{"id":253,"date":"2011-05-01T14:28:51","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T22:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/?p=253"},"modified":"2023-03-09T06:32:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T14:32:12","slug":"duranalysis-reflex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/duranalysis-reflex\/","title":{"rendered":"Duranalysis: The Reflex"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in the day, I didn\u2019t have much use for Duran Duran\u2019s video for \u201cThe Reflex.\u201d After all, it consists entirely of concert footage, which, to my way of thinking, is the laziest and least interesting way of doing things. When it comes to music videos, I\u2019m a big fan of strong narratives. Strong, weird, overblown, confusing, crazy, awesome narratives. Still, while I\u2019d rather watch the boys fending off zombies<\/a> or stumbling around bleak apocalyptic wastelands<\/a>, I\u2019ve since learned to relax and embrace \u201cThe Reflex.\u201d It\u2019s a concert video, yes, but it\u2019s a pretty damn entertaining one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directed by the great Russell Mulcahy, \u201cThe Reflex\u201d was filmed in 1984 during the band\u2019s Sing Blue Silver world tour. While it may not be my all-time favorite Duran Duran video, there\u2019s an awful lot to like about it. I like the gleeful synchronized hop Simon and Andy and John all take upon hitting the stage. I like Simon\u2019s infectious enthusiasm. I like the preposterously high energy level. I like the shots of all those ecstatic, overwhelmed young audience members, particularly those two dudes who stand on their seats and bop around proudly as if to proclaim to the world, \u201cLook, we\u2019re guys, we\u2019re at a Duran Duran concert, and we\u2019re having ourselves a fantastic<\/em> time, so all you haters out there can suck it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The video features a simple, uncluttered set, which gives Simon plenty of room in which to cavort madly about. At the back of the stage, there\u2019s a row of stately Doric columns, like a Greek amphitheater, only, y\u2019know, in chartreuse neon. For more detail, I\u2019ll turn it over to Andy, who discusses the filming of this video in his memoir. Quoth Andy, \u201cThe set was based on something extravagant that Nick had sketched out while we were in Montserrat together the previous summer.\u201d Now, there\u2019s<\/em> a sentence that somehow manages to encapsulate the entire Duran Duran mystique in a few simple words. Andy doesn\u2019t elaborate further, but since we\u2019re talking about Nick, let\u2019s assume it was sketched with a Chanel eyeliner pencil on a damp cocktail napkin, which had been used to mop up a spilled bottle of Krug. Because that\u2019s just how Nick rolls.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There\u2019s an enormous screen at the top of the stage, which projects footage of the concert to the nosebleed seats. On occasion, the screen also displays silhouettes of people indulging in various energetic leisure-time activities, most of which involve nudity and chains. In the silhouette below, some nice young man appears to be giving a naked lady a pony ride. One of the things I admire most about Duran Duran, apart from their staggering good looks and their lively pop tunes, is the way they careen between wholesome and kinky without pausing for breath. It\u2019s a delicate balance, and they maintain it well: They\u2019re just a bunch of fun-loving English lads who are irresistible to pre-teen girls and who also might, on occasion, enjoy being ridden like ponies.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At one point, a gigantic CGI wave appears to flood out of the screen and drench the audience below, which\u2026. well, it\u2019s a sad truth that special effects that looked totally cool in 1984 rarely rate very high by 2011 standards, so we\u2019ll gloss over this part of the video and move right along.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Simon looks the best he\u2019s ever looked. He\u2019s always been an attractive bloke, but here, he vaults into the elite realm of the smoking-hot. Hair, makeup, wardrobe, all of it looks great. This is a concert video, and yet everyone looks consistently daisy-fresh and impeccably coiffed. Don\u2019t bands always look wrecked<\/em> during live concerts? Sweat-drenched clothes, smeared makeup, lank hair, lots of flying spittle? Not here. Not Duran Duran. They\u2019re above such mundane human considerations as excessive perspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You know what might be the very best part of this video? The way Simon leaps and bounces and springs around the stage like a live-action version of a Dragon Ball<\/em> character. I stand in awe of his energy and verve. I know I gave Simon a hard time earlier for his hilariously dramatic poses and gyrations throughout the \u201cCareless Memories<\/a>\u201d video, but here, his instincts are bang on. He moves well, he covers the stage from end to end, and it all looks very natural and graceful.