David Bowie - I’m Afraid Of Americans (V1). Directed by Nick Goffey and Dominic Hawley.
Psycho Trent Reznor stalking David Bowie on the streets of NYC. What’s not to like?
A Taxi Driver-influenced music video was produced for the “I’m Afraid of Americans (V1)” remix, starring David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Directed by Dom and Nic, it features Bowie being stalked through New York City by Jonny, a hostile American, played by Reznor. As Bowie continues to be harassed and becomes more and more paranoid, he witnesses (or imagines he witnesses) random acts of violence perpetrated by citizens on one another — but their hands are empty, as if holding invisible guns. The video ends with Bowie ducking behind a taxi while Reznor fires an imaginary assault rifle that inflicts severe damage on a vehicle. Bowie awakens later, only to witness Reznor carrying a crucifix in a parade reminiscent of Day of the Dead celebrations or the movie Something Wicked This Way Comes. The music video premiered on MTV Live, and later received a MTV Video Music Award nomination in 1998 for Best Male Video.
It’s not as truly hostile about Americans as say “Born in the U.S.A.”: it’s merely sardonic. I was traveling in Java when [its] first McDonald’s went up: it was like, “for fuck’s sake.” The invasion by any homogenized culture is so depressing, the erection of another Disney World in, say, Umbria, Italy, more so. It strangles the indigenous culture and narrows expression of life.
