Tag: music video

Like the rest of the world, I’ve been fascinated by Lynn Hirschberg’s New York Times Magazine profile of M.I.A. I can’t say that my opinion of her or her music has been much changed by the article; it was a hit piece–a very well written one at that– but I never really listened to her music for the politics.

I have been reconsidering her controversial music video for “Born Free,” however:

Hirshberg doesn’t think much of the video, calling it “politically naive” and calling attention to it’s violence. It’s obvious that the video is intended to shock, but I think the discussion has to be a little more nuanced than that.

You have to consider if you can appreciate the work of art, the video, independent of the aesthetic of it’s creator. It would be valid to dismiss the video as an exploitative offering by a political dilettante, especially considering the cartoonish governmental figures in the video, and the stylized violence. It undermines the sincerity of the video to know the extent of M.I.A.’s political involvement. At the same time, the video kind of works without knowing that context. It’s central conceit is to take paramilitary actions and images that we’ve become familiar with in the context of the war on terror, and apply them to a population that has never been targeted as such (“gingers”). It takes racial profiling to an abstraction. The message, if there is one, is that if targeting a population for their red hair seems senseless and counter to the mantra of “born free” that repeats in the background, why would you accept those actions for any other population? There’s a debate to be had about whether the video is honest or exploitative, but I think it’s unfair to call it “politically naive.”