By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Macarena by the Spanish band Los del Rio has been an iconic piece of pop culture since its release in 1993. The song has also spawned remixes, the most popular being that by Bayside Boys, but has also inspired slow and reverbed versions. It sparked a global dance phenomenon and is still popular at parties, sports games, and even school events.
Recently, however, military edits with the slow and reverb version have surfaced across the internet. These videos are chilling and completely disconnected from reality. They often feature footage of military technology and vehicles, such as tanks and fighter jets, dropping bombs or attacking the enemy. There are clips of soldiers waving or looking busy with their mission. The way they are framed accentuates the imagined “coolness” of war and military life. It doesn’t feel like watching authentic war footage, but instead seems like a propagandized military photo-op. The way the music is incorporated is disturbing, as the most iconic part of the song (“ayyy macarena”) is juxtaposed with footage of bombs dropping or destruction being perpetrated. A lot of these videos are also about American imperialism in the Middle East, including the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq.
Co-opting upbeat nostalgia and merging it with footage glamorising the military becomes a vulgar yet horrifying tool aiding in the normalization of war and violence.
Aurafarming the military is the best way to explain it to those chronically online. For those who don’t know, aurafarming is a new meme amongst many TikTok users. It means exaggerating the swagger of someone or something through their poses and actions, and it often features some music in the background. This is what these military edits are doing. But there is also an element of nostalgia for the perceived glories of the past. While these edits exaggerate the aesthetic of war, they don’t show the damage caused. They don’t tackle the nearly half a million reported civilians who were killed in the wars being glorified, or the environmental annihilation in the region caused by the American military. The audience undoubtedly includes young, impressionable men. After analyzing the comments to some of the videos, it is clear many are appreciating the edits, but also the aesthetic of the military. Many comments are patriotic or focused on celebrating American victories. These edits are not just a piece of internet memorabilia, but an inadvertent dog whistle, looking to make easily-influenced social media users more appreciative of the American military — despite all the harm it has caused.
These videos, which are not just co-opting the Macarena, but other songs with up-beat vibes (an example being Cheri Cheri Lady by Modern Talking), are not only disconnected from reality, but feeding into pro-war sentiments. There is nothing admirable about what conflict and imperialism did to the Middle East and beyond. Co-opting upbeat nostalgia and merging it with footage glamorizing the military becomes a vulgar yet horrifying tool aiding in the normalization of war and violence, both in the US and around the world, especially for the younger generation.
