Steam Punk Has Jumped the Shark

Although I love much of the literature upon which the genre is based, I never quite got the whole steam punk-Halloween relationship. For a costume, perhaps, but I never understood what it had to do with haunting. Of course, I guess one could ask, what does a Medieval castle have to do with haunting too, yet I completely buy into that.

Fortunately, 12th century fortresses haven't had to contend with the pure evil that is Justin Bieber. Not so lucky is what was once the fastest growing subculture. The former mop-haired crooner recently released a Christmas video with a decided steam punk flair to it, effectively and quite suddenly making it very uncool to be associated with it. Add in a dollop of Macy's Christmas windows being done up in genre finery as well and you've got the makings of a very mainstream movement.

For all of you that may have missed the Bieber-ing of steam punk, I give you The Video.

I'm also not sure what all the break dancing has to do with steam punk (or Christmas for that matter) or why Bieber felt the need to grab his crotch in a holiday video. In fact, I find the whole video a fairly ludicrous take on a cherished Christmas song. I have no problems with updating a song for modern tastes. A lot of very good music has been as a result of redoing a song. But this video is just dumb. Sure, the production values are good, the choreography is good -- I don't know if I can say the singing, really, is all that good -- but it's just a dumb Christmas video.

Not only has Justin Bieber ruined a holiday song, but he's also infuriated an entire subculture who will now be forced to find a new trend to lead to the forefront.