Naughty Boy and El Tio

First, please watch the music video if you haven't seen it yet.
Naughty Boy - La La La ft. Sam Smith on Youtube

Well, what do you think?
Before proceeding any further, stop. Look at the ceiling. Imagine what you just saw. Who was the boy?  Who were his friends? What was that man on the street?
(Hey! How are you reading this? I asked you to look away from your screen. If you haven't looked away yet, please do so. Activate your imagination!)

Oh, you're back!

Were you confused by the ending scene? Possibly even disturbed? I know I was, but before you scramble off to google with your questions, let me assure you I will make everything clear.

The figure that you saw at the end of the video is an "El Tio" in the mines of Cerro Rico (The Rich Mountain) in Bolivia. The mines are surrounded by the massive ramshackle town of Potosi. Because of a great silver rush centuries ago, the city has a packed population of over 200,000 people. Being a primarily catholic population, these miners over time developed the superstition of "El Tio" wherein they made statues of the devil in the mines. They believed that since they were entering into the caverns of the underworld that offerings were necessary to appease the devil for their intrusion.

However, that's not what you understood from the video, right? "El Tio" is not common knowledge outside of Bolivia. Perhaps instead of imagining the demonic, you caught the Wizard of Oz elements in the visuals. The boy's clearly a Dorothy-type character. There's a yellow chau chau that could represent Dorothy's Toto, the Lion, or a merging of the two. Then there was the "dusty" tin man who received a heart from a street vendor. And finally, the "cloth man" - who looked like a living sock puppet to me- could be the scarecrow. Then presumably, the four of them journey a great distance to reach a mountain (Emerald City?) where the boy is presented to the deceptive wizard (El Tio)

No

Sorry, no.

Not even close.

The story represented is actually a Bolivian folk tale and not an odd South American parody of Frank Baum.
In the original folk tale, the hero is a deaf boy who escapes from an abusive family situation. In his new freedom, he finds that he can help others with his powerful and healing screams. The short version of the story is that he befriends a stray dog, revives a dusty man by repairing his heart, saves a leper who was a slave to El Tio, and finally enters into an eternal battle with the devil (aka El Tio) to drown out his evil whisperings.

However, don't take my word for it. Kieran Hill, the group behind the video, has their own blog post explaining the tale. Here's the link:
Kieran Hill A2 Media Production Blogspot

Now, if you have the free time, I suggest watching the video again with your new perspective.

A side note:
I would like to say that this blog post was born of my own curiosity. After watching the video, I ran off to google and read this and that to try and figure out what I just saw. Apparently, the Wizard of Oz like elements were not entirely incidental (See The Wizard of La Paz) but were inserted to satiate a likely confused western audience. However, before I found out the truth of the matter, I ran across a number of wild theories. Particularly, a few christian bloggers claimed the video was satanic. They offered rationalizations based on the boy being offered to the devil and on how the song was a message about ignoring the gospel. Oh how Ironic! in that the actual folk tale is a christian story of self-sacrifice and hope.

Woodchuck Ciders on Easter

Through our lazy Easter Sunday, we, my family and I, popped the caps on six different varieties of Woodchuck Ciders. In the early afternoon somewhat during Easter dinner, we tried "Granny Smith," "Crisp," and "Summer" Woodchuck ciders.

Granny Smith) The Granny Smith cider had a light green tint to the nearly clear liquid. Unsurprisingly, it tasted a bit like a granny smith apple: lightly tart. I didn't really find it all that inspiring, because I don't really like Granny Smith apples. If you do like them, you'll probably like this cider. ☆☆☆

  

Crisp) The Crisp was very light in color and easy to drink probably because of it's low 3.2% alcohol content. I can think of no other word to more aptly describe its taste than crisp, and I look forward to having this one again on a hot summer day. I'll leave it at that. ☆☆☆☆

Summer) Woodchuck's Summer Cider appeared almost as light as Crisp, but the taste was like a subdued natural blueberry. I still don't know what to think of that, but I know that if I am ever craving blueberries and alcohol that this might be the drink of choice. ☆☆☆

Later in the evening, we then opened "Amber," "802," and "Special Reserve Pumpkin" Woodchuck Apple Ciders. 

Amber) Immediately after trying Amber, we all understood how Woodchuck became so successful. There was no over-bearing apple flavor, sinister carbonation, or funky flavorings. Amber was straight up an easy to drink hard apple cider. ☆☆☆☆☆

802) 802, however, mystified us initially both in name and in taste. The drink was darker in color and tasted fairly similar to the just consumed Amber. However, as we let our palates adjust, the drink's sweeter caramel flavor came through. As to the number, 802 is the area code for Vermont where Woodchuck the company is located. ☆☆☆

Pumpkin) Lastly, we had the Special Reserve Pumpkin. I liked it, but the pumpkin flavor type was unexpected. Instead of hitting me with the spiced flavors of pumpkin pie, this cider tasted lightly of fresh pumpkin. I would describe the experience akin to biting into a piece of pumpkin while you are carving it. It's good, but not necessarily a drink worthy of picking up regularly. ☆☆☆