Here's Lily Allen's new video, "Hard Out Here," which has been billed as a feminist response to the Great Miley Cyrus Twerk Fiasco of 2013 and to Robin Thicke's endlessly controversial "Blurred Lines":
You might have missed it, but the video is supposed to be satire. The dancers (scantily dressed women of color) and Allen (a fully-clothed white woman who gets to do all the talking) take instruction on how to twerk and eat bananas from an old white male music executive. There are those who think the video is a sharp critique of sexism in pop music, and others who say it's too on-the-nose and flat-out racist. From there, the Internet beef exploded.
Allen tweeted a response (she writes that it purposely does not include an apology) to the hailstorm, condemning, of course, the idea that she intended for the video to be racist. Of course she didn't intend for the video to be racist. But intent here is not the point.
There's really no wit or irony in capturing what actually happens to women's bodies, particularly those belonging to black women, in pop music videos, which is why the video falls short of its satirical intentions. These tweets say it best.
Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.
If you want to see what's hot on black Twitter, check out The Chatterati.Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.