CONTROVERSY IN FILM AND VIDEO; AN HONEST EDITORIAL
DISCLAIMER: Certain parts of the following editorial deal with somewhat "sensitive" subject matter in the form of mature situations, themes, and language. I do not, under any circumstance condone, endorse, or certify any of the behavior/habits spotlighted in the mentioned parts of this editorial. You've been warned. I will not respond to any emails concerning the use of this "sensitive" subject matter.
With summer drawing to a close, it is time for me to disperse my thoughts about "controversy" in the world of filmography and videography. I want to call attention to the appropriately placed quotation marks. Before we delve deeper, it must be acknowledged that controversy is in the eyes on the beholder. In other words, what your grandmother finds to be "controversial" may be a bit different from what you would call "controversial". Society has established a criteria deeming what is and isn't acceptable to be in plain public view.
Many directors, from all aspects of videography, tend to push these lines of "controversy" in their professional work. It has literally been going on for decades. In all honesty, I think directors initially caught the itch way back in the 1960's....courtesy of Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. His film Psycho is documented as the first American film to ever show a toilet flushing on-screen. GASP! A toilet flushing? *excuse the sarcasm* That is just a small scratch compared to what is shown on-screen and TV in present day.
Wait a second. Let's put on our nostalgia hats, children. In the 1960's, the flush was a big deal. I don't quite understand why...considering things like recreational drug use were socially accepted back then. For some reason, an on-screen toilet flush was just asinine. Go figure. Ah, but it is time to get back to the matter at hand. Hitchcock's film Psycho gathered both public acclaim...and public disdain. Sectors of the population got pretty riled up over the gory flick...and its blatant toilet flushing. Walt Disney himself even barred Hitchcock from filming on his premises. Disney claimed that the film was "disgusting". (IMDB) Although I do have a penchant for Hitchcock flicks, he is a bit outdated for the topic at hand.
Among contemporary videographers, we have a man by the name of Jonas Akerlund. He is a Swedish film maker who started out in 1988. In his career, he has worked with a wide array of clients and audiences. He just recently directed a Lady GaGa video that is up for a couple VMAs. (Standing for Video Music Awards) In the fateful year of 1997, Jonas Akerlund two-stepped his game up, so to speak. The whole media world took notice. It was in that year that a band by the name of The Prodigy enlisted the help of the Swedish film maker. Akerlund was not aware at the time just how much this one video deal would impact his career.
The band had just released their twelfth studio single entitled "Smack My B*tch Up". Yes, that is the real name of the song. The best part? The lyrics only consist of two sentences that are repeated over and over. "Change my pitch up. Smack my b*tch up." Can you see where this is going? Trust me. It gets better. Anyways, the band wanted to shoot a music video for the song. Jonas Akerlund was enlisted into the effort. He drew up a somewhat unconventional sketch of what would make up the music video.
Production soon started on what would later be noted as the most controversial music video pop-culture has to offer. Says who? Says the entire world, that’s who. There wasn't one music video station that didn't outright ban the video. Let's simplify things a bit. Think of it this way. Every country has its own censorship hierarchy in place. Lines are drawn in certain places deeming what is made available to the public and what is not. When one finds away to get their work snagged in each of the hierarchies in the world, then you know they've really done it. Jonas Akerlund effortlessly pissed off every major broadcasting station there was. That is an incredible achievement, believe it or not. As odd as it may sound, part of me wants to shake his hand. Even though so many people expressed disdain over the video, I doubt half of them actually took time to sit and watch it. After an intense search via Google, I found the uncut version of the video ad watched it. This brings me to my next point.
So what made this video so unbelievably hate-able? What is the recipe for the ultimate music video train-wreck? Just take an unusual camera angle (first-person shot), excessive alcohol use, some sexual harassment, bar/club fighting at its finest, substance induced vomit, a graphic drug use scene, a strip club, an inebriated hooker, grand theft auto, an alcohol fueled hit-and-run, followed by indiscriminate sex and an ironic ending...and you've got it. How's that for a plot list? Are things becoming a bit clearer? Here's the aftermath.
Akerlund's video was instantly barred from any televised video programming. Fans of the Brit-Dance band and other groups of the public wanted to see the video, though. Excessive demand forced MTV, a music media giant, to relent and show the video. There were heavy stipulations that came with screening it, though. For instance, the video would not air until AFTER 12am. Even though the video would air, it would not air in its entirety. MTV heavily edited a cut of the video that they would use to air on their station. Each and every time the video would air, MTV News rolled a warning/disclaimer much like the one I placed at the beginning of this editorial. The band seemed to benefit from the controversy surrounding their video.
