THINQon : Bed Intruder

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Damian Flint

Bed Intruder

Latest Post: December 17, 2010 at 9:14 PM

43 followers

Last summer Kelly Dodson of Huntsville, Alabama woke up in the middle of the night to find a strange man in her bed, attempting to rape her. She struggled with him and as her brother, Antoine, rushed in to help her, the attacker fled through the bedroom window, from which he had crawled in. The next day, a local TV channel interviewed the roused family. Antoine stood out in this interview with his passionate and animated account ("emotions were running high!" noted the anchor). The news segment was uploaded to YouTube and went viral, with 23 million views to date. This otherwise mundane news segment became popular, no doubt, out of amusement from Antoine's performance.

The Gregory Brothers, a musical group based in Brooklyn, edited the news segment using pitch and tempo manipulation software and turned it into a song, which they uploaded to YouTube, titled "Bed Intruder". This video clip has had 51 million views to date, becoming the most-viewed YouTube video of 2010 just four months after it was uploaded. Less than two months after the song was released, it had sold more than 100,000 copies on iTunes. The Gregory Brothers encourage viewers to make their own cover versions of the song and upload them.

Antoine Dodson became a celebrity, with fans, radio shows, performances, etc., and receives 50% of the income from the sales of Bed Intruder. In his blog, Antoine refers to himself as "you know, the Bed Intruder Internet sensation".

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I don't think any of this could be explained to a person who has been under coma for the last fifteen years. It's just too much. This isn't the first time a real person's eccentricity is put on display for its comic effect. This isn't the first time misery is exploited for personal gain, even by the victim. This isn't the first viral internet phenomenon. This isn't the first song created by sampling. But all together, this is too much. It is sickening that a woman's traumatic episode is used in this way, and yet I can't get the song out of my head. How do you keep in touch with reality in the 21st century? Or maybe this is reality?

Reply to:

rhea nödel

December 17, 2010 at 1:08 PM

11 followers

What happened there was reality.
The video created afterward could loosely fall into the realm of sublimation.
Thankfully the attacker was chased off before he got past the trying to the actual rape, and therefore it is easier to sublimate in a fun way. Since Antoine is enjoying the attention, is participating, and benefiting financially, this turns out not to exploit him, but the situation.
The viral nature of the internet applies itself to all sorts of tidbits - some real, some not so very. The way to keep in touch with reality in the 21st century is probably not on the internet, as much as the internet seems to encompass our world at times.
The moment I step away from this computer, material reality sets in. The internet has useful tools for my material reality. The thing to keep in mind is that the map is not the territory - the territory tends to have more texture. And in this case the map has more distractions because it gives value based on page-views, rather than criteria more relevant to me. So for me the way to keep in touch with reality is the same as it has always been - my version of "chop wood, carry water".

Reply to: or

Julie Sabatier

December 17, 2010 at 9:14 PM

27 followers

Good song! Didn't know it, thanks for posting Damian.
What makes it good is not only the song itself, but the use of the brother's emotion, making the listener grasp the meaning of the music. I don't see it as using the victim, it's the victim using the modern tools to not be a victim anymore, as obviously there is enough financial gain to improve their situation.