Why The Dancing In Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ Is So Uncomfortable To Watch

It’s not just that Donald Glover keeps dancing as violence spreads all around him, writes Aida Amoako. It’s our own kinesthetic empathy – the action of mirror neurons in the brain that makes us want to move along as we see someone else dance. “An internal struggle begins in the viewer’s body, which is pulled between joy and horror. Just as the video questions how we can dance when there is pandemonium all around, the audience struggles with whether to continue moving, too, after witnessing such brutality.”