avatarTimothy Key

Summary

The web content discusses Spanish actress Laia Manzanares Tomas, who leverages her role in Tame Impala's music video "The Less I Know the Better" to promote self-confidence in teens and has pivoted from a psychology career to acting to achieve this goal.

Abstract

Laia Manzanares Tomas, a Spanish actress, gained recognition for her role in Tame Impala's music video, which tells a story of forbidden love involving a cheerleader and a gorilla mascot. The video's unique blend of surrealistic animation and music has achieved cult classic status, resonating with audiences years after its release. Manzanares, inspired by Uma Thurman's character in "Kill Bill: Volume 1," aims to inspire others through her acting. Despite her initial plans for a career in psychology, she found that acting allows her to make a more significant impact on at-risk youth. The article emphasizes the importance of innovation in capturing audience attention, the necessity of pivoting to be more effective, and the allegorical lesson of working hard to maintain relationships and skills, as symbolized by the gorilla in the music video.

Opinions

  • The author believes that Manzanares' use of her acting career to help at-risk youth is an innovative and effective approach.
  • There is an opinion that pivoting from one career path to another can lead to greater effectiveness in achieving one's goals.
  • The article suggests that hard work is essential, regardless of natural talents or abilities, to prevent being outperformed by others (symbolized by the gorilla in the video).
  • The author implies that consistency in storytelling format is crucial, as seen in their recommendation of another article about formatting Medium stories.
  • The author values the impact of compassion and the role of good management in creating a positive work environment.

Quantity with Quality

Surrealistically Seduced by a Gorilla

How a Spanish actress uses her appearance in a viral video to help instill self-confidence in teens

Photo by titus torome on Pixabay

This is my next story in a series of articles responding to Dr Mehmet Yildiz’s challenge to produce a short quality article with three take home points each day for thirty days.

I have chosen to use Wikipedia’s main page as inspiration, choosing one item from the “Did You Know” section as topical encouragement.

Laia Manzanares Tomas is a Spanish actress best known for her portrayal of a high school cheerleader in Tame Impala’s music video for the song The Less I Know the Better. Manzanares’ character is a cheerleader dating a basketball player when she subsequently falls for the gorilla team mascot.

Video scenes interspersed with surrealistic drawing and animation help shape a story of the guy who loses the girl to a gorilla. The song itself placed on top charts in Belgium, France, Australia and the United States, but the video proved to be a sleeper hit and continues to be something of a cult classic.

Manzanares began her acting career when she was inspired by a character in Quentin Tarantino’s movie, Kill Bill: Volume 1. Manzanares states that she was motivated by the strength of Uma Thurman’s character and personality and hopes to be able to use her own acting to inspire others in the same way.

Manzanares has starred in films featuring teen drama storylines as well as a role portraying Amanda Todd, a Canadian teen that committed suicide as a result of cyberbullying. Manzanares was headed for a career in psychology before her acting took center stage. She feels that she can make a greater impact for now by sticking with acting.

What We Can Learn from a Cult Classic Gorilla Seduction

While the story of teen love and broken hearts is one oft told, the Tame Impala video’s use of hand-drawn surrealist animation strangely helps to evoke empathy for the characters and is oddly entrancing. Perhaps that is why it has become a cult classic and remains popular several years after the song’s release.

Whether you like, or even are aware of, Tame Impala, the slightly funky disco vibe of The Less I Know the Better video is a good watch:

Take home points:

  • Innovation will help capture your audience’s attention. There isn’t a straight line between music video gorilla seduction and helping at-risk youth, yet Manzanares has capitalized on her fame to do just that.
  • Sometimes you need to pivot to be more effective. Manzanares wanted to help at-risk youth by being a psychologist, but instead found that she could better achieve her goals on stage.
  • Don’t let the gorilla get your girl. This is an allegorical lesson about continuing to work hard to maintain your relationships and skills. Being a handsome and charismatic basketball star isn’t enough by itself. There is always someone willing to work hard to achieve their dreams, even if they aren’t blessed by natural skills or abilities.

Those that are blessed need to work just as hard as those that aren’t. Otherwise the gorilla comes out on top.

If you liked this article, you may also like:

Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.

Innovation
Leadership
Quality
Music
Self Improvement
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