Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2021: Week 13
How Much Is That Geisha In the Window? by Lierdumoa is a somewhat unusual vid in that it is not set to music with lyrics like many vids, but rather an instrumental piece. The vid is a critique of Firefly's orientalism and glorification of the Confederacy made for the 2008 Vividcon Challenge show. The theme for the Challenge show that year was "FUCK YOU!", and this video was created as a sort of "fuck you" to Joss Whedon, the creator of Firefly.
It is notable for being one of Rebecca Tushnet's examples in the US Copyright Office's DMCA hearings regarding the fair use of ripping material from DVDs. Tushnet argued that the clarity of ripped video footage was what made How Much Is That Geisha In the Window? powerful, since using lower quality video likely wouldn't allow viewers to visually understand the message Lierdumoa was trying to convey.