Don't Hug me I'm Scared

The video Don't Hug me I'm Scared went viral a few years ago, and when reading Never Let Me Go, I couldn't help but think of it. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend you watch it now, its better if you don't know what happens in it. The first major connection between this weird video and Never Let me Go is the idea of creativity. In the video the notebook is telling the characters about how important creativity is, exactly like how creativity is preached at Hailsham. All is well for the characters, they are in a familiar environment and are being taught about how they should prize creativity. There are occasional slips into a darker reality, just like there are at Hailsham. When the yellow puppet paints a picture of a clown, the notebook telling them to be creative destroys it with black ink. It is also an interesting connection that the thing the yellow puppet paints that is deemed uncreative is a clown, just like Kathy saw. Another break in their reality is when the yellow puppet says green is favorite color after being asked by the notebook to arrange sticks into his favorite color. I think the yellow puppet is in a similar position to the one Tommy was in at Hailsham. Both characters are ostracized for not being creative, although both are shown to actually be creative, just not in the way the system wants them to be.

The next part of the video is where it gets really weird, and this is probably why it went viral. People thought the twist was funny and unexpected, but there is more to this video than that. First the puppets start making arts and crafts projects, but in a very frantic and messy way. Then it lapses to a computer generated version of the set and puppets and the clapboard and film crew that are behind the show are shown as the angle changes. The music gets more frantic and there is some kind of animal's heart being used in the crafts. People in costumes like the puppets replace the puppets, and they cut open a cake only to find it is full of organs. The notebook ends the horror by telling them to never be creative again. The sudden transition from shelter and creativity to a frantic and bloody life is much like the transition Kathy faces when she becomes a carer. She is rushing from place to place watching people she knows and cares about get harvested for their organs and has lost all creativity she might have had earlier in her life. The decision to use organs to symbolize this loss of innocence in DHMIS also connects to NLMG for obvious reasons.

There is too much production value in this video for anyone to believe it is just to be funny. There is a lot of speculation as to the meaning of this video, but if it turned out the creators were inspired by Ishiguro I wouldn't be surprised. The creators have commented on the video's meaning vaguely and erratically but many theories suggest it is related to the inclusion of advertising in children's television programs. There are also several sequels to this video that you can find on youtube that are also in the same vein, but none are as closely connected to NLMG as the first one is. Whatever way you want to interpret this video, I think it has connections to Never Let me Go that are worth analyzing.