Opining on popular music again

[sabotabby]

Having now seen it as opposed to reading about it on the intertubes, I have to say that I...kind of like Rihanna's "Man Down." It's pretty catchy and musically interesting as far as pop goes.

But content-wise? It differs mainly from "Janie's Got a Gun" (which was in constant rotation when I was a little younger than my kids are now, and my generation did not grow up to be gun-toting killers for the most part) in that it's written in the voice of the rape survivor herself, who just so happens to be a woman of colour, instead of in the third person sung by a white man. And this, I believe, is the reason why the arbiters of moral propriety are having such a hard time with it, calling for the video to be banned not because it depicts a rape, but because it depicts the woman killing her rapist.

Hmm. Kids these days.

---

On a totally unrelated note, if you haven't played Sissy's Magical Ponycorn Adventure, you are missing 15 of the most adorable minutes of your life.

Comments

[lienne.livejournal.com]

...goddamn that is adorable.

[lienne.livejournal.com]

...the game, not the song.

although the song is awesome.

[xturtle.livejournal.com]

I finally watched the video last night, and really enjoyed the song. And really, as a former rape crisis counselor, I can't be too fussed about a video portraying violent retribution for rape. I just wish they'd digitally inserted Chris Brown's face, because the celebratory media coverage that dude gets for "overcoming" his reputation as an abuser makes me want to hurl.

Also, Janie's Got A Gun comparison FTW. Spot on, and relevant to my childhood.

[symbioid.livejournal.com]

Ha - played it via mefi... I wondered how putting them in a jar is considered "treating them nicely" LOL...

TL:DR musings which may not be valid

[fengi.livejournal.com]

My first reaction was the video contradicts the song (which I really like). The images are a murder ballad narrative while the lyrics, as far as they imply a story, are about an impulsive act of pride:

What do you expect me to do
If you're playing me for a fool
I will lose my cool
And reach for my fire arm

I didn't mean to lay him down
But it's too late to turn back now
Don't know what I was thinking
Now he's no longer living
So I'm 'bout to leave town

'Cause I didn't mean to hurt him
Could've been somebody's son
And I took his heart when
I pulled out that gun

This remorseful and bewildered killer seems to offer a direct anti-violence lament, which clashes with the rape and revenge illustration. For me, the dissonance slightly implies, unintentionally, killing a rapist is just a rash act of wounded pride. There's also the dubious attempt to have it both ways, the usual sexy dancing/flirting and a dramatic rape story. Overall it seems more about the themes of Rhianna's life story than the song.

Perhaps such contextual sloppiness feeds into the politics of those trying to ban it: i.e. a sexy girl attracts rape then reacts too harshly.

I believe commercialized provocation is an essential part of pop music's art. In this case, good intentions and cynical calculations both seem clumsily grafted onto a song which is strong enough on its own.

Re: TL:DR musings which may not be valid

[firinel.livejournal.com]

There's also the dubious attempt to have it both ways...
uh, what?

Perhaps it is my reading comprehension, so I'd appreciate you spelling out what you mean by this, because on my first (and successive readings) it sounds to me as if you're suggesting that a woman can't be raped if she's danced in a manner which can be deemed sexy and/or flirty.

Re: TL:DR musings which may not be valid

[fengi.livejournal.com]

*The video* appears to want it both ways - standard glossy, sexy branding and a serious narrative piece. To me the two parts don't fit - stylistically or thematically - and director Anthony Mandler doesn't seem to entirely grasp the material he's chosen. He regularly combines faux-edgy/gritty materialwith sensual gloss - see this campy Nelly Frutado video and this suicide heavy video for Rhianna's Russian Roulette - an approach which I'm not sure is suited for rape trauma. It may just be me, but there's something dude-ish about it.

Re: TL:DR musings which may not be valid

[queerasmoi.livejournal.com]

Just to play devil's advocate - If it seems more about the themes of Rihanna's life story, then why *not* have sexy dancing/flirting in the video? That's been a huge part of her career, her "glossy, sexy branding" as you put it. Even when she was enduring trauma in her private life, the public brand of Rihanna was still out there and selling strong.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

yeah, the general reactions to it are distressing at best and, for the most part, rife with misogyny.
(and, further, i hate being put in a position to defend an objectivist about ANYTHING, so fuck those people twice.)

[sabotabby]

Rihanna's an objectivist?

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

i don't know if she's officially come out and said it, but she hangs with folks and works with folks that are (kanye, kid cudi, etc.) and often talks about shit like the relation between wealth and self-reliance.

[90pointmetaphor.livejournal.com]

Ponycorns!

[sabotabby]

HEY I HAVE NOT WATCHED THAT YET. I SHOULD WATCH IT SO THAT I CAN FEEL OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE KIDS.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I tend to think #1, too.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Finally got around to watching/listening to "Man Down". Really, I can't see why someone would find it objectionable. Yes, she kills her rapist. But, the video doesn't glorify it, and from my listening, she is mostly regretting doing it.

And before "Janey's Got a Gun", there was "Renegade" (Styx), or "I Shot the Sheriff" (Marley then Clapton), etc.

For stupid arbitration of "moral propriety" -- "Money for Nothing" being banned from Canadian radio. *sigh*