For: All periods
Set-up: All of you watched the original 2005 version of the “Where the Hell is Matt?” video (via a YouTube link), a ‘travel’ documentary, that was used as the prompt for your most recent vocabulary quiz.
Note: Mr. Long mistakenly told you that the in-class version was the 2nd version. Oops.
Below you’ll see a link for the 2008 version which is really worth watching, too. Even cooler places the 2nd time.
But as Mr. Long said in class, the real goal of sharing this video was to explore why so many people around the world have positively responded to the quirky nature of Matt’s goofy little dance (either by joining him for a dance or simply by watching/passing the video around on-line).
Challenge:
- Explain why YOU think Matt’s dance (and his ensuing travel adventure) causes people to respond so positively.
- Optional: Go watch the 2nd (2008) video (via YouTube) he did for the British chewing gum company who paid him to once again travel the world doing his quirky little dance.
- Optional: Go to Matt’s website and see what else you can discover.
- Optional: Watch Matt’s lecture at a Vermont college about a) why he did this, b) how he designed the trip, c) how he got people to dance with him, etc. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. (all via YouTube)
rabbits and cheshire cats 
This video is so popular because people like to see the different countries and different cultures “united” by taking part in one simplistic action. By nature all people are different and unique, this makes it human nature to disagree and have arguments. This is one of the greatest aspects of human character, but it is also one its greatest flaws also. A certain country, a group of people with a specific culture developed due to certain geographic location, can also be viewed as one “person.” Even though the country is composed of many unique people, these people all have a similar culture that they take pride in (probably). Since all these cultures (countries) are unique like unique people, they will get into arguments as well, on a much larger scale. With all this tension between different cultures or countries, it’s refreshing to see this childlike and “innocent” dance being seen in so many different places around the world. It’s a reminder to everyone that even though people or countries might be different, everyone still enjoys the same simple delights of be childish. It shows that everyone comes from the same place, everyone was a child once, no matter who (where) they are now.
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Mr. Long: Love this part; truly love this part: “With all this tension between different cultures or countries, it’s refreshing to see this childlike and “innocent” dance being seen in so many different places around the world. It’s a reminder to everyone that even though people or countries might be different, everyone still enjoys the same simple delights of be childish. It shows that everyone comes from the same place, everyone was a child once, no matter who (where) they are now.”
Matt’s dance is cool and funny. I saw his videos on Youtube and on his website, and watched a little bit of his lecture. I was really surprised by his videos at first and decided to find out more. I watched the videos over a couple of times to understand them (a little bit of the interview to understand why he did it), and I got a clearer picture. I think the reason why Matt’s dance (and his ensuing travel adventure) causes people to respond so positively is because his dance is very interesting, and the place where he does it makes it more interesting and unique. His dance move is really funny and corky. However the dance move used to be very popular. When you look at how Matt moves, you see that he’s doing energetic and also if you notice he’s always smiling. Basically he’s dancing funny but he’s doing it positively and interesting-like. What makes his dance more interesting is where he dances. Its not like the “Big Ballroom where they film Dancing with the Stars.” Its around the world in places that I’ve never even heard of. He does his funny dance all over the place. Thats what gets people’s attention. He’s being positive, having fun, and going around the world doing his dance. Now some people will go “Oh man thats cool; hey check this out” but if you look deep maybe Matt is trying to say something which is probably getting a lot of people’s attention. I think he’s trying to tell us everywhere we go there is always a little bit of corkiness. We are living in a very isolated society. All the countries meet for government business, but in the end really all the countries in this world just don’t get a long with each other. That corky dance that Matt is doing is probably the first step in uniting this world because in every country there is a Matt doing that dance (another way to put it: there is corkiness everywhere we go). A reason maybe why they call it “Where the hell is Matt?” I wonder though has anybody ever taken the time to think about what goes on in the world, instead of just being another person who works hard, has good living, and spoil themselves. Thats what Matt broke out of. He realized he was living a life like that. So he decided to go to Australia and help his company. Then later on he traveled around the world and became a internet star. After that he felt good about himself. Let this be a message to everybody at school, before you go listen to your ipods and live your perfect life, think about what goes on in this world. Think about the other countries and what another student like you is doing. But always remeber to think about the positive sides in life.
This gamer did something that I can understand and its inspired me to try to be more positive and maybe go out and explore more of the world to find myself(I’ve traveled a lot, but I haven’t been everywhere). Maybe I should travel to these places before I go to college, but most likely I would like to just take a trip around Asia (China, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc.). Matt’s videos were really touching and positive. After the quiz, I watched them again at home, and I guess you can say I had some tears of joy, and it took my mind off the Election.
Go Matt and keep doing those videos.
Hey Mr.Long maybe you should take your kids out traveling when they get older. I’m sure they will enjoy it. I enjoyed it, but I still have more places to go.
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Mr. Long: NO doubt travel and serendipitous exploration will be central to the life my kids experience growing up. I agree with you.
Like this part of your response: “Let this be a message to everybody at school, before you go listen to your ipods and live your perfect life, think about what goes on in this world. Think about the other countries and what another student like you is doing. But always remeber to think about the positive sides in life.”
