Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

In the Thicke of it: Robin women of dignity?

More news of Robin Thicke's now notorious (but big-selling) Blurred Lines being banned by over 20 UK universities, it being seen to fall foul of anti-rape/sexual abuse policies.

Thicke has made some wildly divergent statements on the track and accompanying controversy, appearing to welcome and revel in it at times, and declaring himself a proud old-school sexist ... but at other points he's struck a very different note:
Thicke has defended the song, telling one interviewer: "If you listen to the lyrics, it says 'That man is not your maker' – it's actually a feminist movement within itself."
In October, he told Radio 1 the song had been misunderstood. "I don't think people got it out here [in the UK] in those positions of power," he told Newsbeat. "I think the kids get it … I just have to deal with that."
Is Robin Thicke a feminist?!

Perhaps a more interesting question: to what extent should we differentiate between the likes of Wrecking Ball (or Miley Cyrus' on-stage twerking) and Blurred Lines? Is Sinead O'Connor's contention that many young female performers lose authorship of their work, becoming mere puppets for male managers and record executives, a valid one? Is a model sexually posed/objectified in a male artist's video in any regard inferior or superior to a female artist doing likewise in her own video?

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