ATLANTA—Bed Intruder Song starring Antoine Dodson became the breakout YouTube video of the year. It climbed the Billboard charts and sold enough on iTunes to move Dodson and his family out of the Huntsville, Ala., projects.
The draw of Dodson’s video goes way beyond hypnotic cats drinking from faucets and Elvis-imitator toddlers. It grabs the imagination because it tells a story as old as humanity.
In this tale Dodson is a knight. A man climbed into his sister’s window and tried to harm her, but Dodson came to the rescue. He fought off the intruder, just as Sir Lancelot would protect any damsel, dame, or old crone in distress.
The news footage of the event that the Gregory Brothers used to create the hit song showed that there was a struggle. It reveals splintered furniture and broken mirrors in Kelly Dodson’s modest room.
Dodson, a slender, usually gentle young man, made a fierce speech to reporters after he foiled the attack. In it, he scorned the would-be assailant, warning him that he would be found and brought to justice. So far, the villain remains at large.
But another kind of justice happened.
The musicians who created the video shared the revenue from it with Dodson, as they should have, and he and his family were able to leave the dangerous neighborhood where the prowler struck. Then Dodson, like some 21st century version of Puss in Boots, began to seek his fortune.
Puss in Boots, you may recall, was the meager inheritance of a millers’ youngest son. When the boy ruefully told Puss he might have to cook him to avoid starvation, the wise cat thought of a better solution and requested a pair of boots and a sack to carry out his plan.
The cat used these simple tools to make opportunities for the two of them, and the pair wound up moving into a castle and living quite well. The miller’s son got to marry a princess and Puss in Boots enjoyed a life of fresh fish and bowls of cream.
Dodson’s boots and sack were television, iTunes, Facebook, and the other websites where he took his song and story. He is now selling a Christmas ornament with his face and catch phrases, “You are so dumb,” and “Run and tell ‘dat!” He interviews people on the George Lopez show. When he performed his song at the Hip Hop awards, audience members screamed their enthusiasm.
In a video on his website, Dodson explained that the reason he and his younger sister were able to demonstrate such poise on television, rather than “crying and killing people” after the attack, was that they had endured a great deal over 10 years, and their ordeals had strengthened them. They just “dust themselves off and move on,” when bad things happen—a knightly sentiment.
The reason for Dodson’s popularity is that people respond to the chivalry in him, the impulse to protect others, and the character to be strong despite adversity. It may look like another silly Internet fad, but it is more than that.
Dodson carries a banner that can be traced to King Arthur, and probably further back, to more ancient kings and knights whose names we do not know.
I hope he and his family wind up in a castle.
The draw of Dodson’s video goes way beyond hypnotic cats drinking from faucets and Elvis-imitator toddlers. It grabs the imagination because it tells a story as old as humanity.
In this tale Dodson is a knight. A man climbed into his sister’s window and tried to harm her, but Dodson came to the rescue. He fought off the intruder, just as Sir Lancelot would protect any damsel, dame, or old crone in distress.
The news footage of the event that the Gregory Brothers used to create the hit song showed that there was a struggle. It reveals splintered furniture and broken mirrors in Kelly Dodson’s modest room.
Dodson, a slender, usually gentle young man, made a fierce speech to reporters after he foiled the attack. In it, he scorned the would-be assailant, warning him that he would be found and brought to justice. So far, the villain remains at large.
But another kind of justice happened.
The musicians who created the video shared the revenue from it with Dodson, as they should have, and he and his family were able to leave the dangerous neighborhood where the prowler struck. Then Dodson, like some 21st century version of Puss in Boots, began to seek his fortune.
Puss in Boots, you may recall, was the meager inheritance of a millers’ youngest son. When the boy ruefully told Puss he might have to cook him to avoid starvation, the wise cat thought of a better solution and requested a pair of boots and a sack to carry out his plan.
The cat used these simple tools to make opportunities for the two of them, and the pair wound up moving into a castle and living quite well. The miller’s son got to marry a princess and Puss in Boots enjoyed a life of fresh fish and bowls of cream.
Dodson’s boots and sack were television, iTunes, Facebook, and the other websites where he took his song and story. He is now selling a Christmas ornament with his face and catch phrases, “You are so dumb,” and “Run and tell ‘dat!” He interviews people on the George Lopez show. When he performed his song at the Hip Hop awards, audience members screamed their enthusiasm.
In a video on his website, Dodson explained that the reason he and his younger sister were able to demonstrate such poise on television, rather than “crying and killing people” after the attack, was that they had endured a great deal over 10 years, and their ordeals had strengthened them. They just “dust themselves off and move on,” when bad things happen—a knightly sentiment.
The reason for Dodson’s popularity is that people respond to the chivalry in him, the impulse to protect others, and the character to be strong despite adversity. It may look like another silly Internet fad, but it is more than that.
Dodson carries a banner that can be traced to King Arthur, and probably further back, to more ancient kings and knights whose names we do not know.
I hope he and his family wind up in a castle.
