Institutional Racism in Pop Culture-
In this blog I wanted to touch
on the impact that artists, their music and their music videos- particularly in
pop culture- have on stereotypes and racism. The youth of today look up to pop
culture and popular artists, and aspire to be like them. Today’s artists have a
big influence on the beliefs and values of teenagers all across the world, and
so it is extremely important that their music and music videos give off the
right message, and portray people in a culturally sensitive and appropriate manner. Music
videos often play to the many stereotypes that exist of different ethnicities
and cultures all over the world and boundaries are constantly being stretched,
and as a result there are some rather controversial music videos out there.
One video in particular that
came to mind is Avril Lavigne’s “Hello
Kitty”. This music videos caused
quite a stir when it was released, and is controversial because of the way it portrays
Japanese culture, and uses negative stereotypes to represent Japanese women.
Avril Lavigne’s Hello Kitty was criticised for showing a
complete lack of awareness of Japanese culture, and despite the fact that it
was directed and
choreographed by Japanese people, there is an obvious use of Orientalism within
the Orientalist stereotypes who in this video, were made to look “robotic,
expressionless and completely interchangeable”, meanwhile Avril Lavigne is centred in the foreground, prancing, completely
oblivious to the overt racism within her video. The dancers are stripped of
individuality and personality which labels Japanese women “homogeneous,
submissive and childlike.” What’s even worse is that at the same time Avril is acting
out every Japanese stereotype possible. One article I read about her video said
that Billboard criticised her “vaguely offensive troop” of dancers, and said
that “others have been less measured, calling it “creepy/racist” and “an early
front runner for the racist music video of the year award” on Twitter. Her
attempt at speaking Japanese in the video, to me, seemed totally absurd, and
the scene in which she is given sushi and appears to be overly excited by it, comes
across as if she is mocking this aspect Japanese culture. The whole video is very stereotypical to say the least. Of
course Avril responded in defence of her song, saying “I love Japanese culture
and I spend half of my time in Japan. I
flew to Tokyo to shoot this video specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my
Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN Japan.” She
was probably trying to appeal to her Japanese fan base with this video, but to
me, her rebuttal is irrelevant, and the way she almost fetishizes Japanese
culture is a mockery of Japanese culture and Japanese women. I don’t
think this video in any way pays homage to Japan, Japanese culture or people of Japanese ethnicity.
I actually love Avril Lavigne and her music usually, but when I heard this song and watched the music video for it, it caused me so much frustration, and I was really annoyed that she had produced something so culturally insensitive.
What does everyone else think about this issue of racism in pop culture??
Tilly, I think this is a really intriguing example of typical white intentions gone wrong. Avril may have a large fanbase in Japan, and she may love the Japanese culture, but her portrayal of the Japanese culture through bright colors, little kid-like clothes and giant cupcakes are creepy and suggestive. Her "backup dancers" do give off a sense of homogeneity and robotic-ism. Even while she's singing, she's squeaking at the end of her lines, almost mocking Japanese women and the stereotypes of their "childlike" behavior. If she wanted to truly celebrate the Japanese culture she loves so much, she could have made those backup dancers individuals rather than one like-minded group and celebrated Japanese culture in a more well-rounded way. She had to power to break stereotypes and instead she chose to propagate them.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! This was exactly what I was trying to get at in my blog.:)
DeleteI think that no matter what time period, there will be some form of music that is culturally insensitive. Usually it's not on purpose though. There's a fine line between what is aspects of a culture and what is just plain straightforward stereotyping.
ReplyDeleteA recent example would be Taylor Swift's Wildest Dreams music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdneKLhsWOQ
This Fader article discusses what's wrong with the video: http://www.thefader.com/2015/08/30/taylor-swift-africa-video-wildest-dreams
Essentially T-Swift's video is not meant to be racist in any way, but due to its lack of black people in the video, random wild animals like giraffes and zebras, it seems to convey the image of a colonial time depiction of what Africa is like. But surely, her intentions aren't bad-the profits from the video were actually donated to an international NGO-African Parks Foundation of America.
At least Taylor Swift is taking advantage of cultural appropriation in the obvious case of Katy Perry who has dressed up like an Egyptian Pharaoh and a geisha, then again she is known for her wacky costumes. But that doesn't really make it socially acceptable does it?
Ideas of how to portray ideas tied to certain cultures nowadays has improved from the past.
In the case of David Bowie, his song "China Girl" can come across as racist and highly offensive. The term china girl itself seems politically incorrect. It's in fact the opposite and is a satirical approach of how Western values impact East Asians, and is also about a funny moment of Iggy Pop's life when he met a Vietnamese (and not Chinese) girl.
I could see how its a fine line between what is appropriate and what isn't. Modern day racism in videos though tends to be a result of misunderstanding and not directed to hate on an ethnic group.
I agree also with you. There are loads of music videos these days that incorporate stereotypes and incorrectly portray certain cultures, unfortunately. I know Avril is extremely popular in Japan, and suspect that she was just trying to create a song and music video that appeals to her fans there. However, like I have said, I think she went about it the wrong way to the point where it seems like she's mocking Japanese culture. I don't think for one minute that it was intentional hate or meant to come across as racist in any way. But the thing I was trying to get at is that intentions aside, it did come across as culturally insensitive and extremely stereotypical, which sadly has become rather commonplace in mainstream pop culture these days.
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