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It probably goes without saying, but you know what I mentioned earlier about everyone being impeccably coiffed? Yeah, that doesn\u2019t apply to Andy. There are only so many times I can grouse about Andy\u2019s hair, and I feel like I\u2019ve comprehensively addressed that subject in my earlier posts, so I\u2019ll limit myself to pointing out that he looks pretty good here. At the least, he looks healthy and happy, which, for Andy, is not always a given. He\u2019s not scowling from behind dark sunglasses, which is a step in the right direction. His color\u2019s good, he grins a lot, and he seems to be having a fantastic time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

John looks beautiful. Yes, yes, John always<\/em> looks beautiful, but, like Simon, he\u2019s kicked it up a notch or two above his usual high standard. Hopefully the boys kept the hair and makeup people from this video on retainer, because somebody\u2014presumably multiple somebodies\u2014sure knew what they were doing.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Look, it\u2019s a concert video. John doesn\u2019t do much other than play his bass while looking unfathomably lovely, and that\u2019s enough. I don\u2019t have a whole lot more to say on the matter. I just like looking at pretty photos of him.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Of all the Durans, Roger gets the least amount of screen time, and that probably suited him just fine. Here\u2019s how you keep Roger happy: Stick him in a shadowy area of the stage, keep the cameras mostly out of his face, and just let him bang on his drums in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s Nick. Ah, Nick. Glowering from behind his barricade of synthesizers and monitors and sundry equipment, Nick looks gorgeous and terrifying and unearthly, like he\u2019s the malevolent apprentice to David Bowie\u2019s Goblin King from Labyrinth<\/em>. Hair: fiery. Makeup: flawless. Demeanor: frosty. Mood: dangerous. In contrast to hyperactive Simon and happy-go-lucky John and revved-up Andy (and nigh-invisible Roger), Nick spends most of the video trying to shoot bolts of fire from his eyes at the audience. Nick is always gloriously, gorgeously weird (key quote from Simon about his first-ever meeting with his future bandmate: \u201cI\u2019d been told that Nick was a bit of a weirdo\u2026\u201d), but he\u2019s never weirder than when he\u2019s performing onstage. And I mean that in the best possible way.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Interesting tidbit: In his memoir,<\/a> Andy brings up the theory that \u201cThe Reflex\u201d is all about Nick. Simon denies this, though if you look at the lyrics, it makes a certain amount of crazy sense. While Nick might raise an imperious eyebrow at being compared to a child waiting by the park, it\u2019s true that every little thing he does leaves me answered with a question mark, starting with his fashion choices in this video. Take a look at that sweater: It\u2019s made from bulky tweed, it has that strange leather cutout in front, it\u2019s got puffy princess sleeves<\/em>\u2026 It is, in short, the ugliest, most wretched sweater imaginable, and it\u2019s probably miserably hot and itchy when worn under scorching stage lights\u2026 and yet Nick makes it look appropriate and stylish, as though wearing a bulky, scratchy tweed sweater was the perfect and most logical option under the circumstances. This is the magic of Nick.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Reflex<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So, \u201cThe Reflex.\u201d A perfectly decent video, a downright awesome concert<\/em> video. Would it have been improved with the appearance of zombies, a la the \u201cNight Boat\u201d video? Hell, yes. But in terms of how it achieves what it sets out to do, I\u2019ve got no complaints.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the day, I didn\u2019t have much use for Duran Duran\u2019s video for \u201cThe Reflex.\u201d After all, it consists entirely of concert footage, which, to my way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duran-duran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1625,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions\/1625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}