Ever since her turn as God in Dogma, Alanis Morissette has impressed me with a greater sense of humor than she displayed in her early “tortured emo girl” music. I must say that I’ve become a fan with a slight crush.

This month her My Humps tribute burned up YouTube. The LA Times has a nice piece about what these types of releases mean for the artist and YouTube. Some excerpts:

Morissette’s video is armed with a provocative subtext that has people abuzz with debate. It’s a fascinating piece of video art, an inspired combination of satire, social criticism and career reinvention that is a signature artifact of today’s viral Web culture….

This is what gives YouTube its real power. It is a forum not just for amateur pranks but also for career reinvention. For Morissette, this video — made at her home on digital video for roughly $2,000 — may transform her persona as much as taking a part in “Pulp Fiction” did for John Travolta…..

Universal Studios isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. Nor, sadly, will Fergie and her humps. But the era of video activism is here to stay. Whether you’re a political activist or a singer eager to try your hand at social comment, the pop culture playing field has never been more open to ideas than it is today.