Glad you checked out the lecture he gave, too.
Matt inspires people because he reminds us all of our quirky little differences. Everybody dances to their own beat and is different from the other, and we love to explore and show our differences. Every now and then, everybody feels like expressing themselves in a moment of pure glee. No matter if you live in South Africa, North Korea, or New York City, you want to be able to express yourself and just have fun with it. Not everything we as human beings try to accomplish needs to be serious or have a reason, sometimes we can just do to do and have fun to have fun. Matt reminds us of all of those things and really shows that no matter who you are or where you are from, inside we are all the same in that we love to be free and express ourselves in our own way.
I really enjoyed Matt’s videos. I found the one that showed the people dancing with Matt more entertaining because it just is. It is funny to see how everyone dances to their own little tune and is completely oblivious to whether or not their dancing is good, as displayed by the gentleman on the far right of the frame in Brisbane, Australia (I’m pretty sure everyone in my class laughed when they took notice of this man).
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Mr. Long: So agree with you re: the way every individual does their own funky lil’ dance when surrounding Matt’s own dance. I definitely remember the man from Australia.
I think people responded so positively because his little dance and happy smile remind them that there is still some good in the world. When we are going through so many issues, it makes people smile to see some one just goof off and have fun. I also think it reminds people anything is possible. I mean look at all the cool and random places he goes to. This was his dream road trip and it reminds people that they can still go on theirs. At the same time his little dance may be the thing that makes their day, by just making them laugh and giving them a brake from whatever it was they were doing. His dance lets people to just let go and have a little fun.
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Mr. Long: Yes, there is so much good in the world. And something about his dream road trip can inspire our own imaginations, too.
Matt is so inspiring because you get to see how everyone all over the world respond to his dance. He may not have intended for it to become such a sensation, but its gained that kind of momentum.When you watch his videos and he starts off his wild dance everyone around him seems to want to join in. This spirit of joy is so overwelming that it makes you feel good to be a human.
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Mr. Long: Love the last phrase.
I believe that Matt inspires because he is able to show people, through his ‘quirky’ dance what is really important in life. Today our lives are consumed with jobs, school, and what people ask and demand from us. Within all of these distractions of life we forget what is truly important. We become so absorbed with this area of our life we fail to recognize that getting an A on a test or doing precisely what a boss asks of you is not where life’s value lie. If one only lives for these complicated aspects they can not be happy. We must live for the simple joy of living. For the dance that is in every heart.
Matt also provides an escape from the present and hope for the future. Today almost half of America is not happy with the results of our election and some believe that life truly is going to end. Through watching this video I realized that life will move on; that we are all in this together. Every human has the same purpose on this Earth; to love, live and be joyful. Through this we see that we are all united no matter where we came from and that we truly are one nation under God. It is truly amazing how someone can affect the world in such a positive way by simply being joyful.
(BTW love this video 🙂 I already showed all my family!)
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Mr. Long: Really appreciated this sentiment: “Through watching this video I realized that life will move on; that we are all in this together. Every human has the same purpose on this Earth; to love, live and be joyful.” Also, hope your family enjoyed it, too!
I think Matt inspires so much because he uses something simple to show that we all have something in common. His dancing shows that creative and sometimes crazy part of us that everyone has. Not everyone realizes it, but we all have that desire to do something (not necessarily tour the world and do a little ‘happy dance’) just to fulfill that desire to do something different. Everyone wants to just have a moment where they don’t have to care about who is watching or what they will think. They just want to get caught up in the moment and let go of all the stress and pressure. The videos just capture people not being afraid to live their lives and do something out of the ordinary. People who watch are going to respect those people and maybe even want to be them. The common longing for a moment of release is what inspires people to dance along in their chairs as they watch, and let all their friends know about this guy traveling the world and doing a dance.
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Mr. Long: Yes, yes, yes re: having something in common. And I so agree with you that people just want to let go and have fun. The “moment of release” was a great observation.
First off I want to say that I liked the first video we watched in class better than this second one, I guess because the local people just seemed more involved.
So I think Matt’s little dance is hilarious! Who wouldn’t respond positively to some dude on the street acting like a leprechaun? I think he brings so much positive feedback from the people because he himself is very positive it seems. He just goes out randomly dancing and people will laugh. Seeing someone do something funny puts people in a good mood. He acts like there is not a care in the world and I’m sure all the people that join in with him appreciate that. He obviously brings character to any street corner he is on and livens maybe a rather dry town up. Also people probably think its cool that he just goes to all these random places and randomly dances with people….that is very positive.
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Mr. Long: I also agree that seeing everyone get involved makes it work (although I do love the visuals in the 2nd video a great deal). And I appreciate the idea that his lack of care is infectious.
Matt inspires for many reasons. First of all, its not everyday you get to see some of the places Matt has traveled. And the fact that he is doing his funny little dance. The places he is traveling in all of his videos almost symbolizes the unification of one man with the entire world. And I’m sure the people dance with him because in places like Poria, Papau New Guinea, the people have never seen a video camera. So its almost like everywhere Matt goes, there is this attraction he creates with the people of the country he is in.
