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SALT LAKE CITY -- A music video parody made by a group of BYU students that pokes fun at BYU and Provo stereotypes has become a YouTube hit.
The video, called "Provo, Utah Girls -- Divine Comedy," has been viewed close to 100,000 times since it was posted less than a week ago.
It's a parody of the popular Katy Perry song, "California Gurls," and the video's creator Mallory Everton says the idea and lyrics popped in her head during the summer when she was back at home in Portland, Ore.
The video shows a group of female BYU students on the hunt for a man to marry. It even has a scene of girls in wedding dresses chasing after a guy down the street. Everton says the video basically makes fun of herself and others in her demographic. "I'm a 21-year-old girl who goes to BYU and I'm proud of it. BYU is a great school, Provo has been a great place to live and I really have enjoyed it but there are some stereotypes here that are fun to make fun of," she said. "I think that it's fun to laugh and to laugh at our own expense sometimes is important."Some people have been upset and offended by the video, but Everton says so far it's been a small group that's voiced that opinion and she would like to think most people would recognize the video was good natured and made with good intentions.
Everton and others in the video are part of the Divine Comedy group that regularly puts on shows and makes videos spoofing life at the "Y."
Everton was hoping the video would create a little buzz for her comedy group, but she's blown away by the popularity of the video online. "This is going on a hundred-thousand (views) now and that's crazy, but you know it's great," she said.
Everton has become a very recognizable person on campus over the past week because of the video's success. She's often stopped by strangers asking if she's the girl in the video.
"They do, it's a new development," she said. " I imagine it's hard to forget something that shocking I guess."
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
