Gwen Stefani and her Muse

I can’t stop watching the video above. It’s perfect in every sense of the word–beautiful scenery, beautiful actors and actresses, beautiful melody, beautiful lyrics, beautiful acting, and very human. I must admit that I have not had the exact experience depicted in the clip–though probably something similar–but wow…after watching the clip, I feel like I was right there.  What an amazing story.

The interesting thing is that the song is written about Gwen Stefani’s actual experience with her bandmate Tony Kanal, who is Indian American.  So there’s your Asian connection (Yes, yes, yes, I know that the sexual-masculinity concerns for East and Southeast Asian men are different from those of South Asian men, but hey, we’ve got Jon Gosselin and the Asian Playboy in our camp.  Boo hoo….er, I mean, woo hoo.)   Stefani’s “Don’t Speak” was also written about Kanal, and he’s even in the Don’t Speak video, since he’s the bass player.  Their relationship and its eventual demise is chronicled on No Doubt’s official site.  It’s amazing how honest and open they are with their fans.

I had some thoughts about the video:

1. It took me a while to figure out that the brunette in the flashbacks was Stefani.  I guess I was used to seeing her as a blonde…but she looks a lot more natural as a brunette.

2. Money is beautiful, as is youth, because being young and taken care of is the only time people are truly carefree.  I absolutely fell in love with the shots of Italy; I’m crazy about the scene where she hears the Vespa and runs out on to the patio.  It’s an example of sbsolutely gorgeous, absolutely stunning cinematography.

3. Do people associate money and carefreeness with Whiteness?  Just a question for my readers (if you care to answer). If so, why?

4. I’m not gay, but both the actor in the video above and Tony Kanal are cool looking dudes.

5. Gwen Stefani and No Doubt are musically brilliant.  Stefani has mastered the visuals as well–I love what she’s done with her retro-look.  And this is coming from a guy who knows nothing about fashion.

Related posts:

1. More Tension with Jon and Kate