27 Apr 2010

M.I.A. Born Free

The newly released music video for M.I.A.’s Born Free has already been removed from YouTube and is officially banned. The music video to me resembled more of a short film with her single as the backing track. After hearing about this controversy yesterday, I spent last night and this morning searching for it. Was it really as bad as everyone said it was?

Yes. The cinematography was good, but the video did not sit well with me. The 9-minute movie shows armed “soldiers” executing a number of red-headed males. Not only does the video show graphic violence, there is some nudity and language.

Watching this video made me feel very uncomfortable and while I respect M.I.A. as a talented artist, that does not mean I have to approve of this. I don’t think I could watch it again. I think my emotions toward “Born Free” are heightened moreso now because of an article I read yesterday about how three high school senior girls had kidnapped a girl who had red hair after months of tormenting. After kidnapping her, they then proceeded to beat her incessantly and tried to push her over a cliff.

Not to bring you down so early in the day, but I am confused as to why this is becoming an issue again. Granted, I understand that this video was made before the incident, but maybe there could have been another direction for M.I.A. ?

To view the video click here

Thoughts?

Posted on April 27, in -