Maybe Kanye Should Try to Control Himself Instead of Other People

Despite all his flaws (or maybe because of them), I will always have love for Kanye. What I'm not loving at the moment is the newly released full length version of his "Monster" video, specifically the disclaimer at the beginning of the video.

The unfinished version of this video was leaked months ago, and Kanye caught a lot of media attention for his obviously disturbing video, which combines sexuality with violence in the form of disembodied and women and dead bodies in bed with him. In his attempt to quell the criticism, Kanye tacked this message onto his video: "The following content is no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any group of people. It is an art piece and shall be treated as such."

His statement raises a number of red flags. First, if I learned anything in college, it is that intentions and interpretation do not, and in most cases, will not always agree. You might have the best intentions in the world, but that does not matter to the individuals who will interpret your work as they see fit. For instance, think about the fact that different religious groups (even within the same faith) differ on their interpretations of holy texts.



Kanye's sad attempt to control people's perceptions is futile anyway. You can't control interpretations just by telling someone not to interpret something a certain way. If anything, he is further drawing attention to the blatant misogyny in his video. One quality that has always distinguished Kanye West is his disregard for people's perceptions of him. In the past, he has had no qualms speaking his mind, or being over-dramatic for the sake of drama, and has never shown any real remorse for his actions. Apologies for Kanye are virtually nonexistent and for him to issue this disclaimer essentially implicates his understanding of how inappropriate his video is. Think about it: During the Katrina fundraiser, Kanye never said, "Excuse me while I turn this charitable occasion into a selfish demonstration of arrogance" nor did he say before stealing the mic from Taylor Swift at the VMAs, "Let me apologize for being a douche."

As for artistry, I'm not sure I understand how Kanye's rape/murder fantasies serve an artistic purpose. The combination of his lyrics and images lead me to this interpretation: Kanye's sexual appetite is so insatiable that he has become a monster, with a power so great he kills women. Well, either that, or he just gets off on sexual violence. WHICH IS NOT OK, because yes, Kanye, your message is degrading to women.

And P.S. Slapping the word "art" on your work doesn't automatically absolve your sexism. There is plenty of creepy, disturbing and offensive artwork in the world. Besides, the best part of your song is Nicki Minaj's verse, which has nothing to do with your artistry.

On With the Show

And on and on and on.

Coming off of last year's Slumdog Millionaire whirlwind, this year's Oscar broadcast just fell flat.

There were some enjoyable moments to be sure. But for the most part, I kept waiting for the show to get over. I hate to call the technical awards in the middle tedious because I totally respect techies, but this year I was too bored by the rest of the show to care.



I yearn for the song-and-dance spectacles of yesteryear. Last year, Hugh Jackman attempted to capture some of that old-school entertainer spirit. This year, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin engaged in some witty banter, but their two-man show got old after the first five minutes. I know that it's tradition for the host to look into to the crowd, and make a quip or two about easy, popular targets so the cameramen can get their money shots. Honestly, it just seemed like Martin and Baldwin were just calling out actors' names. It felt lazy. I strongly believe Neil Patrick Harris should host every award show on TV because his show opener was the only intentionally planned entertaining moment of the night. And props on the sparkly blazer, NPH! Loved it.

I'm glad all the people who won won. There was no one who I felt was robbed or who I thought didn't deserve their Oscars. But since the awards in the acting categories went to the same people at every award show I've seen this season, it was all so predictable. I've heard these speeches over and over and over. I love a good upset.



That's why the women who jumped on stage in the middle of the Best Documentary Short director's speech (which will forever be known as 'pulling a Kanye' or 'the Oscar's Kanye moment')was a nice mid-show refresher. She breathed some life into the otherwise dull award show. Not because of what she said. I have no idea what she was talking about. She was incoherent and kind of messy. I hope she was drunk; at least Kanye was. I was fascinated wondering how she got on to stage. I get the MTV awards thing. I mean, the VMAs are not exactly a classy institution and Kanye's a big star. But the Academy Awards? Come on, the Academy should not have allowed it. The room was filled with some of the most famous people in the world so I would have imagined they would have quality security.

Other high and lowlights:



The Good

Monique has transformed from raunchy stand-up comedienne to a force to be reckoned with. Does this means she's the next Whoopi? Or with her BET show, has she already surpassed Ms. Goldberg? With the gardenia in her hair, she paied homage to Hattie McDaniel. Sadly, Monique is only the 5th African-American woman to win an acting award (Halle Berry is still the only Best Actress in a Lead Role). And I just learned from her pre-show interview, she accepts all her awards with hairy legs. Power to ya, sister!

Gabi Sidibe - I love her confidence on the Red Carpet and at the beginning of the telecast, posing and posturing on stage instead of standing around stiffly like her fellow nominees. I can't help but root for the girl because in the words of Oprah herself, she embodies the "new American Cinderella story." College girl one day, Oscar nominee the next. And damn, if Oprah ever introduces me at an award show, I'd be bawling too.

