Look, I don’t want to be one of those people who go around claiming that people hate fun. People have different ideas of fun. My idea of fun is certainly not, for example, being subjected to the same hacky jokes and plodding melody by two men dressed up as yellow wolves from space, for example, but a lot of people enjoyed that! So one’s mileage may vary.
All of that is a prelude to saying Windows95man – featuring Henri, who is not credited but very much should be – is a lot of FUN.
He emerges from a giant denim egg; he’s developed clever conceits to further the illusion of nudity; he’s got pyrotechnic jorts – it’s all absurd and sublime and makes me crack a smile no matter how many times I watch it.
I understand that humour is subjective. I get why people think that this is a bit try-hard. But it’s a very knowing parody of 90s Eurodance that both comes from a place of love and has an affirmative message – live your authentic life.
Most importantly, Windows95man is not an act that is punching down. When I first saw the images from UMK, I expected it to be a cool dude who was making fun of nerds. But it’s clearly someone who is co-opting a nerd aesthetic to be a more effective messenger for their song – do whatever you want to do without worrying about what people will think. In a way, it’s just carrying on the message from Kaarijaa last year, who was singing about how he couldn’t truly be his authentic self until he had a lot of alcohol in him. Here, Windows95man is trying to get people to do the same thing, just without the alcohol – a healthier message for all.
It’s also not like Windows95man is a character that he’s come up with just for Eurovision. It’s a character that Teemu, the man behind hit, has been working on for more than decade. The genesis of it can be found in this video from 2013 that he recorded for a friend, but which, I would argue, reaches a new level of — inspired genius? inspired madness?
This video is not easy to watch. It is funny, and then it is not funny, and then it is funny again from the virtue of having been unfunny for so long. It makes us cringe, and it is clearly performative – the Finnish guy looks plaintively at the camera and gazes at us from the mirror as if he is willing us to have a reaction. Whether that is one of compassion – should we hug him – or one of lust – should we find this sexy – is left up to the viewer.
What is clear is that this is not a video that is a typical YouTube find. Teemu – Windows95man’s government name – spends his days as an artist in Finland, creating popular street art and operating a gallery. From my perspective, this video is performance art – and, carrying that through, Windows95man is also a performance piece, one that just happens to be family-friendly and more commercial, but one that allows Teemu to assume a personality that is unlike his actual persona.
The performance art carries over into other bits of their work. Take, for example, the cover that Windows95man and Henri did of Bomfunk MC’s Freestyler – taking the concept and setting of the video (the Helsinki metro) but adding a layer of weirdness over it. In the original video, B.O. Dubb, the lead singer of the Freestyle MC’s, transforms a teenager’s MP3 player into a magical time-shifting object with a mere glance. But today, with no MP3 players, and music largely listened to via phones and Bluetooth, Windows95man’s attempts to transform Henri’s phone seem more like he’s cruising on the metro, trying to pick him up. It is, once again, an uncomfortable viewing experience – with Henri acting as an excellent straight man. I would once again classify this as performance art, but it’s also very, very good comedy.
That’s a long way to say that there’s more to Windows95man than a single three-minute song. There’s a joke here, but it’s a joke with layers and lore and buildup, and on my weird little dude ranking, he’s definitely moved near the top of the pack. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do after Eurovision.
dudepoints.fun 