Daft Punk has been a popular techno act for years, but after scoring the underwhelming Tron:Legacy (my family all find the soundtrack the best part) and with the rise of dubstep and techno-house artists like Skrillex and Deadmau5 they seem to be having a resurgence in popularity amongst kids too young to have caught them before.
Their song ‘Prime Time of Your Life’ is a great example – released as a single in 2006 from the 2005 recording ‘Human After All’, the song – like the album – was deemed ‘too repetitive’ and lacking development, and pretty much ignored until the live versions brought renewed attention.
The video for the song was likewise overlooked but has recently been rediscovered by a new generation of fans. At the start the video seems a bit silly or perhaps like a sci-fi movie as a girl is watching TV and seeing everyone as skeletons (my first thought was the awful movie ‘They Live’).
But pretty quickly it is clear that the message of the video is that the girl sees everyone else as skeletal, alluding that she sees herself as obese. This is shown directly when she goes to a mirror and sees a very heavy reflection while the viewer can still see the beautiful young woman. She looks into the drawer and finds a razor … and I will leave the rest to be shown by the video.
It is a disturbing look at how the struggle for self-image can destroy kids during what should be the ‘Prime Time of Their Life’. It is a haunting video that delivers a strong message.