Kathryn Bigelow - She scored the first Best Director Oscar for a female. As Barbra Streisand so succinctly put it: The time has come. What's sad is that Bigelow was only the fourth female director ever nominated. Are we still stuck in the 1960s? I'm tired of those 'behind every man, there's a woman' director speeches. I want to hear some women roar.



Sandra Bullock - She always makes light of every situation. It was nice to see her get emotional. And I love how her tough-man husband always breaks down when she wins.

Fashion - Seemed like celebs tried harder to keep it classy this year (minus Charlize Theron and her rose/vagina breasts. I'm still a fan of the origami layer look. And I adore the crimson dress trend.

The Bad

The Oscars cut off the Best Foreign Film director when he made a statement about Chile. Come on, we had to sit through the weak interpretive dance number and listen to some rambling speeches about the Best Actor/Actresses. I think we could have stood to hear a message in support of the tragedy in Chile.

The dance segment. What happened to nominating popular, interesting singers who deliver great performances (ie: Celine Dion) instead of filling time with a poor attempt to mimick the dance show trend?



Molly Ringwald. The whole Breakfast Club reunion thing was sort of strange, but Molly Ringwald must have done something to her face cuz she looked crazy shell-shocked. Also, the 'bad boy' from Breakfast Club and Macauley Culkin both looked gross, like they have been taking hard drugs for the last few years.

The "In Memoriam" montage. How do you choose who goes and who stays out? Did we need so many shots of James Taylor playing his guitar? Leaving out Farrah Fawcett was trashy. Did MJ deserve a nod? Duh, yes. He has been directed by Francis Ford Copolla and Martin Scorsese. Plus, he was an Oscar-nominated musician (at the age of 14). It's not about who deserved a slot. Every person is just a valid as another. The montage should have been inclusive.

The Young Victoria costume designer. So, she already had two Oscars. Could she not even pretend to be excited (or even just happy!) in her acceptance speech? Someone should have put her out of her misery and just given her award to another nominee.

The length. Just far, far too long.

Grammy Whammy

Grammy award nominations were announced yesterday. Beyonce reigned supreme with a total of 10 nominations. But, if were her, I would not be very excited about that announcement. Why? Perhaps that's because one of the ten categories she was nominated in - Best Rap/Sung Collaboration - also features "I'm On a Boat." Yes, that's the song made infamous in the SNL digital short by T-Pain and Andy Samberg's Lonely Island.

Don't get me wrong, I think the song is hilarious. I have jammed to it in the car with my friends and in the club. But, I also know the song was created in the name of comedy. Nominating "I'm On a Boat" for a non-comedy Grammy category somehow de-legitimizes the entire award show and Grammy academy. Following the suck that was the AMAs, I'm really starting to lose faith in the recording industry's weak attempts at grabbing ratings.

Coincidentally, Kanye West has three nominations in that same category (one for his collab with Beyonce on "My Ego"). If "I'm On a Boat" wins, you know Kanye's gonna have something to say about it.

Ignorance Heard 'Round the World

Bitch, please news in brief:

There have been so many things in the popular culture stratosphere that I have wanted to comment on but, with Internet connection issues and my (as yet undiagnosed) adult ADD issues, I just haven’t been able to link up to the old Blogger. Sorry about that. So many things to cover. These past few weeks have been crazy.

First of all, I have to address some of the drama my hometown of Rockford, Illinois has been dealing with for the past few weeks, maybe even a month. While I was at training for my new job, a fellow 23-year-old Rockfordian was shot to death at a church daycare center. Mark Anthony Barmore, who was said to be wanted on battery charges, was gunned down by local cops because he allegedly had a weapon in his possession and was resisting arrest. Tell me why this guy was shot mutliple times in the chest and in the back (I wish I knew the exact number, the reports on the local news site no longer contain this information). And wouldn’t you know it? He was found to not have any weapons on him. I don’t claim to know anything about being a cop but, isn’t it unethical to shoot some one who is fleeing? For a domestic disturbance, really? Those of you unfamiliar with Rockford, Illinois must know that it is an extremely divided city. Literally, you drive over the bridge from the east side to the west side and you see different street conditions, different neighborhoods and different colors. In the past few weeks, Reverend Jesse Jackson has been pushing for justice with the Barmore case. There have been talks with city officials, public cries of outrage, and even a march and a counter-march in support of the police. Healing Rockford seems to be Jackson’s new pet project, and really that’s OK with me. This is not the last we will hear of this case; I’ll keep you updated.

Jackson at Barmore's funeral September 3.

