Author Archives: Will Hagle

Dance

“The Bernie Dance.”

Rob told me that he learned this from his friend over Thanksgiving break when he was in Redding, Pennsylvania (his hometown).  His friend told him the dance because he thought it was funny and he had been seeing other people do it at bars and clubs around the area.

Rob told me that the dance is based of the movie Weekend at Bernies, in which the characters take a dead person around with them and pretend that he is alive.  To do the dance (as demonstrated in the video (Professor Thompson if you’re reading this the video did not upload, I will keep working on it but since the project is due at midnight I will post this now and email the video later), you basically just lean your head back, arch your back slightly, and flail your arms while leaning from side to side.  This is supposed to simulate the way a dead person might move (as in Weekend at Bernies).

Rob told me he’s not sure why this dance exists, but that it’s a “hot new dance that’s blowing up in the clubs.”  He said more and more people that he meets have heard of the Bernie dance as time goes on.

I think that this dance likely exists as another example of the many “urban” dances based on popular culture references, usually set to rap songs.  There’s the “Crank that Lion King,” “Spiderman Dance,” and several other dances in which the dancer is supposed to do an action that mimics a popular culture reference.  These dances, including the Bernie, are funny because they usually reference a film that doesn’t seem like it would go together with rap music.

It’s interesting that this piece of folklore is based on an authored work (the film Weekend at Bernies).  Even though that film came out over twenty years ago, it is still being referenced in popular culture today.  The dance, then, probably acts as a way for people to demonstrate their understanding of pop culture history.  References are popular in TV and movies, and you always feel a sense of superiority if you understand a reference.  The group of people that likely practices The Bernie dance was young when the movie came out, so the dance serves as a way for that group of people to express nostalgia and demonstrate their understanding of pop culture history.

The dance is referenced in the song “Movin’ Like Berney” by rapper ISA. Some believe that the dance originated with that song, but the dance can be performed to any song.

Ritual

Nationality: American. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: English

Ben explained that “Kandi” is the name for a type of bracelet that consists of beads on a plastic string.  Each bracelet is different, and you’re supposed to make your own bracelet unique.  People wear these bracelets to raves, which are huge dance parties where electronic musicians and DJs perform.

Ben said that there are “Kandi and Name-Giving Ceremonies” at raves.  If you’re an inexperienced raver, you likely don’t have a Kandi bracelet or a “rave name,” which is basically just a nickname for your rave alter-ego, since people dress and behave differently at raves than they do in regular, every day life.

At raves, the more experienced rave-goers will bring Kandi bracelets that they can then pass on to other, beginner-level ravers.  Furthermore, the experienced ravers make up a “rave name” during this process that sticks with that person forever.  Ben said that one of the rules is that both people have to be “rolling” (slang for high on ecstasy or mdma), but people often break this tradition.

Ben said this tradition was taught to him at a rave in which the group Bloody Beetroots were performing.  A random guy approached him and asked him, “Do you have a rave name?”  Ben was confused, and responded that he didn’t know what he was talking about.  The random guy then said, “You are Hurricane,” because Ben was wearing blue, wavy face paint.

Ben said that he was completely out of his element at this point and didn’t know what was going on, but the random guy continued with the process.  He told Ben that he had something for him before taking Ben through the official “Kandi giving ceremony.”

The Kandi-giving ceremony calls for both individuals to raise one hand and make the “peace sign” (two fingers).  The combine fingertips and say “peace.”  Example:

Then, the individuals combine their hands so that it looks like a “heart” symbol and say “love.”  Example:

Finally, the individuals combine hands so that their palms are linked together like this:

They then say, “unity.”  With the experienced individual’s free hand, he takes his “Kandi bracelet” and slides it over the conjoined palms, on to the other person’s wrist.  After that, the process is over.

Ben told me that he still feels as if his rave name is “Hurricane,” at that he’s now at the level where it’d be acceptable to give a rave name to someone else.

Ben said he thinks this tradition exists because raves are all about love.  He said that in a world full of hate, the youth of America need a place to feel safe and feel that connection with human beings on a positive level.

Ben’s analysis is probably true to a certain extent, as the interaction definitely symbolizes love and unity between otherwise random people.  From a non-raver, outsider point of view, however, the ceremony seems more like a rite of passage for inexperienced ravers.  If you haven’t gone through this process, you can’t really consider yourself a part of the subculture, at least according to Ben’s report.  After going through this process (which some rave attendees have never even heard of), you feel like part of a larger group of individuals.  Then, once you feel experienced enough and fully integrated into the rave culture, you can pass the tradition on.

Game

Nationality: Canadian. Self Identified Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: English

Tom told me that “Ball Gazer” was a game he played with his friends in high school.  It was an ongoing game, and anyone could do it to anyone else at any time.  In order to perform the game, you would touch your index and thumb fingertips together to form a circle, with the other three fingers pointing up, much like the “okay” sign in modern American popular culture.  Then, you would put your hand below your waist.  The gesture looked like this:

If your friend glanced at your hand, you would have to say “Ball Gazer.”  After that, you had the authority to punch them as hard as you wanted.  If your friend looked at your hand and managed to put their finger through the hole formed by your finger and thumb before you said “Ball Gazer,” they would have the authority to punch you instead.

Tom said that he learned this from his friend one day at school.  He had no idea where his friend learned the game, but it most other people at his school knew about the game, too.  People would do it randomly, and the popularity of the game would fade in and out as time went on.  Some weeks people would play this game every day, and others nobody would play.  People got bored with the game quickly, according to Tom, but it always managed to come back at some point until he graduated from high school.