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Mr. Long: Lovely last line about the “attraction he creates”, as well as the comment where you said: “The places he is traveling in all of his videos almost symbolizes the unification of one man with the entire world.”
These vidoes are interesting because this strange man is going around the world and dancing like an idiot. Honestly I think the videos would be popular with out the vast spectrum of locations. Matt’s videotaped dance started out as a momento from every place that he went and ended up amusing the world. The fact that his dance is intertaining would already attract numerous people surfing youtube. However, the locations do offer something to Matt’s videos. They are visually stunning because these are the most famous places in the world. Some locations, I had never heard of but simply were beautiful(Solar de Uyuni, Bolivar). The backgrounds in the video are fantastic, however the dance is what makes the video.
First, I just want to say that I think the one you showed us in class was Dancing2008 not Dancing2005 or at least for period two I think it was according to Matt’s website. The one that you gave us a link to was the 2006 (I think) and the first one, 2005, can be seen on Matt’s website as well as the other two. This would also kind of make sense since in his lecture on how he got people to dance with him (not the lecture that Mr. Long gave us a link to) he said that in the middle of his second trip, he realized that dancing with other people was more interesting than just by himself and then went on how he got people to participate. Second your part two and part three of the lecture leads me to the same part of the lecture, part two. Just thought you might want to know.
Matt’s dance inspires people to respond so positively because dancing silly with a smile on your face is one way to express who you are and is naturally a way to have fun. Dancing or watching someone dance, acting goofy and look like they are having fun psychological makes a person to forget their worries and daily life and replace them with happy thoughts and feelings. With news that we are about to go into a depression psychologically makes an average person feel down and unhappy when it could be unnecessary to feel that way. Watching the video gives people hope that life is not all that bad and that there is still a chance that life will get better.
Dancing can feel child like and many people like seeing happy, goofy, cute children doing random silly things. Watching the dance can make people feel childlike, back in the time when they were innocent. We/they had/have no worries and did what ever they felt like just for fun although and possibly for the attention from other people watching amused. We/they also probably had little or no embarrassment when we did something silly since we/they did not really care what other people thought of us/them.
When children are acting goofy, they look like they are having fun because they are having fun. No one wants to watch someone who is depressed and hates the world. People want to see people who do things for their own enjoyment and not just because they know they will be paid and will get attention. Even though Matt was paid for going around the world on his last video, he did his first trip because he wanted to.
Watching someone dance on stage is old, boring, been there (or been somewhere similar to there), seen/done that. Matt gets attention because he went to a variety of neat, interesting places that most probably have not been to. Even if we have been there, did we do something silly like that when we went there? Perhaps the children who might have been told to stop acting that way but most of us would have just taken a picture and yet there are also still others that just go for business. The places he went to were unique. Some were famous notable place, some were in places we wouldn’t think of or even heard of and there were still much more other places. Going to all these different places also shows how we are all connected. Although we are all connected more than one way, Matt decided to show us how we are all connected through his corky little dance.
When I watched the part when he was on a rock (2006) so many feet up in the air, I was thinking OMG, he actually dares to do that? He is not afraid of falling off? I wondered if he was being held by a wire or if he was dancing with a picture in the background. Later, I found a video that has clips that did not make it to the final video and one of the things he showed was him going on the rock. This can be found by going to his website. I also later found out that he also talks about it during his first part of the lecture saying that it was the stupidest thing that he has done. There is also a video that shows him with the Huli Wigmen form New Guinea called Dancing with the Huli Wigmen (about five minutes long) which was a bit interesting. I thought their dance was quite funny too. I also saw one his lectures called How the Hell Did Matt Get People to Dance (It is not the lecture Mr. Long gave us. This one is about six minutes long). I agree with him that more than one person is more interesting than just watching one person.
Matt’s dance around the world is a great example of how something so simple can achieve a bigger purpose. With all of the fighting and politics and problems going on in the world, Matt is a breath of fresh air. All of the negative things in life don’t matter and he is promoting people just letting loose and having fun. All it takes is one person with a vision to create a huge movement. All of the people in Matt’s videos are from diffrent countries, different races, and have different views and beliefs. Matt’s happiness is contaigous and is an instrument used to bring such a diverse group of people together.
The people react so positively because when Matt dances he puts himself in a vulnerable position. However, he doesn’t seem to care. This shows courage and self-confidence. This causes people to put down their guard down around him and they can be themselves. Of course people want to be themselves and not what everyone else want them to be. This is why this video and Matt’s little dance is popular.
When I first saw Matt’s video, I was surprised but I cracked up. Matt traveled the world, and at each place he visited he shot a scene of himself doing a particular dance. At each place, he did the exact same dance. Sometimes, he was alone, dancing. Sometimes, other people joined in and danced with him in that scene. His dance was simply a variation of a jig. By going to different places and doing the same dance, he showed that human beings are the same on the inside however different are the outer circumstances.
