Would you take your pants off for a Flash Mob?

(matéria capa da edição de janeiro de 2010 do jornal GLOBALINK, feito pelos alunos de journalism da International Language Schools of Canada)


Yumi Miyake

Don’t be scared by FLASH MOBs...yes, they certainly have an element of DANGER and MADNESS but they also give us a sense of community. We can meet new people, be connected with them and have fun. Maybe you don’t know exactly what a Flash Mob is, but probably you have already seen one or heard about one recently. A Flash Mob is an art performance, when a large group of people suddenly appear in a public place, usually in big cities around the world, perform an unusual action and then quickly disperse. An example of a Flash Mob is Worldwide Pillow Fight Day, which is going to happen on Saturday April 3rd 2010 in big cities around the world including Berlin, Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Vancouver and others.



A recent Flash Mob that happened here in Canada was “No Pants Day,” on January 10, when a group of 30 people took off their pants at Broadway SkyTrain Station in Vancouver. Marco Tulio Rezende, a Brazilian student from ILSC said, “I was in the Sky Train (at) the time they did that. It was funny. It starts like a strange thing and after everybody started to laugh.”



But how do these almost spontaneous Mob meetings get organized so quickly? People interested in Flash Mobs organize these events via social media like Facebook or Twitter and via e-mail. Most of the time they organize Flash Mobs for no political, ideological or environmental reason. But there are exceptions. Once, Marco joined an environmental Flash Mob event at a beach in Recife, his native city. “It wasn’t me that organized it but it was some friends from my city who did it… (It) was surfers against the government that was destroying the beach and building things so we did an SOS in the sand,” he affirms.



People get more interested in being part of a Flash Mob if there is a purpose behind it. Rafaela Santos de Paula, another ILSC Brazilian student said, “If it is something to help people to raise money for some good reason, yeah, I’m sure I would be part of it because we need to help the country, help everybody who is around us.”



But what about the danger element of Flash Mobs? If there is no reason or the action is something weird like taking your pants off, people still get scared…they may have fun but there is a frightening aspect as well. Marco Riccardo Donà, an Italian student who lives in Switzerland, said, “Have fun yes, but meet new people, no. They are crazy!” Rafaela said, “Meeting new people without their pants it is a little funny but yes, to have fun it is ok, but to meet people without pants only if you were a pervert or something like this!”



People have a lot of imagination when they were questioned about what theme and location they would choose if they were organizing a Flash Mob here in Vancouver. Rafaela said, “The theme will be Run for Your Life because Run for Your Life it is supposed to be the end of the world and the place will be Robson Street because there, it is full of people and they would be crazy saying, “Oh My God, what’s happening” and they would be screaming and running, like a bunch of crazy guys.” Marco Donà said, “No Shorts Day. Or No T-shirt Day. And the location would be ILSC School!”