Have nothing better to do right now? May we suggest watching Kim Jong-Il’s funeral, happening right now and streaming live online? Because, let’s face it, when’s the next time you’re going to be able to say, “I watched a notorious world leader’s funeral — live”?
The videos from last week were no joke. There is a LOT of crying in this funeral clip. A LOT, from the announcer on down. Good luck trying to parse this, Americans.
This shot, in all its streaming blurriness, is like a painting. If nothing else, the visuals in this funeral are quite striking. Kim Jong-Il will be remembered for his funeral as much as all his eccentricities in life. The crying hasn’t stopped in like 25 minutes.
Scene from Kim Jong-Il’s funeral: Uniformly white compact cars as far as the eye can see.
We’re not sure what to make of all this, but we think a few people on Twitter have gotten close:
The overwrought crying at the Kim Jong-Il funeral looks like a Beatles concert, circa 1964
— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) December 28, 2011
@AntDeRosa The overwrought crying at the Kim Jong-Il funeral looks like the #MichaelJackson Bad Tour. Fainting soon to follow
— Mark Anthony Thomas (@workandprogress) December 28, 2011
The Kim Jong-Il funeral is grim to the point of parody. There’s just one emotion on display and it is EXTREMELY SAD: bit.ly/rsBugI
— Chris Boutet (@chrisboutet) December 28, 2011
The images being broadcast from the Kim Jong-Il funeral is Orwell’s 1984 coming to life. It’s beyond surreal.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) December 28, 2011
I bet North Korea has set the world record of the most people crying at the same time. #NorthKorea
— Takashi D. Merken(@Takashiwolf) December 28, 2011
The Big Chill. Kim Jong-Il’s funeral includes lots of snow, synchronized mourning, a blink-and-you-missed-it funeral procession and a repeated tower block. [Follow]
I think everyone should take a moment today to be thankful they don’t live in North Korea. I feel horrible for the people who do, a sentiment that sadly only emerges on the rare occasion I glimpse into the bleak, dismal hellhole they call home. These sad, manipulated, tortured people deserve so much better than the world they know and a leadership that obviously sees them as little more than props on the geopolitical stage.
This is certainly not a high point for humanity tonight. In fact, it’s beyond explanation. It’s like reality TV, except without the TV conventions to ensure what you’re seeing isn’t actually real. And even then, some of this is probably fake (there’s evidence of repeating footage, and the crying certainly sounds monotonous).
Driving past: Kim Jong-Il’s smiling face, looking way too optimistic for the scene unfolding right now. (Edit: Our bad; on second glance it wasn’t Kim Jong-un. Drove by too fast.)
The last fifteen minutes or so have been filled with hysterical monologues like the one given by this guy. We’re probably going to crash now, but we’ll offer updates tomorrow morning. Click the link above to watch live.
OK, we lied. Still posting. Looks like the crying’s over, and the actual funeral itself is about to begin. The procession has moved away from the streets.
The guy next to the flag on the hearse? Kim Jong-Un. Standing with his dad.
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Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general’s efforts and this brings tears to my eyes.Female soldier Seo Ju-rim, talking about Kim Jong-Il during Wednesday’s funeral procession. A myth around Kim has been his ability to control the weather, so some North Koreans believe that the snow and unusually cold weather is his doing.
Officially the weirdest, saddest thing we’ve ever liveblogged. Good luck to Kim Jong-Un as he tries to set his own path in North Korea.
Last night was just strange: Euronews’ “No Comment” YouTube channel did us a favor and edited down this meandering feed, where (in one scene) the camera focused on a building for ten minutes, down to two minutes that really give you the gist. We’ll choose not to debate on whether the tears were real. Instead, let’s discuss what this shows about North Korean culture. The Telegraph argues that it shows that North Korea is really a monarchy or royal dynasty, despite its reputation as a communist nation — and that Kim Jong-Un is without a doubt the country’s leader. And the Christian Science Monitor disputes (in a slideshow) that the country is really as isolated as the West has come to believe. And MSNBC parses the funeral through the eyes of South Korea — and what they find is a giant bout of disinterest. What did you get out of this? source
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