Advocacy groups are condemning her video and trying to get it taken off the air. Via American Power:
It's that message — which shows her killing a man who has assaulted her — that has drawn the ire of three advocacy groups that work, in part, to combat violent imagery in media.I watched the video and I am fine with it. It tells a story, effectively, and is actually nowhere near the level of violence (and smut) that is abundant in so many videos. The video shows what appears to be a nice girl going about her day in Jamaica which also includes a night out at a club where a guy apparently wants more than she is interested in giving so he follows her out of the place and takes it from her. She is then shown hastily digging through some dresser drawers until she finds the gun, indicating that her decision to take vengeance into her own hands was in the heat of the moment, and the lyrics to the song are all about Rihanna's character regretting that decision. The lyrics are actually anti-vigilante as they acknowledge the character's remorse over killing the man and the realization that in taking his life, she has also destroyed her own. It is a powerful message and the video tells a story quite well. I also happen to have liked the song, but being half West-Indian, I suppose I'm a little biased because I enjoy Caribbean music.
The Parents Television Council, Industry Ears and the Enough Is Enough Campaign joined to condemn the video and urge Viacom, BET's parent company, to pull it.
BET said Thursday that it had no intention of doing so. More here
I understand about not wanting kids to see the video because a guy gets shot in the head, but you know what? That's not Rihanna's problem, she's a freaking musician, not a role model. PARENTS need to be the role models for their children and show them people who are worthy to emulate, show your kids stuff about true heroes from history and in our midst, give them real people to look up to and let the entertainers be entertainers. As a parent, you DO have a say in what your kids are watching, and if you let them watch this video, why not watch it with them and explain what it's really about instead of trying to censor it?
Rihanna has taken to Twitter to defend her video, here is my favorite message that she put up:
The music industry isn't exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! Its your job to make sure they dont turn out like USAside from the missing apostrophes, it's the perfect message.
Watch the video that all the hubub is about so you can see for yourself, hopefully you will then choose not to be like Tipper Gore and the PMRC back in the 80s who tried to censor music - it was wrong then and it's wrong now. If you don't like a particular song or musician, don't listen to or buy their stuff and if you don't want your kids around it, it's kind of your job to pay attention to the media they consume. For instance, I can't stand Lady Gaga and I damned sure don't want my daughter asking me for penis shoes, so I don't watch her or listen to her in my home & if we're watching TV and she comes on, I change the channel. I realize that as kids get older you lose some of that power, but you're just going to have to instill good values in them and rather than tell them that they should avoid certain things, explain why. I grew up on Heavy Metal "devil music" (my parents, of course, hated it) and I turned out fine, I didn't abandon my values or become a psycho killer and let me tell ya, some of the lyrics I listened to were seriously messed up. It's all about being able to distinguish entertainment from reality.
Here's Rihanna's video for Man Down:
This post is linked at Teresamerica. Thanks, Teresa!
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