Devolution was Developed in 1972, not 2007.
Devolution: Nature’s U-Turn is a new viral video by the band Korn[1], presenting a mockumentry on Devolution, the idea that humanity is regressing, not progressing. It seems kind of familiar… as if some other band had been making this same claim before.
And yes, Devo, the De-Evolution band themselves have been made aware of this. I have to approve of the statement by Gerald Casale on the Club Devo front page:
“We denounce this as imposters playing with fire.” Gerald V. Casale
My major problem with this is not that Korn is making fun of humanity’s decline, but that they’re essentially ripping of an idea, wholesale, from another band without credit. The video, as presented, lacks both the intelligence of Devo’s take on the subject and the quality. It feels like, in a way, a dumbing down of a creative and unique concept in order to sell to a larger populace. In the end, something gets lost in the translation: in this case, the joke.
Ultimately, Devolution: Nature’s U-Turn fails to provide anything beyond a bit of pointless humor, and no real concrete criticisms. It works on one level: people are doing stupid stuff, and that’s scary and funny. There’s no major point, as far as I can tell. Devo’s videos and music provide context, criticize, and even offer solutions in some cases.
Comparing the two products, I’d take the original, and so should you.
- which I refuse to link to on general principle ↩