Next, Obama delivered his education speech to America’s future and a bunch of ignant people decided it would be harmful for their children to be addressed by the president. I actually heard people complaining about how they didn’t want their kids involved with politics, that it was dangerous for the president to talk directly to children because he might influence them. The speech might be to socialist blah blah blah. Really, is it so terrible for the leader of a nation to encourage future generations to stay in school and become upstanding citizens? Apparently so, which is why President Obama’s speech was actually banned by some school districts, including a few schools in Illinois. Sadly, President Obama is not the first to deliver such a message to the schoolchildren of America; both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. conducted teleconferences with school children during their presidencies.

Obama attempting to con children of America by telling them education is important.

All this talk about president brainwashing kids, and the idea that influencing kids to be responsible, to be communities leaders is bad, well that all just strikes me as veiled racism. For all this talk about “post-racial America,” I knew it was just a hollow phrase. Sure, we have a (half) black man in office. That doesn’t mean that prejudiced people won’t continue to express their prejudices.

Then, Obama spoke in front of Congress about his health care plan. And the Republican Party showed themselves to not just be disagreeable but, flat-out rude. Not every one behaved in such a fashion but, the actions of a few dragged the GOP down even further. Grand Old Party my ass. Somehow, by yelling “you lie” (really? Not even a ‘you lie, sir!’ He may as well have said, “Stop lying, you big liarface.”), Rep. Joe Wilson has turned into some kind of a martyr. I’m not really sure what his cause is. Those tea party people, the ones with all those signs proclaiming his awesomeness haven’t shown themselves to be for much of anything. Just against anything that threatens the status quo. "Liar, liar, pants on fire" might have been too harsh.

And I’m not appreciating those joker signs I’ve seen around town (as much as people made fun of G.W., his face was never pasted on a local telephone pole with some deragotary phrasing underneath). Those pictures of Obama as a witch doctor? Not cool. Quite frankly, when people feel the need to defend themselves so fiercly against being racist, there’s usually something to it, or else they wouldn’t care that much about what people think about them.

Just two example of the signs Tea Party protestors are marching around with. Racism is really not revolutionary, guys.

This has also been a week of people saying exactly what’s on their minds and getting in a shit-ton of trouble for it.

Former President Jimmy Carter had the balls to say what is on every tolerant person’s mind, that people are letting racism get in the way. It’s fine to dissent, to disagree with the president. But when your criticism takes the ugly turn and you start to use hateful, intolerant language, it begs the question, are you against the president’s policies or are you against the man himself?

Old people speak the truth.


And we all know by now what happened with Kanye. He just had to open his big mouth at the VMA’s. The thing about Kanye West is, he says whatever’s on his mind. And a lot of the time, he’s right. At least, he says what everybody’s thinking but won’t say out loud. Because it’s not polite. That can be a great thing if he’s say, standing up for a cause or bringing ignored social issue to the public’s attention (like the now infamous Katrina comment) but, when it comes to say, disagreeing with an award show recipient’s selection and stealing that recipient’s award speech, it’s uncalled for. Basically, it was a dick move. Believe me, I agreed with what he said (I had just shouted in outrage at my friend’s TV set that there was no way Taylor Swift had a better video than Beyonce) but, that does make it right. The most telling thing about the whole incident is that Beyonce’s video was the best of the year but where it received its most heavy rotation is Youtube. It is a freakin Youtube sensation. MTV barely plays videos anymore, so who actually cares what the outcome of the VMAs is? Beyonce sure as hell didn’t seem to care; she has Grammys. It was unexpected and funny when it happened but that was a week ago people, I’m over it. Talk shows, I know this is an easy joke but, come up with some fresh material.

And Serena Williams tried to make some cute joke on the VMA broadcast to get some better press after her big blow up Saturday night. For those of you who didn’t see it, I have to admit it was a surreal experience to watch. Tennis is all stiff-upperlipy and here was this girl who spent part of her childhood in Compton refusing to take a shitty call from a lineswoman. What she yelled at the lineswoman was inappropriate for sure. As with Kanye, it was just uncalled for. But, it got blown way out of proportion. Now the lineswoman was certainly well within her rights to report Serena but I have to wonder, in those high-stakes sporting arenas, aren’t the judges supposed to have thicker skins? Hadn’t she ever been threatened before. As I said, Serena crossed a line with her threat but, the lady didn’t need to be running scared like she was actually going to get a ball stuffed down her throat. Two days later, Roger Federer was cited for using inappropriate language at his match (sure he just swore, didn’t make any threats) and nobody said boo about it. It’s actually more shocking to me that the always nonchalant “reserved,” as the commentators call him, Federer swore than to hear Serena go off. We all know she’s aggressive and ridiculously competitive. I see her outburst as an extension of these two behaviors.

And I’m not trying to condone any of the inappropriate behavior exhibited by these celebrities; I just find it interesting that what they said received so much backlash. And yet, here we have all these narrow-minded people making all sorts of overt racial comments (which I feel are the most harmful to our society) that just fly under the radar.