OUTRAGED, I Tell You

It seems like people are always getting OUTRAGED over the most trivial things these days.  First they were OUTRAGED because Justin Bieber left a lovely, respectful message at the Anne Frank Museum.  

Then they were OUTRAGED because Ben Affleck (who is fast turning into the Rodney "I Don't Get No Respect" Dangerfield of the modern entertainment industry) was cast as the Caped Crusader in the next Batman movie.  Seriously? Why can't he play Batman?  Of course, he's no Adam West, but he certainly might be along the lines of Michael Keaton.  In any case, there is no cause to lose sleep over this.

Now they're OUTRAGED because of Miley Cyrus' performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.  Now I didn't watch the VMAs. Devious Maids was on at the same time, and I have my priorities.  However I couldn't help watching Miley later to see what all the fuss was about.

My first thought was "Hey, the Furries are dancing back up for Miley Cyrus!"  People think I'm out of touch but I recognize Furries when I see them.  They have their convention in Pittsburgh every year.

There are really no words to fully describe just how terrible this performance was - on every level.  I watched with my mouth open, unbelieving and flabbergasted.  What the hell was she doing?  And why did she keep sticking out her tongue?  You'd think that Kiss' Gene Simmons was her celebrity father, not Billy Ray Cyrus.

But I wasn't  OUTRAGED.  Teenagers have been shocking their parents with their performances probably since the beginning of time and parents (who were the teenagers doing the shocking at some point) continue to fall for it.  It reminded me of performances by Madonna and Lady Gaga, except that Madonna and Gaga are actually talented.

But the funniest part I thought of all the OUTRAGE was that there was a huge backlash from some African Americans saying that Miley Cyrus had no business to be twerking, because it was their dance.  I had no idea what twerking was even after watching the debacle, so I looked it up. I found an instructional video on You Tube with the most earnest young African American woman demonstrating ("first you squat, then you put your hand here to push your hips forward, and here to push your hips back.")

So, basically, twerking is shaking your hips forward and backward while squatting.  I'm sorry to be the one to break it to anyone, but people both black and white have been shaking their hips while they dance for decades, and in a free and equal society we all have the right to shake our hips however we see fit.  Besides, it's not like she did it well or anything.

If people want to spend their time and energy being OUTRAGED about something related to pop culture, there are more important causes for concern.  Why not be OUTRAGED that none of the legislators in this nation will grow a pair and introduce and fight for a bill that bans high powered-assault weapons and high-ammunition magazines?  If they did, we all might be able to go freely to our local cineplex to view that new Batman movie without fear of being shot to death in a massacre by some random gunman when we get there. 

Don't Cry for Kanye, Taylor Swift

I didn’t actually watch this year’s MTV’s Video Music Awards. In case you didn’t either and were away from all media sources for the week following the broadcast, here’s what happened.

Taylor Swift, a 19-year-old country singer, won Best Female Video. As she was excitedly accepting her award, she was interrupted by rap star Kanye West. He jumped onto the stage, yanked the microphone out of her hand, and launched into a tirade, saying that Beyoncé, one of the other nominees in the category, had made “one of the best videos of all time.” Taylor was in tears. Beyoncé was sitting in the audience, stunned. When Beyoncé won the Best Video of the Year award later in the evening, she called Taylor Swift onto the stage and donated her air time to her, allowing Taylor to finish her acceptance speech.

So, in the end, Taylor Swift won a video music award, a lot of sympathy, and some invaluable exposure to a lot of people who had no previous knowledge of her (like me). I even checked out her video, "You Belong with Me" which was the age-old Cinderella story- nerdy girl wins cool, popular guy away from his nasty cheerleader girlfriend- but the there was a fresh, young sound to the song itself. Beyoncé won the top award, and demonstrated that she was the epitome of class. The only loser, as I saw it, was Kanye West, who lost the respect of most right-minded people by being an unspeakable cad.

Then one day I came across a video of a baby dancing to Beyonce’s award winning video “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” It was Beyoncé and two other women singing and dancing. This was the video Kanye deemed one of the best of all time? Really, Kanye?

Wow. Obviously Kanye hasn’t seen very many videos. Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert on music videos, and obviously rating them is a subjective exercise. However, back in the olden days of videos – the 1980’s- I watched a fair number of them, as I was happy to stay home in the evenings with my baby and MTV. While I stopped watching videos of any kind on a regular basis sometimes in the 90’s, I can tell you that there were some mighty fine videos made back in the 80’s that could best “Single Ladies” any day.

In my opinion, the best videos were those that told a story, preferably one that reIated to the song itself. This is not to say there were not some terrific performance videos, like Van Halen’s joyous and colorful “Jump.” I think the general consensus is that Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was the best video ever. It was a 15 minute extravaganza that was actually a short campy horror movie. It was spectacular but clearly extraordinary as videos go. My favorite more typical Michael Jackson video was “Beat It” which is kind of like the “West Side Story” of music videos- complete with warring gangs and intricately choreographed dance numbers.

If I had to pick one video that I loved the best, though, it had to be Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” “Life is a mystery” the song begins, and so was the song itself. I could never decide if the song was about finding religion, or finding a relationship that was so fine that it was actually spiritual, or if it was just saying that sex could be like a religious experience. Maybe it was about all three, or any one of them, depending upon the listener. That’s what made it such a brilliant song. All that, AND it had a beat and you could dance to it.

The “Like a Prayer” video captured that ambiguity perfectly. Madonna, dressed for church in a black slip, escapes the attention of some thugs by going into a church. She is saved by a statue of a saint who comes to life and embraces her. Meanwhile, another woman is raped and murdered by the thugs, and the come-to-life statue finds the victim but is then framed by the police for the crime. Madonna visits him in prison, and –I think- testifies on his behalf- freeing him, perhaps? There is also a choir involved in rescuing Madonna- representing the redemptive power of song, I presume. There is a lot of religious imagery, and they dance. So is it about the power of religion to save us, or about our ability to save each other through love and spirituality and/or sex? Who knows? It was fabulous-that’s what I know!

Naturally, what with the burning crosses, and the stigmata, and the message, it was also a highly controversial video. It was called sacrilegious by some critics, and there were even calls for Madonna to be thrown out of the Church. This probably pleased Madonna, who was never one to shy away from controversy. Heck, Madonna loved controversy- she thrived on it.

Taylor Swift went onto win “Entertainer of the Year” at the Country Music Awards the other night, where she was presumably among friends, and where she was able to complete her acceptance speech uninterrupted. However, country music star Winona Judd complained the next day that it all came too soon to Taylor, and then added some nonsense about her mamma and her having to pay their dues driving from concert to concert in their early days. Taylor is learning a valuable lesson early- no matter how great your success, accomplishments, or recognition, there will always be detractors but you can’t let them get you down. Just ask Madonna.

What's your favorite music video? Comment below.