I guess it is true what they in show-biz. There really is no such thing as bad publicity in our society. "Smack My B*tch Up" broke into the top 15 in Canada, Norway, Sweden, and even way over in New Zealand. The single reached the top spot on in The Netherlands. Go Figure. You can get away with anything in The Netherlands. This, somewhat sudden, success angered interest groups such as The US National Organization for Women and related feminist groups.
This is where the double-edged sword of misogyny comes into play. Just to make things clear, misogyny is defined as hatred or contempt toward women or girls. "Smack My B*tch Up" came under a copious amount of criticism and scrutiny by the public. Many special interest groups pegged the song to be misogynous in nature because it boasts of violence toward women. Others felt that it was not meant to be taken in that context. Some even openly praised the video because it slaughtered all of the stereotypes surrounding domestic violence.
Remember that ironic ending I mentioned earlier? This is where that comes into play. The irony lies in the fact that the protagonist is a woman. You heard me. The person engaging in the above behavior is revealed to be a woman at the end of the video. The video captured how women themselves can be aggressors. So then how can this be misogynous? The protagonist is a woman after all, right? I've heard of inward/inverse racism, but is there something in existence along the lines of inward/inverse misogyny? If there is, should more attention be called to it? The jury is still out on that. You are free to let me know what you think, though. (My email will be left at the end for contact purposes.) This one single and its video created such a storm in the seas of pop culture.
Even with all of the turmoil, The Prodigy came out and openly defended their song. The band claimed that "Smack My B*tch Up" was slang for "doing anything intensely". Brits have been known to have an eccentric slang dialect, but I'm not sure how much I buy into it. Oh well. Urban Dictionary gives the controversial phrase a more drug-related slang meaning. I'm not going to type it out here, but you're free to go look it up yourself. Because of the drug use depicted in the video, I believe that the Urban Dictionary interpretation is more plausible. We all think differently, though.
So we're nearing the part of this whole thing where I tell you exactly how I feel about the above subject matter. How does this supposed misogynistic material affect a 19 year old American girl? Are you ready? I'm not the least bit offended. Keep in mind that I'm not completely dismissing the misogyny issue. It is up for debate, but in this day and age...there are so many things empowering myself and others as females. It is hard for me to let one song that was released when I was 7 upset me. To become discontented over such a trivial thing would totally ruin what women’s rights activists have been building up for ages. It’s called leading by example, ladies. If you want to be respected as a female, then show it in your individual actions. I also have advice for mothers. If you want your daughters to grow to be strong, independent women, then empower them every chance you get. Explain to them that the future is theirs to mold. Encourage them to look at the “big picture”.
I'm a "big picture" sort of thinker which is a good or bad thing depending on the day. What that means is I tend to look at a lot of things and judge them on their niche in the whole grand scheme of life itself. It can be good in the sense that I don’t sweat the small stuff. The mindset can also be equally detrimental. Sometimes in looking at this “big picture”, I miss minute, yet crucial, detail. Like I stated above, it really depends on the day. This song and video rings up on my radar as a very small aspect of pop culture. Therefore, me and my "big picture" mind tend to not care much about it. I'll now turn my attention to the director himself.
Mr. Akerlund is rather talented in his craft, and his whole slew of awards and achievements is there to prove it. He has quite the track record. In my opinion, the lack of dialogue and plot development, along with all of the controversial behavior, in this particular project is what sets this video over the edge. I don't think Jonas Akerlund necessarily was aware of just how much turmoil his video would generate. Yes, there was nudity and such...but I think some things are more tolerable in different areas of the world. You have to keep in mind that he is Swedish. Maybe the Swedes are a bit more lax with their programming choices and such. Remember the censorship hierarchies we discussed earlier and how each country differs? We don't know what is acceptable in Akerlund's culture. It is partially because we've grown up in America where music videos can't even mention the word "gun" without it being dubbed out. (Post-Virginia Tech measure) Now that is a sad state of affairs. I'm sorry but the world just needs to understand that things happen and that pop culture is not to blame.
Now hold on for a second here. I'm not saying that pop culture doesn't influence the minds of the population, because it does. I just don't think it possesses the power people claim it does. We, the population of the nation, are not near as impressionable as the media makes us out to be. People have been trying to link horrid events like the Columbine and Virginia Teach shootings to violent video games and such. I understand the human nature behind blame, but I do not find this placement of blame to be correct. In playing the blame game, I think people lose sight of the fact that we are humans complete with free-thinking minds and hearts. That being said, we are responsible for our own actions and the repercussions that result from those actions. Pop culture in the form of music, movies, magazines, or video games is not to blame.
Whenever I have done something wrong or questionable in my life, I have never turned to pop culture as a scapegoat. My mistakes transpire from my own doings and nothing else. I am proud to stand up and proclaim my free-thinking mind. If you could join me in doing so, we could make a change in our society and generation. I hope this made you think for just a second.
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