His dance at each scene seemed to evoke a sort of emotion from the viewers, a sense of inner happiness. The reason for this sense of joy is just being alive and being a member of human race. It reminds us that everyone in the world was a child once and had chance to be silly and dance around. Even those who did not actually have had a good childhood can imagine such a feeling just because they are humans. I believe that is the common bond Matt tapped into. The setting behind him seems to be either tranquil or absolutely peaceful, or just the opposite, with a bustling crowd. It doesn’t matter. Only the effusive smile and silly jig that reveal the child inside Matt truly matter.
People from around the world have responded so enthusiastically to Matt because he is an inspirational goodwill ambassador. Matt’s quirky dance is more than just a dance – it is a communication tool. His message of “laugh at me-laugh with me” is appealing to all people, regardless of their location, ethnicity, economic position or culture. By viewing and listening to Matt’s message, it is apparent that amusement is THE universal language. Matt’s ability to speak many languages is obvious as he ventures from a peaceful country like Japan to a war ravaged, oppressed country like Rwanda. His invitation to act goofy transcends worldwide barriers. Matt has given all participants “permission” to act kid-like and shed their “We must act seriously” mentality. I think adults, especially, yearn for the prospect to be silly and carefree. Even though it was just a short moment in time, people allowed themselves to be childish, to flail about and enjoy themselves. If more people took time to do the “Matt dance”, they most likely would be more lighthearted.
Matt’s videos are pretty cool. First off, he visits many new countries that we have never seen before. His dance attracts other people to dance(mostly in the first video) too. His dance shows we are all similar in some ways. There are differences in our dancing, but we still share some things in common. When dancing his quirky dance with other people doing their own dance, the people are a whole when looked at in the video. His dancing brings everyone closer to each other.
I think Matt inspires people because he does his dance in all different places, so it incorporates different cultures into his video. Also on some of them other people are involved in the dance and it makes people smile to see how silly these people look trying to imitate his dance (which is already silly to begin with). Also his background story is neat too. It gives people hope that they can follow their dreams and still survive (financially) in this world.
Matt this guy was a videogame man. He always sits in front of the computers. I think he just want to go outside rest and play around. In the video he do the little dance, we think just funny and not a big deal. But in my idea he is trying to tell the different of the every country’s culture and stuff. Theirs people and what are they thinking. In some country have a lot of people dancing with him. Those people in other country are different. Theirs dance and dress are a lot of different. I watch the second one the 2008 version. It’s the British Gum Company pay him to do the dance at rest of the country. But in the video I see that he is not dance very hard like at first one. He looks like he doesn’t interest anymore. The first and second have a lot of different. ( That’s only my own ideas).
First of all, I love Matt’s videos. I showed my entire family and they really liked them too.
I think that what makes Matt’s dance so popular among us is the quirkiness of it. Inside all of us, we have a part that wants to dance with Matt but we lack the self-esteem to do it, or we think we would look stupid. We like Matt because he consistently is doing things and traveling to places that we can only imagine. We long to escape and travel the world and see what ‘really is out there’. As humans, we merely stick with the same routine day after day, and rarely change the pattern. When we see Matt doing what we all wish to do, we live vicariously through his infectious dance.
I really like what Student #4 said about how Matt’s dance reminds us that there is still good in the world; I really believe this is true. We like to see how one slightly-nerdy-looking man from the United States can bond with people all over the world when the only thing they have in common is a love to dance. If all these people from Africa and Korea and even countries we have never heard of can dance just like you and me, then maybe there is some hope for mankind after all.
These Matt videos are amazing both the first and the second one. It is so strange to me that these videos have no special effects or Oscar winning actors but yet they are more interesting to me then various million dollar blockbusters I’ve seen through the years. The places he goes are beautiful and it’s interesting to see random people from foreign places smiling and reacting to his dance just like I did when I first saw it. This just proves that none of us are as far apart as we think we are, no matter where we live in the world. His dance is something that just brings joy to everyone, no matter their ethnicity or religion. It is a joy that I can’t explain, its like the joy I get from acting and singing I have tried to rationalize it for the last three years and I’ve gotten no where. The human spirit is just that a spirit it can’t be rationalized or explained because it is about what you feel not what you think. Performing has always given me a sense of freedom and joy and I have never figured out why I love it as much as I do. I think Matt’s video is like that, everyone likes it but we don’t know why and it’s not due to our inability to analyze our feelings its just do to the fact that no rationalization is needed. Sometimes overanalyzing true joy can cause it to be synthetic. As humans we don’t need a reason to find joy out of life, it should just be natural and that’s what Matt reminds everyone with his video. Matt doesn’t have to have a reason to dance just like we don’t have to have a reason for enjoying it. Also one student brought up how he dances in some countries that have had rocky relationships with the US but yet people in some of those countries dance with him. Once again this shows the deep spiritual connection among all human beings regardless of political and cultural boundaries. It is nice to realize this deeper connection and feel like though turmoil will always be present in our world the continuous spirit of humanity will always be present uniting mankind.
