http://universalmotown.com/videos/playlist.aspx?plid=1457712391&v=76010451001&aid=0
I am so excited! I have not seen a music video or heard a (current) song that inspires so much thought! I have always been a fan of Erykah Badu. She bares her soul in every song! And that's what I love. She takes everyday issues and just puts them in words on a beat we can all relate to. REAL MUSIC !!
I know I'm super late seeing this video and hearing this song, but I just saw it tonight and I had to get my 2 cents out there. I've been hearing alot of people say what they do and don't like about the video, but personally I don't see anything NOT to like!
The video definitely represents the process of groupthink and how it's destroyed us as a people, collectively. Alot of people claim to be individual thinkers, but if we all say the same thing, then we too are participating in a form of groupthink! As much as we all want to believe we are truly individual thinkers, I just don't think it happens as often as we'd like. The force of media alone kind of herds us to believe what "they" want us to. Badu shows this in the end of her video in 2 ways that I thought about it: 1) Assassination of group think can only get us to see the greater good. 2) Assassination of the individual thinker/the mind/the soul is where we are now. The fact that this happens in the same spot where JFK was assassinated...I bet the majority of people who saw this video didn't even pick up on that!!
Another thing that I noticed in this video as Badu sheds her clothing, is the concept that we must shed the preconceived notions that people have of us. At the end of the dare you can only be you. People's thoughts of who and what they think I am, majority of the time are wrong. Although she's literally taking off her clothes, it's the thought that people need to stop hiding behind what others want for them. I am not who you think I am or who you think you want me to be. I don't want what you want for me and your expectations for me are not the same expectations I hold myself to. I don't hide behind those false thoughts. I can only be me. Until people realize that, they shouldn't let what others think of them affect them. If not, then we'll all be fooled by the ravening wolves disguised as sheep!
I like that she's not afraid to get naked even though they have to censor it. It shows that through her music (one of the things I'm sure she's the most passionate about) and anything else she does, she's not afraid to be herself and bare her soul, essentially showing who she really is at the end of the day. You either love it or you don't!
[[I'll post what I think of the lyrics later]]
~LaDai
Good post. I'm in the pro-Erykah camp about the video, too. A lot of people are mad because they feel she "desecrated the grassy knoll" (the area in which JFK was assassinated), and because it's been said that the actual bystanders in the film were real people (therefore, concerns were raised of "what if my KIDS had seen a naked woman walking through the park like that?!"). But as you put, it's a lot more about raising consciousness. People who dare to be different and challenge the status quo are often displayed as the "bad ones" in comparison to society as a whole. We LITERALLY assassinate their character to discredit "those who are different and okay with being different." It raises an interesting question, to me: are we just as guilty as the shooter at the end of the video, when we condemn the artist for expressing their views?
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, in rap videos, the groupies are damn near (if not completely) naked (word to Tip Drill). Are we really getting mad at Erykah for doing what's been done before MANY times in music videos, but with a message behind it? Come on now.