American in Spain

Viral Video Idea: Flying Shoes

December 16, 2008

There is a certain video making its round through every news program on the planet, and doing pretty well on the internet too, of an Iraqi journalist launching two shoes towards President Bush's face. Not only is the video pretty funny, but it's hugely symbolic for the failure of Bush's presidency. I think that everyone who has seen it has probably been impressed by old Dubya's evasive maneuvers. It's like he's been practicing dodgeball on the White House lawn or something.

It occurs to me that the internet is ripe for any parody videos involving flying shoes. If I had any video special effects skills beyond iMovie, I would make one myself. The best idea I've come up with is a parody of The Matrix. There are two scenes to choose from. Either President Bush bends back until his torso is parallel to the ground, arms flailing, as time slows and we see the shoes fly past in slow motion. Or we go with the scene at the end of the movie and Bush simply holds out his hand and the shoes slow down, stop in mid air, and fall to the ground.

A good viral video idea is worth thousands of dollars. All you need to make it an advertisement is for Bush to take a sip of some beverage either before or after the action, or for the shoes to have a logo on them as they fly by in slow motion.

C'mon, Internet! Get to work!