I think that the reason so many respond to this video so positively is the fact that it’s the shear joy of being human. Like you said in class Mr. Long, this video is the exact opposite of LOTF; this videos only show the best of the human nature, and not the worst. It just so happy and so up-beat, you can’t help but dance. Heck, if Matt decided that he was going to dance here in Arlington, I’d probably be oe of the first to dance with him. It’s just so quirky and funny, it brings out the goodness in all of us, no matter what country or race we are from. It’s probably the only way that all of us on this great Earth would become one people; by bringing each other together with one guy and his quirky little dance.
I think the reason people respond so positively to this is because its a truly unique video. Here you have all these exotic places and different cultures and interesting backgrounds, and then you have some normal guy, stuck right in the middle dancing his heart out. I think its a great combination of beauty and comedy, melded into one inspiring video. It was really uplifting to me also. I really like to travel, and just seeing all those different places just made me really want to go see the world like he did and open up this whole new world of experiences. One of my favorite places he went was the demilitarized zone in Korea. Here he was going to all the beautiful places with all these people, and then all of a sudden he’s in an empty room with a soldier, doing the same little dance. The video is great because its a normal guy doing his own little dance in all of these remarkable places, and its just something we all can watch and be happy because he’s happy just doing his dance, wherever his is.
I think Matt inspires because his videos show just how many different people/cultures there are in the world. Even though we are all different, Matt’s dancing in random countries all over the Earth represents how a person can easily “fit in” with the rest of the crowd by doing something as insignificant and childish as a little dance.
In most of the places where Matt traveled to people just started to flock towards him and start dancing too. The atmosphere that Matt brings with him everywhere he goes causes people that are around him to want to dance with him. They want to be “connected” per say to wherever Matt’s from or wherever he will go in the future and all of the people who are from those countries as well.
I was looking at some of the youtube comments people left on that video, and when you get past all the silly ones or the ones debating about what song is playing, you see things like “beautiful” “inspirational” “legend” “made me smile.” I’m still not sure exactly why people love this so much. When I watched it, I just felt really really good. It made me grin and it made me laugh. It made me want to go out and do that some day. Maybe people love it for different reasons. Maybe some love it because of all of the different places they may or may not have known about. Some because it’s something that is so random, and can be so funny. Some because they want to do that one day, and it’s inspirational to them. But no matter what your reason, there is one core element that factors into everyone’s explanation. It’s so good. And by good I don’t mean totally awesome or rad or skill or whatever. I mean good. It’s pure, it’s so innocent and wonderful in itself. Everyone will appreciate something so fun and so innocent in a world where there is so much corruption. It shows people there’s still something to smile about; that when you push past all the news stories and dying hearts, you can still find something inspirational, legend, or beautiful.
His dance is funny so everyone likes to watch. People always like something is special and the smile on his face also show that he is a friendly. This is a cool body language, you don’t need to really talk to the person, but he will still enjoy in his dance. In the video, there is no body have a sad face. It seems like he bring happy to every where around the world. It also shows that we are all similar in some way, and it doesn’t really matter about the language and culture.
I think that his video inspired people all around the world that the smallest gestures or moves or words in life can make the biggest difference. When i watched the video i was almost jealous i didn’t come up with something like it. I watched it in class and then went home and watched it again. It made me want to be who i am and not hold back. I said to myself that i want to make a difference in the world after watching that video i am not sure how it got so popular but i do know that a man that can change the world with a small dance can pretty much do anything in my eyes. He is the guy everyone strives to be like even if they wont admit it. I hope someday i will do something and if it only changes or effects one person for the good i will be happy.
I think it’s merely because of the simplicity and beauty of it. His dance is pretty funny looking, but his message is not. His videos are showing the innate goodness of humanity, or so I feel. People who want to simply dance. It makes me feel kinda mushy inside, because everyone is so happy, and simply dancing. Just dancing.
The brilliance of it is inspiring, as well. Everyone loves to see images from around the world, and why not give them a common thread, in this case a dancing man?
I believe the reason everyone responds so eagerly to Matt’s videos is because no matter how different we are, and no matter how different our backgrounds are we can all connect through Matt’s dance and quirky smile. It reminds everyone that no matter where we are from we are all human and we all love to smile (: No one can deny the strength of a smile; it’s a universal language in itself. In every country Matt might not speak the same language of the people, but a smile and a quirky dance are something everyone can understand. I personally love the videos matt has done, and the reason he has done them. Sitting in an office everyday 5 or 6 days a week is a job, but traveling around the world experiencing things you would have never been able to sitting at a desk all day is something everyone can understand. Hopefully Matt finds new ways to do his quirky little dance in other places.
What Matt does is so simple and it reminds us all it’s not that complicated to be happy. It brings us all together and just puts a smile on our face. Matt went out there and did his own thing, and look where it got him. Who thought something so simple could get you so far. He’s truly an inspiration to just be yourself and don’t be scared to let people judge you. I’m sure so many people thought he was so weird when he was out there filming and dancing, and now those people are probablly watching him now in envy. He has brought smiles to so many peoples’ faces. The whole class smiled at one point when you showed us, and now that I watched it again the more people get involved with the dancing the happier it makes me. It shows that simple human things like dancing can be bring the world together, despite everything going on. Laughing and dancing is truly a good remedy for everyone. It brings us all together and he’s doing it one location at a time. Everyone can share a smile together and I think we need to remember that. Happiness doesn’t have to be as hard as we all make it out to be and I think Matt shows us that.
