The process by which the American television and film industry, for the most part based in California, spreads their own highly sexualized, consumer driven, version of American culture that heavily emphasizes sex, violence, celebrity, and youth as both virtues to be extolled and goals to be achieved. Ignoring and often doing everything in their power to blur, if not erase, the dividing line between the fantasy of the cinemas world view and reality. This process has become pandemic with the proliferation of reality television wherein a person can achieve "Californication" without possessing any real talent but rather just the ability to make a fool of themselves on a world wide stage (See: Snookie)
e.g.The sudden popularity of this actress is merely a case of "Californication".
-Thank you Urban Dictionary.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers "californication" is an amalgamation of the words "california" and "fornication". The band uses the word to satire and mock what is percieved to be life in california and that the image everyone round the globe is fed through media, is simply not the truth.
In our music video we are attempting to exploit this view, such as its preoccupation with plastic surgery, self-image and conformity to the California scene for fear of feeling an outcast or alien.
In our music video, we have people spending money unnecessarily that they don’t need to spend, such as pimping out their car, throwing money out of the windows of cars, adoration of brand names, coveting of other people’s things.
The theme of self obsession and the constant need to churn out a glorifying image ties in directly with the Andy Warhol quote "everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes". This highlights what the Chili peppers tried to achieve in their song, by pointing out the shallow and empty promises of everyone wanting to be a star even if it will only be for 15 minutes.
Most people who have never been to California, imagine sea, sand and healthy living. The Red Hot Chili Peppers challenge this perception of Californian life by presenting the shallowness, narcissism and materialism that is actually an everyday part of life. It seems evident that would the band’s lyrics alert us to one of the areas that are the subject of moral panics.
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