The Pants on the Ground Game

Civil Rights Activist Larry Platt Best Known for Idol Audition

Jan 24, 2010
Laura Holst

Pants on the Ground Game Hits the Internet - kwalk628

Flash game based on the Larry Platt audition song Pants on the Ground hits the web. The man`s claim to fame is for more than being an American Idol hopeful.

September 4th, 2001 was a holiday in Atlanta, Georgia. Larry Platt Day celebrated the man whose "priceless and immeasurable contributions to society" and "great energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent" were significant enough to warrant the state of Georgia to pass a resolution in his honor.

Platt, nicknamed the "General" by civil right's movement leader Reverend Hosea Williams, worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in 1963, was beaten on Bloody Sunday while trying to cross the Edmund Pettis bridge, and is displayed prominently on the Civil Rights Movement Veterans website. (He's the teenage boy singing on the left.) But, activist General Larry Platt is likely to be best known for his American Idol audition imploring for a social reform of another kind. Platt's song tells Americans how foolish they look with their Pants on the Ground.

Pants on the Ground Audition

The final audition of the January 13th, 2010 airing of American Idol looked as though it was destined to be another hilariously funny and painfully entertaining segment, featuring just one more deluded and perhaps tone deaf contestant seeking stardom. The panel, consisting of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and guest judge Mary J. Blige nodded and smiled blandly as Larry Platt, age 62 shuffled in.

The judges yucked it up with Platt, whose charming smile and slight lisp as he declared he wanted to sing his song "Pants on the Ground", belied the history of a man who helped change the face of the nation. The General, "lookin' like a cool cat" himself in shades and a black pull on cap, told Simon Cowell his song was about how "people need to pull their pants up".

"Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground," Platt rapped his song in front of the judges. After the audition Cowell, made an insightful prediction saying, " You know, I have a horrible feeling that song could be a hit." He later smiled and told General Platt, "I don't think this is going to be the last we hear about you. I have a feeling about you Larry."

Pants on the Ground Goes Viral

Simon Cowell was right. Pants on the Ground was an instant sensation. Fox news captured Brett Favre and his Vikings teammates performing the song as they celebrated their win over the Cowboys. Jimmy Fallon performed a version on his late night show, and videos of General Larry Platt's audition sprang up all over the internet.

Platt was invited to The View where he performed his song. His sit ups and push ups, along with spins and dance moves as he rapped the catchy lyrics for the crowd, drew laughter, cheers, and applause from the audience.

Pants On the Ground the Game

TMZ has released a Pants on the Ground flash game. The game requires that you click on a pair of pants to keep them off the ground. The background is a giant blue jean pocket with General Larry Platt standing off to the side, his mouth agape in song.

A pair of jeans stands alone in the middle of the frame. Click on the jeans with a mouse and they jump in the air, quickly falling again. To keep them off the ground players must follow along and click on them. Each click that keeps the pants off the ground earns the player a point. The game is strangely addicting as well as difficult. In order to get a high score, players need to have good concentration, hand eye coordination, and a mouse. This is not a game that can be easily played with a lap top finger pad.

The Pants on the Ground Game is a lot of fun. It's challenging to follow along and click on the pants to keep them off the ground as they move around the screen like a bouncing ball. While playing the game, enjoying the many renditions of the Pants on the Ground song, and being entertained by General Larry Platt as he does his inevitable appearances in media outlets throughout the country, one can't help but hope Americans will learn more than how to keep their pants off the ground. Hopefully, America will learn something about one man's indelible contribution to the history of a nation.

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