After re-watching the 2005 version of ‘Where the hell is matt?’ I have finally realized the true meaning of it. Going from place to place, Matt is able to dance freely with people, relieving stress. His video is a way for people to remove themselves from all of the turmoil in the world and be able to enjoy life, like a little kid once again. The most amazing thing about the 2005 version is that he was not forced to nor asked to do this, he did it on his own free will. It is truly inspiring how his quirky little dance inspires the world to a whole new extent. When watching the 2008 version, however, I did not feel quite as inspired. I think that knowing Matt went around the world on his own free will in 2005 means so much more to me than him going around the world in 2008. Also I noticed that no one danced with him in the 2008 version, unlike in the 2005 version. The 2005 version was so inspiring. In class when I was writing my vocab story, I found myself really listening to the music, it was so inspiring, I got goosebumps. After watching it once more, there is no doubt in my mind that Matt’s video had the exact same impact on thousands all around the world.
It’s hard to say what is so inspiring about Matt. He’s just a guy that looks like ke’s having a good time. With everything going on in the world right now there’s this guy that goes around the world just to do a dance. It looks like he’s having the time of his life. It’s great to see a guy juts going around the world and having a great time. It makes you feel so good seeing this guy just traveling around doing this dance. It makes whatever you’re feeling go away and you just get entranced by this guy doing this weird dance, not to mention the music is great. If I saw him dancing I would most definitely dance along with him, it just looks like a really simple, but fun thing to do. When he goes to the more poor countries they probably see him as an inspiration in that he’s just traveling around having a good time and nothing seems to be bothering him.
Matt’s dance caused a universal positive response because it was beautiful and harmless fun. Matt’s dance never took away from the scenery, it wasn’t some amazing dance that you focused in on. The backgrounds, from a barren beach to a crowded city were all emphasised as the most intersting part. The dance itself was appealing because it was fun and carefree. It was just a goofy thing to laugh at. The dance was innocent and non-threatening. The childlike goofyness and stunning beauty of Matt’s dance appeals to the lightheartedness in our souls.
I think the video is very popular because people just think it is entertaining to watch some weird man do a crazy dance in weird places. That is the reason why it became so popular, but the reason it continued to be popular is a totally different reason. People watch Matt’s video and hear his story, thinking about how much they wished they could do what he did. I, being someone who wants to travel, personally was inspired that Matt actually followed his dreams and recieved many life lessons in the prosses. Watching his lecture, he told why it was important to travel. He stated that because he had gone to the countries, that if they were mentioned on the news, he wouldn’t feel apathy like most people do. “Most people are trained to only care about what happens in their immediate area” Matt states “but because i have gone to the countries and know some of the people, I become more interested.” The video is inspiring because it is bringing together diffrent nations that may be at odds by some quirky little dance, but also the message. The fact that that Matt had no idea that his video would catch on, shows that even unknowingly, everyone can make a difference. In his lecture, Matt was talking about how some people thought the video was fake and how proud he was when ever those people were proved wrong and realized it was possible. The popularity of the videos reflect the secret need for everyone to go after their dreams and the relishing in the one who did.
Matt’s video shares the same principal ideas as the cliché saying, “Laughter is a universal language.” Although I have never personally met Matt it would seem that he has an ability to make people smile. The video inspires people because such a simple funny act can let you laugh no matter what is going on in the real world. The places Matt does his little dance are all facing their own problems but he shows that we can all come together through laughter.
Honestly, I am not sure why I like his dancing so much or why he has inspired so many people around the world. I just like it and there isn’t much of a reason behind that. Perhaps it has to do with the simplicity of his dance. It isn’t anything extraordinarily special, yet it is visually attractive to me and inspires so many people around the world.
I believe the simplicity of his dance is the thing that draws inspiration. His dance isn’t a local thing — it’s on a much bigger scale. Matt has travelled the world and danced in places people have dreamed of visiting. His affiliation in all these places and countries — all linked to his one, quirky dance — gives a kind of inspirational message. All these countries are somewhat linked to one another now because of his dance. Matt’s dance doesn’t change as he travels from place to place, and because it stays the same, it draws an almost bizarre message of equality among the locations and the people. It seems the prospect of dancing with Matt draws a sense of fun and free-spiritedness. Dancing has always been a form of expression and is reserved for everyone. Every culture in the world has some affiliation with dancing. It brings people together, in the fact that everyone can enjoy it and dance along. His dance isn’t reserved only for himself, or for a certain country. Anyone and everyone can do it with him, and I believe this is why it holds such an inspirational and appealing response from the people.
I think everyone loves Matt’s video because it’s different. He’s uniting all the countries he’s been to into one in a sense. He dances, they dance, everyone dances. There’s a lot of differences that make people unique, but a simple dance unites us all. When I watched the video, it entertained me and I thought it was interesting how he went to all those countries. People like this video for different reasons, but I think it’s the fact he’s kind of uniting everyone despite their differences. It’s that or everyone in this world is easily entertained about a guy dancing in different countries.
