YMCA is a go-to music staple in movies, but it's usually used for comedic purposes, like as a way to close out
Despicable Me 2 with a requisite animated movie dance party. I totally wasn't expecting it to show up in a dark drama like Ash is Purest White but not only does it make an appearance here, it's utilized in a very thought-provoking manner. At first, it's simply used as a tune playing in a club that the corrupt lead characters are partying at, just a familiar jaunty song for the main players of Ash is Purest White to dance to. But then portions of the song are played over footage of ragged-looking citizens in despair. YMCA is a song about the downtrodden having "...a place you can go..." when you have nothing else, so to have this peppy tune play over these shots of the marginalized in such dehumanizing conditions proves to be appropriately unsettling.
