be high art. After all, those animators do have talent. But I personally feel that if Kanye is going to be who Kanye thinks he is, he needs to do better.
Kanye isn’t crazy. He’s an intelligent and gifted man who intersperses universal truths with some of the most delusional narcissistic statements imaginable. He spent last weekend telling everyone that he was Michelangelo, but then dropped a video of him fake-fucking a reality star on a blue screen. That’s interesting to talk about, but I usually only find things funny when there’s a self-awareness that allows you to laugh at yourself. Comedians always fall off when they try to become serious and indulge their most extreme vanities. Air brushing is overrated. Give Franco and Rogen credit, there’s nothing vain about letting that much shoulder hair flap in the wind. MORE