Matt Harding’s video is so popular because once you watch it you are inspired to go to those places just as he did. Also the video is very colorfu and captures the attention of many people from all walks of life. I personally like the video because its something different its out of the norm its not what I would’ve watched by choice. But now I will probably go back and watch more of his videos just out of curiosity. His little quirky dance is funny and I enjoyed watching the peole try to imitate him. This video shows that no matter where you are no matter what is going on there is some happiness out there for you. Matt Harding brought that happiness to those people. Some in very rural areas of Africa and showed people smiling and laughing and having fun, worry-free. Even though I couldn’t understand what the song was saying I thought it was very upbeat and probably said something positive and inspiring. I also think that the contrast of the normal American guy doing his little dance and the beautiful exotic countries creates a different thought in the viewers mind to cause them to respond very positively to these vides.
I think that people react so positively is because dancing brings happiness. Matt dances at these odd locations, but not a single person acted violently. the atmosphere that Matt brings because of his dance causes people to join him and start dancing. They want to be part of what Matt does. Some might think they might be famous for dancing with Matt. people can be part of the world and what they do. People can fit in to the rest of the world and not be a bystander.
I think Matt is able to inspire so many people through his “quirky” dance because it reminds us that we all have something in common. His dance shows that people as a whole are more similar than we think. Although there are various cultures and people in the world, we are all united by this dance in a strange way. Even though the world isn’t in a great place right now, this video showed me that there is hope for a brighter future. The video shows Matt in different places all around the world and he is doing the same little dance. People begin to dance their own unique dance with him because they finally gained the audacity to do so. Once Matt showed them that it was ok to be a little weird, they joined in and didn’t care about looking silly. Matt showed us that by doing his quirky little dance, he could in turn change the world and inspire many to do the same.
Our class recently read LOTF. This book is a showcase of the ways human nature is to be horrible and kill all your buddies. You sort of mentioned this in class, but Matt’s dance showcases the other side of the spectrum. It shows how something so simple can bring joy to millions of people. It’s just a little dance some guy videos himself doing around the world. Yet it’s on the gum company’s commercials and its seen by thousands of people all around the world. No matter how many times I say it it still amazes me that this even happened. I would dance with Matt.
Matt is so inspiring because he is able to bring countries all over the world with a simple corky dance. Sometimes we forget to enjoy other countries when were caught up in wars and economical crisis’. Matt is able to prove that there is still much to see and enjoy in this world of ours. It also gives hope to all the people with dreams of travel, anything can be done. And during are hectic day we get caught up in a work, jobs, schools, and this dance just lets us step out of our work and enjoy the beautiful places the world has to offer. And its great to see all of the places that are possible to explore.
Some of the places Matt goes to area are struggling as a nation with poverty, hunger, and violence. The citizens have to struggle daily just to survive; they need an escape. So when some man comes and does a funny little dance, it brightens up their life for a few minutes. They can be free for a little bit and go a little crazy in a harmless fashion. I was touched when I saw Matt with the children. Those kids just looked so happy from such a small gesture. Knowing the lives they live, this just moved me.
I really liked all of his videos. Its very inspiring somehow. My mom was even interested in watching all of the spectacular places that he has been at. He inspires so much because his dancing allows people to let loose for a little bit, and remember the little things in life. He also unified the whole world, because now, we have something in common with Auki, Solomon Islands. I would LOVE to do this as a living just like Matt. It wouldnt be as special and as original as his idea, though. Matt Langdon and Juan Mann have a lot in common. They take ordinary things like quirky dancing and hugs and turn them into something that makes a difference, something that people actually think about. I think Matt’s ‘career’ has been a huge success just because of how different it is. It gives dancing a purpose. It shows that everyone jams a little bit diffferent to the music called life, and no matter where we are, we can be who we are with anyone. Matt’s idea is something that people can look at and both smile and respect.
Matt’s dance inspires people all over the world so much because they can connect with him and other people even if they don’t speak their language. They can laugh and enjoy differnet parts of the world being united through just a funny dance. It was probably just a silly idea which turned out to be a great way to communicate with people.
It’s very hard to say why the video gets such positive feedback. I do not mean that his actions are silly, but they are inspiring to take journies just like his. Traveling the world and seeing these different areas where he dances in the video are very mesmerizing. From all of the positive feedback he gets, I think what really sparks people’s good gestures is his little dance too. The dance is so relaxing and funny to see while it gives Matt such a good personality. If you were to add his little dance into the equation where he travels around the world, where most have never been before, you get a very successful video.
Matt’s dance/videoclip is the most inspiring video I have ever seen. It shows happiness, prosperity, and the want to be free. Yet it’s so simple, just doing a little dance can reach so many people and touch their hearts. Showing all different ethnicities in this video proves to people that we all share something in common: happiness. Doing something so childish can bring out the best in people even if they are going through hard times. I hope everybody can see the joy and cheerfulness in their faces during these videos.
