Everything IS a Remix

After watching Kirby Ferguson’s YouTube video, “Everything is a Remix”, I agree with his argument that everything in society, from the various forms of entertainment to useful inventions, are all adaptations of earlier ideas. I found his use of many examples and multimodal appeals to be rhetorically effective in persuading his audience to agree with him. He does this by making these remixes apparent to the audience by providing them with audible and visual clips of each song and movie scene, so that they do not have to take his word for it, they can hear or see and understand the obvious similarities or exact copies of these popular songs and movies from less popular older ones. This is what made me agree with him, because I too was able to recognize the similarities for myself.

---

In addition to recognizing Ferguson’s many examples of remixes, I was able to identify some remixes of my own. From a young age, my mom got me hooked on crime shows for their mysterious and engaging plots. I loved trying to figure out “who did it” alongside the main characters. Most of these shows also contained some sort of romance plot between the two main characters and even supporting characters, which was another draw to crime shows for me as I became invested in their relationship. Two popular crime shows that I found to be based off the other are Bones and X-Files. Since X-Files came first, Bones can be seen as a remix of the X-Files.

***I will be discussing the plots of these two shows... so if you are planning on watching them at some point (which I highly recommend) proceed with caution...***

In the X-Files the two main characters are Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. Scully being the skeptic and scientist in the relationship, and Mulder being the FBI agent who believes in supernatural occurrences, so much that he chooses to investigate them to prove that they are real. They do not get along very well in the beginning of the show, but soon a budding friendship ensues, with a romantic interest following close behind. Together they investigate supernatural occurrences in hopes to prove that they are real, so the government will aid them in stopping these occurrences from continuing to happen. Scully and Mulder do not end up together in the perfect happy ending way most characters do, but they do form a meaningful romantic relationship by the end of the show.

Three years after the end of the X-Files first set of seasons (more were added on in 2016), Bones first premiered in 2005, following a starkling similar plot. Dr. Temperance Brennan is the skeptical scientist who is later dubbed “Bones” by her male work partner Seeley Booth. Booth is an FBI agent who is a Catholic who strongly believes in his faith, which is seen as a belief in the supernatural to Bones. Like “The X-Files”, Brennan and Seeley are rarely referred to by these names by each other or the supporting characters. Instead they are referred to as Bones and Booth. Following along with “The X-Files”, these two do not get along in the beginning and see each other as a nuisance, who get in the way of their work. Shortly into season one however, these two become close friends and start to show signs of romantic interest in one another. Throughout the show they catch numerous murders and serial killers. Bones and Booth do end up together in the more traditional sense, in that they get married and have kids by the end of the show.

Kirby Ferguson’s YouTube video opened my eyes to a world of remixes that was always right in front of me.