Terrifying but a deeper implication "Dont Hug Me I'm Scared"

[3bisabella]

Before you watch the video, read this:

This video is simply terrifying in a surreal way however, there is a deeper implication to what you see. You might have to watch it a few times to understand but it happens to coordinate to what we have been doing with Ms.Carfizzi the past few days.

After you watch the video, here is someones take on this:

"The entire video is based around the idea that the education system is set up to tell children to be creative, as long as they are creative in the right way. The notebook is the teacher to the puppets, the children.



The notebook tells the children to look at the clouds, but they don’t see anything until he raises a monocle; I.E., they can only see new concepts through the teacher’s eyes. As soon as one of the children gains enough initiative to act on their own by painting a clown, the teacher immediately stops everything to shut him down. The teacher tells them to write out a “creative color,” but the color green wasn’t on the color wheel he showed them. When one of the children came up with the idea for green, he got angry at him. Finally, things start falling apart, and we see the Hollywood production in the background, representing the idea that, beyond the pleasant facade, there is something far more sinister happening in the shadows.



The notebook ends by saying “Now let’s all agree to never be creative again.” He is blaming the children’s acceptance of creativity for the chaos that just happened. The notebook installs the idea in the children’s heads that creativity is good, but only when it’s certain kinds of approved creativity. We tell our children, who are so eager to learn, that they can be who they want to be and do what they want to do- but only so long as they don’t think outside the box.



The video, surreal as it may seem, is an observation of a double-standard that ruins children’s intellectual and creative growth."

--- Leave your comments on the video.

[10tanyas]

I actually remember watching this video around the time of last year's Christmas (by the way if anyone is interested there is a part 2 to the "Don't Hug me I'm Scared "series": . I admit, the video is really rather alarming and a bit discomforting, not too mention the irony of using puppets and "pseudo-happy" themes to create this almost surreal effect of "joy" throughout the composition. I for one really enjoyed the video, I loved how raw it was, and also being a fanatic of all things horror, I loved the portrayal of our education system through such an ominous and foreboding lens.

Of course one can also argue that the video is pure nonsense meant to strike fear in the viewers, but I agree that it has a much deeper meaning. In fact, the sheer horror of the video reflects greatly off of our education system, which is actually quite scary. For example, has anyone ever thought about how we sit an a classroom for up to 6 hours or more of our day, listening to information, digesting it, and then regurgitating it in our assignments and tests. When we solve an algebraic equation there is only a select way of solving it, any other method is shunned or unaccepted. This goes back to the idea of the teacher shunning her student for painting a clown in "Don't hug me I'm scared", education is not a form of self-expression, it is a militant style of gathering information over the years to be stored in our heads and make us into the supposed ideal of "educated and smart". But looking back at great scientists and educators, such as Albert Einstein, who was flunking half of his classes but ended up as our persona for a truly "educated" individual, most thought outside of the box. When you think outside of the box you are able to leap forward and make grand discoveries.

Over the summer i worked in a summer camp and one of my campers was Autistic. Common signs of Autism do portray an above average level of intelligence, but this boy's zeal for learning was absolutely incredible. He loved to read, he would read all the signs around the camp, he would read any book you brought to him and he would read the nutritional values on the back of granola bars. But, despite his appetite for "learning" he often could not grasp or refused to grasp many concepts of our educational system. For example, once during the summer he was presented with a math problem, and although he received the correct answer his method of solving it was completely ulterior to the way the other children or I would have it. Does this make him stupid? No. It simply means he thinks outside the box, he is being creative about how he chooses to learn, but it is an undeniable fact that he is a genius for a child his age.

The education system is restricting, it restricts our minds and compacts us into tiny, identical, boxes.

[10nangie]

Nowadays in schools, kids are told to be innovative, but the rules and regulations not only of schools but of society limit their creativity. If one tries to be original, either in the way he or she dresses or acts, one will always be judged and compared to something perceived as "normal" or "better." As we have discussed in class, the current system of education limits the freedom of learning in a more relaxed manner. Students are forced to take exams that show nothing about who they really are; yet, these tests decide their future. Instead of developing their creative minds, kids have to study and memorize information for these specific tests. For example, the SAT is considered one of the most important tests for high school students, and I think this test shows nothing of how smart or creative these students are and it should not affect where we get accepted to college. Kids are also seriously affected by the criticisms of their classmates. Many students often start listening to their peers' opinions and change themselves to the point where they are no longer original in their own way. This completely changes the definition of "creativity." This video successfully portrays the idea that people are always limited to a set of criterion and although they are told to be creative, their kind of creative is considered wrong. It was really funny how it transitioned from a very happy mood to very angry and dark. After one of the puppet's drawings is destroyed, the notebook starts going crazy and by the end, it is not even sure if the puppets should be creative at all. I really liked the video and I thought it projected the truth of society very well.