I think that everyone loves Matt’s videos because he breaks the ice of society. It is so fun that he can just go into a country and be fun and not worry about what anyone thinks of him. The fun is contagious. Watching him just makes you feel happy and have fun. It makes you want to be goofy and just go places and help other people to be goofy and have fun being happy. I liked seeing all the different places that Matt went to. I think this is another reason the video is popular because it is a way for people who haven’t been many places to get to see what these places are like.
I think Matt’s dance is an influence to other people because it inspires them to dance with out being made fun of. It also lets them be in front of a video camera and being watched by other people. It brings the inner person out that would normally be put away. It also shows that even with the national and cultural differences we can still bring people together. That even if it doesn’t take any skill to dance that way it’s still fun to do. You might look goofy but isn’t that the point? It’s just to make people laugh and bring people together. That it is possible for world peace to be achieved.
I think Matt inspires people because he is doing things that most people would never dream of doing. He has the courage to go in the middle of a place and star dancing and I believe that courage is transferred to the other people around him. Courage is given to the others because he is doing something that could be potentially embarrassing but he doesn’t seem to care. Since he is doing this it is considered a positive action and makes others happy. The dancing also lets people enjoy themselves without the fear of people thinking they were stupid. Also this is something that isn’t done by just anyone which makes it funny to watch.
Matt is an inspiration to us all. He was the one person who didn’t see money as the goal of life and that is why he is so inspiring. He shows that, there is more out there, that the places we see on TV exist and that we can go out there and see them, if we can get up and just be open. His dance is just such a quirkey little thing, every country has a folk-dance or a local dance, and his dance just shows that dance is a universal language like music. I showed the video to my parents, my family being well travelled, they were in aw of this man’s journey and his near “fairytale” discovery. It is just one of those little things that make you look up from our chore, and just smile into the air.
Union of people in general is an inspiring thing, and Matt ceratinly has pulled that off to a certain degree. For me though it is as simple and as complicated as this. I wish I could go around the world to all those awesome places and just dance, that is really awesome to me.
So many people around the world have been inspired by matt’s videos and have responded in a positive way. By doing so, he does a simple but goofy little dance in all types of countries. He shows the different types of cultures and people there are which make people want to travel and visit these places. Matt shows the good in every country and how each place has its own unique charactersitcs. The people see through the video the different types of people and how they are. Whats remarkable is that he never intended on making money or publicity off this, he just wanted to show his family where he was, but after time people wanted to see him, they enjoyed watching all the different places he went and what he had to show. Matt shows that even 1 person can make a difference in our society by putting a positive influence on people by showing the countries and the beauties of it.
This video shows many place all over the world and the people that live there. The video is surrounded by a simple concept, Matt going around the world dancing in certain locations and sometimes the people from each country would dance along side of him. The way it shows that whole world, kind of gives people the hope that’s needed to go on with their daily life, that will someday build up to something even better. Matt goes around the world giving everyone this hope people from the location and who ever watches the video. When you first started to watch the video you think that it’s a documentary of the world because of the music but in the end I think that the music pulls the video off.
I think this video is so inspiring becuase it is full of joy and a dance that makes people laugh. When you watch this video you are watching a normal guy who is traveling around the world doing what he loves. He loves that dance and wants to do it in as many places in the world he can. That dance is funny and just full of happiness and I think it is great he is traveling all over the world to perform it because it is teaching people life is all about having fun. In life you are suppose to do what you love and do it with passion. Live life with tons of passion and love it will make it much easier. 🙂
Matt’s dance spreads quickly because it brings many countries and cultures together. Back in history, when the New World was first discovered, Europeans wanted to know more and more about his new place. The same here. Many people, including me, haven’t seen all of the places he’s been to. His dance makes it seem like it’s so easy to get there and that there’s nothing to worry about. It makes other cultures seem more accessible and just normal, everyday places. The dance also reminds people of all the silly and carefree times that have ever happened to them. Remember; real arguments and important choices are made by adults. This dance allows people to think of their childhood and the silliness that life can give, releasing tension and stress. The dance is a unique one too. It is pretty nice to see how a goofy little dance can bring many countries together.
Why do we laugh when we hear a baby giggles? Why do we smile when we are smiled at? Why does Matt inspire you to join him in his happy jig? A smile is contagious. Just like the smile, Matt’s dance and the want to be carefree are contagious. His dancing seems to allow us to dance our own jig. We as humans cling to joy and so are inspired by happy people.
Matt’s dance causes humans to respond the natural way. His dance shows the inner kid in everyone and how everyone can at one point of their life have fun. His dance demonstrates his ability to take risks with his audience, in that their positive reactions are his goal. One of the main reasons people are so intrigued by his dance is that Matt never once sat down for hours to plan a dance that would catch viewer’s attentions. Matt came up with the dance on the spot which created more of a human side to his dance.
Matt is an unusual person. His first video showed Matt in different places all around the world. This video became very popular very quickly. In his second video, since he was already so popular, many people decided to join his interesting dance. His presence and personality make people happy. It brings people together and makes them more aware of other people around the world. His dance is a benevolent influence towards others, and brings a positive attitude around the world.