Video and Response
In 2007, Garcia posted several videos of his inmates' performances on YouTube in hopes of inspiring other prisons to learn from the experience. The clips became some of the most talked about in cyberspace. The most popular of the videos was uploaded in April 2007. It showed over 1,500 male inmates imitating the zombie dance featured in the music video of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The prisoners wore their orange jail-issue jumpsuits during the performance in the jail's exercise yard. The Los Angeles Times later commented that the dance moves were not lifted directly from the video, "but they are performed with such precision it somehow seems that they must have been". Inmate Crisanto Nierre played the role of Michael Jackson. Nierre, who at the time was awaiting trial on drug charges, has been a fan of Jackson since he was in a dance troupe at high school. USA Today noted that his favorite Jackson tracks were "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal". Former pizza chef Wenjiel Resane, who is gay, played the part of Jackson's girlfriend. At the time, Resane had already been at the prison for three years, also awaiting trial on drug charges.
Forty-eight hours after being uploaded onto YouTube, the video had been viewed 266,000 times. After a week, the number of hits had risen to over one million. Within two weeks of the Thriller video being uploaded, it had been viewed by some three million YouTube users. The following week, the number had almost doubled, coming close to six million hits. On average, the clip received 300,000 views per day at its peak. The video generated mixed reviews, with some critics claiming that Garcia forced the inmates to perform, an accusation the prisoners refuted. Several of the inmates showed devotion towards their prison chief, with as many as 20 prisoners bearing tattoos with Garcia's name. Garcia's concept of having prisoners dance as part of a rehabilitation program has been copied by several prisons, including jails in Quezon province and Muntinlupa. Garcia commented that the movie showed that dancing is not a cruel or unusual punishment. He claimed that his prison showed that negative inmates could be turned into positive individuals, through the concept of a "revolutionized penology". Following Garcia's presentation of an inmate performance at the province's Founding Day celebrations, a donation of $35,000 was given to the prison. Each inmate received $22 of the gift, deposited into a prison passbook account. The remaining money went to the Cebu province and its employees, to defray the costs of incarceration.
The prison inmates Thriller performance made it to the pages of Time—on the international magazine’s list of the most watchable Internet videos for 2007. The inmates' interpretation of the Thriller music video was ranked the fifth of 10 "most popular viral videos" of the year, or the "Web clips we couldn’t stop watching". The list also included appearances by Hillary Clinton, Will Ferrell and Chris Crocker for his Leave Britney Alone! clip. Time described the convicts as "orange-jumpsuited accused murderers, rapists and drug dealers", and noted that their performance was made in "homage" to Jackson's Thriller. The magazine stated that the viral video had been downloaded more than nine million times. (As of January 18, 2008, the reported views of the video have reached almost 15 million).
Edward Latessa, professor and head of division of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati, declared that the prisoners who are dancing are not being rehabilitated. Latessa stated that the prisoners may think that they are getting something out of the performances, when, in reality, they are not. He described it as having a potentially harmful effect. The professor insisted that more appropriate rehabilitation programs, like substance abuse or family reunification programs, should be implemented with as much coordination and vigor. The detention workers disagreed with the assessment, deeming the activities to be an integral part of rehabilitation. "It combines the need for physical exercise and their love to sing and dance", Thomeczeck argued. "In more ways than one, it contributes to their rehabilitation and eventual reintegration. It's a way to put themselves together physically and probably spiritually. That's good, isn't it?". Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Now that's a 'breakout' hit: The clip of inmates at a high-security prison in the Philippines performing an intricately choreographed dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" has nabbed more than 42 million views since 2007."
Read more about this topic: Thriller (viral Video)
Famous quotes containing the words video and/or response:
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
“Parents’ accepting attitudes can help children learn to be open and tolerant. Parents can explain unfamiliar behavior or physical handicaps and show children that the appropriate response to differences should be interest rather than revulsion.”
—Dian G. Smith (20th century)