Tom said that he thinks the game is a funny way to bring attention to the fact that someone is staring at your crotch.  Sometimes people might unintentionally zone and appear to be looking at another person’s crotch area, and this is a way of calling that action out.  Plus, it’s an entertaining game that people could perform with their friends at school.

I think Tom’s right, but this game also represents a form of homophobia that exists with many young males throughout the country.  People usually perform this game in their younger teenage years, where they are just starting to come to terms with their sexuality.  Thus, it may be taboo to be looking at your fellow male friend’s crotch region.  This game demonstrates a way for men to display their identity as “men” (at least the stereotypical, “tough guy, heterosexual” version) by pummeling their friends if they appear to be performing a homosexual act.  It perpetuates this “tough guy” stereotype and demonstrates a form of homophobia that is prevalent in many young, high school communities.  However, I know plenty of females and homosexual people that have participated in this game, so it’s also a common funny form of entertainment.

A form of this game can also be found in the 2005 film Waiting starring Ryan Reynolds.  That movie is about a group of waiters at a restaurant that goof and slack off.  The waiters all play a game called “The Penis Showing Game.”  The basic objective of the game is to get someone to look at your genitalia.  The waiters have different positions with humorous names, and they each result in a different punishment for whoever gets caught looking.  After the person showing their genitalia catches another waiter looking, they get to call the other person a “faggot” and kick them in the behind.  This is basically a more extreme version of Tom’s “Ball Gazer” game, and the use of the word “faggot” in the film further demonstrates the games roots in homophobia.

Riddle

Nationality: American. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: English

The riddle as performed by Laila:  “So, you are on a path and you come to a fork in the road and your path diverges into two paths and, um, there’s a man and a wo— a person standing there who is from, you don’t know where they’re from, but they’re either from a village that you get to if you take the left side of the road or a village you get to if you take the right side of the road.  And, um, you have to figure out… oh, okay.  So one village they tell nothing but lies.  And the other village they tell nothing but truths.  And you have to get to the village where they only tell truths.  You can find out which way to go by asking the guy only one question.  What question do you ask?”

The answer to the riddle as explained by Laila:  “The answer to the riddle is you ask the guy which village he’s from.  This is the answer because if he’s from the village where they only tell the truth, he can only tell things that are true, so he’ll point you to the right village.  If he’s from the village where they can only tell lies then he has to lie and say he’s from the other village, which is the village where they only tell truths.  So, either way, he points you to the village that tells the truth.”

Laila said that she learned this riddle in her International Relations class at USC from Professor Manning.  She said that they were learning about terrorists, and the teacher just started the class that way one day.  She said that every one was stumped, and it took them about twenty minutes to think about the riddle.  Finally, the teacher had to tell the class the answer.

Laila said that she thinks people tell this riddle because it’s fun to trick people and it’s satisfying because it’s such a simple answer.  She said it was related to terrorism because it brings up the question of how to correctly interrogate people.  It’s hard to get the truth from terrorists, so you have to be smart in the way that you phrase your questions.

I think this riddle is told for the same reason most confusing riddles of a similar nature are told.  The person who knows the answer takes pleasure in the fact that the others do not possess the same knowledge, and enjoys watching them struggle in order to come up with an answer.  Since the person performing the riddle likely learned it from some one else and struggled to come up with an answer, the performer feels excited to make others go through the same process.  This is almost like a little rite of passage— as those that perform the riddle feel superior to those that do not know the answer to the riddle… but afterwards both sides possess the same knowledge and are intellectual equals on the subject.

In Laila’s case, it’s interesting that her professor was able to relate this to questions about carrying out interrogations with suspected terrorists.  In that sense, the riddle shows how fear of terrorism is widespread in modern American culture.  Even though the common person might never think to link the riddle to terrorism, the USC professor was able to use it as an example on the topic in his class.

Ritual— Iran

Nationality: Iranian. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Persian.
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

The practice as described by Tara:  “If you feel like the evil eye is near you, you burn this weed called esfand (laughs).  It’s different in other parts of Iran but my mom’s Turkish so she has to say this prayer thing in Turkish.  And you let the smell of the weed take over the house, and it kills the evil eye.”

Tara said she learned this tradition from her mother, who burns esfand often.  She said that most people she knows do this in Iran on important occasions like on the date that their children are being circumcised or if their children are sick.  However, her mother does it for more common occasions.  For instance, if someone gives Tara or her mother a lot of compliments, they burn the weed because it seems like someone is really interested in them and they might be getting jinxed.  Tara’s family moved from Iran to the United States almost ten years ago, but they still perform this ritual in their house in Los Angeles.

Tara said that she doesn’t understand the practice exactly but she likes to burn the weed because it smells really good.  She also said that people probably do this because it’s a tradition and gives you a true sense of comfort.  She said that she does believe in the evil eye even though she knows it’s illogical.  She says it might sound stupid to other people (this is why she laughed in embarrassment while explaining the tradition, which she did in a room filled with Americans uninformed about the evil eye), but she still likes burning esfand because it makes her feel good.

Tara’s analysis seems accurate.  Even though many people believe that the evil eye couldn’t logically exist, they still fear its power because they grew up learning about it.  The evil eye is a common fear among many nations and groups of people, so this seems like yet another way to prevent it from causing harm.  Superstitions like this one have been a part of Tara’s life since she was growing up, so the practice of burning esfand provides a consistent sense of comfort.