[couyegonzalez6]

When I first viewed this video, I didn't really comprehend it's meaning. However, I knew that there was some type of subliminal message attached to it, specifically concerning the ending. Now that you mention that this is a representation of our education system, the fuzzy picture becomes that much more clearer. Perhaps my misunderstanding of this video serves as another example of how we are taught to think on a one way street, and are reprimanded for trying to make a u-turn. Nevertheless, I agree that this is in fact, an accurate portrayal of how schooling works. We go to school every day for 10 months out of the year, and for the average student, spend 6-7 hours in multiple classrooms being crammed with shiploads of information. Following, we are tested frequently, expected to retain all this information that we are given regardless of its magnitude. This leaves absolutely no room, nor time, for creativity, in which many people and schools stress. However, is the creativity that they want genuine? Like the video shows above, one of the puppets, or student rather, is scolded for mentioning that his favorite color is green. He is told that he cannot like the color green, because it is not a "creative" color. This just goes to show that the education system, along with the government behind it, is extremely controlling in the way people live, act, and even scarier, think. Through school, every generation is taught to think they way the education system wants them to think, leaving no toleration for those who think "outside the box".

[6pdasha]

I agree with your argument. I believe that this video is criticizing the education system through humor. In schools, students are only allowed to be creative in certain ways. In the video, the (very inventive) clown artwork is completely destroyed by the teacher Notepad because the student "needed to slow down". The authors of the video are trying to ridicule the fact that the education system is putting a pace on creativity. In schools, students are constantly being restricted in their creativity by the teachers. All students experienced this phenomenon at least once in their lives. "You can't draw squares yet, we are still drawing circles! You're way ahead of the others, you should slow down. Stop molding the clay, you're doing it wrong, do it the way it's shown in the worksheet." When the students in the video began to create things on their own, it turned into a dark, disordered, chaotic, and frightening scene. Is that what the education system fears - chaos originating from disordered creativity? This mentality is the main cause of the restriction of new ideas. Disorder gives students new creative ideas rather than leading them to chaos. Weirdness should not be limited. Children should be allowed to be weird and creative and different! Any deviation from the standard should be embraced rather than discouraged. Students shouldn't be raised as robots, they should be taught to embrace their imperfect humanity. People should be given more freedom in how they express their creativity, even when it leads them to create crazy, weird things. Videos like this are the very product of such raw weirdness, and they can show a much deeper meaning behind the pacing of creativity.

[10wjeremy]

Wow. I never stopped to think of this video as more than something to show my friends. But when you mention it, there is definitely a deeper meaning to this video. Now, my only question is whether it has anything to do with education. When I first saw this video, I thought nothing of the education system. Looking back on it, the only real connection I could make to the school system other than this argument is that the setting looked like a kindergarten classroom. The message I took away from this video initially was that creativity could be dangerous. This might be looking at it from a more standard approach, but I'm too much of a realist to look deeply into things. As the puppets begin being creative, bad things start to happen. It leads to them practically becoming blood-thirsty monsters. Of course, this doesn't explain the Hollywood production and the notebook scolding the color green, which I think are the most persuasive points in your argument. I agree that all of this makes sense, and if someone chooses to view it this way they will learn something from it. I just don't know if this was the creators true intention. Of course, it's hard for me to judge something as being something else without enough proof. It all makes sense, there just aren't enough connections to the school system specifically for me to judge this as a satire of the education system. But, the beautiful thing about art is that it is meant to be viewed in different ways, even if it's not the artist's true intention.

[10dsara]

I don't see this video as representing the educational system we have today. Sure you made some pretty strong connections between the two, but I believe this video can be interpreted in any way you want. When I first saw the video I knew there was a darker meaning. I just thought that sometimes being too creative can lead you to some pretty dark places. I thought that my interpretation of the video was one that everyone saw, but I also saw that on YouTubers React to Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, they brought in many more interpretations. There are many people who have their own theories about the true meaning of the video, even uploading videos explaining their theories on YouTube. Whenever the creators are asked about the meaning of their videos, they simply answer "yes", enjoying keeping the meaning of the video to themselves. The creators might have made this video for fun, just putting in a message into the video. But I don't think it was their intention for people to go hardcore and try to discover the true meaning. When the Fine Brothers on YouTube did the video on Kids React to Don't a Hug Me I'm Scared, there was even a six year old who knew that the video had a deeper meaning, yet enjoyed the video so much that he knew the song by heart from watching it so many times. But even though this videos seem messed up to others, a lot of people still enjoy them. The two of videos of Don't Hug Me I'm Scared are so popular that the creators successfully got their Kickstarter funded and are soon to release the third video of the series sometime in November. I personally am excited to see the third one since the trailer for it is so mysterious, yet captivating. I'm a fan of the creators because they make videos that explore concepts that seem easy to understand, but aren't really so as you get deeper into them. And their format of the videos are just so original, making something that seems like a children's show explore intricate concepts that most adults still don't fully understand. I really wish for the creators to release more than the six videos they planned to.