ColumnRobin Thicke’s new video is the stalker jam we’ve all been waiting for.

Everyone’s favorite creepy uncle Robin Thicke, who brought us “Blurred Lines,” the rape hit of summer 2013, is back with a new video.

It’s disturbing in a whole new way.

In February, Robin Thicke and his wife Paula Patton separated. While it’s hard to pinpoint why, and I’m no marriage counselor, this photo of his hand nestled between a young woman’s ass cheeks might be a clue.

Thicke just released his the first video, “Get Her Back,” from the forthcoming album, “Paula.” The good news is that the song is super boring and very unlikely to take over the world like “Blurred Lines” did.

The bad news is that this video sends a scary message about relationships. Let’s be clear that this weepy, formulaic, god-awful song wouldn’t be on anyone’s radar if not for the super scary video. In my dreams, this is a PR move and Thicke isn’t actually stalking or threatening Paula Patton.

Dreams of a better world for pop musicians and their exes aside, let’s talk first about how you can read the title in two ways. There’s the lost love angle, but there’s also a little vengeance here, right?!

I might not have noticed that double entendre if not for the video. Here’s a breakdown of Robin Thicke’s on-screen breakdown (I watched it all so you don’t have to): There’s moody lighting, streaming tears and text messages popping up that we’re supposed to assume are notes he and Paula sent each other. The texts appear over violent imagery, including a possible drowning and Thicke pretending to shoot himself in the head, making this the scariest episode of Pop Up Video ever.

The video ends with the chilling words: “This is just the beginning.”

First of all, if my estranged husband ever sent me a text using “u” in place of “you” I would call my lawyer immediately and finalize that shit. But, more importantly, I would also ask for a restraining order.

And let’s flip this for a second. What if this was a woman singing? Would anyone think it was romantic or would we call her a psycho stalker? I think we know. Are we so hungry to see an emotional man that we’re willing to accept stalking in its place?

The fact that anyone would ever call this video romantic and that there’s a #TakeHimBack trend on Twitter is deeply disturbing. There’s nothing romantic about making someone feel unsafe. There’s nothing romantic about stalking or public harassment.

These lines aren’t blurry at all.

That Happened is Libby Lowe’s weekly column for EcoSalon analyzing media, news and pop culture through a feminist lens. Keep in touch with Libby @LibbyLowe.

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Blurred Lines and Rape Culture

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The post Robin Thicke Keeps it Creepy: That Happened appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnLily Allen’s “Hard Out Here” video blurs the lines between satire and racism.

Much like Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Miley Cyrus’ live twerk debacle, both of which Lily Allen openly mocks in her video, “Hard Out Here,” there’s nothing subtle about the message in her new song.

The difference is, rather than supporting rape culture and sexism, Allen’s video suggests that being a woman in the entertainment business is really hard. And being a woman of color? Well. There’s a special spot in the twerk line just for you.

From the opening shot of Lily Allen getting liposuction while her manager stands by, all the way through to the glimpse of (I think) Rebel Wilson toward the end, this video is solid commentary on the objectification of women’s bodies and the unreal beauty standards we’re all expected to live up to.

Between the lipo and Rebel is where it gets messy. We see women being slapped on the ass, phallic banana eating, crotch grabbing, a lurking old white guy manager and Lily Allen in front of balloons spelling out: “Lily Allen has a baggy pussy”—a direct reference to Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” hahstag about his big dick. All of that sits just fine with me.

Where Allen blurs the lines is with her treatment of women of color.

What bothers many people is that Lily Allen is a white woman objectifying black women in the name of feminism. This is nothing new. White women and women of color have often been at odds about whether the feminist movement is really open to all women. An important debate but, I think, one that sometimes ends hard conversations before they start and divides us further.

Lily Allen’s response to critics pointing out the racist overtones of “Hard Out Here” isn’t good either. This video is Allen and she has accepted the accolades for it being a smart, feminist response to a summer of sexist hits. She can’t pull a Miley and hope people assume someone else was at the helm.

She should defend her choices, and explain why she thinks this video is satire as social commentary and not racism. She might be wrong, but the conversation would be more productive than her non-apology apology. And, if she ends up thinking, “Shit. I really messed up,” she should say so.

Instead, she writes (in part): “Whilst I don’t want to offend anyone. I do strive to provoke thought and conversation. The video is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all.”

There are two problems with her response. First, I don’t believe her. She is too smart to claim race didn’t affect casting of the dancers; and her comment that if she was a better twerker she’d have her “arse” out there come across as flip and insulting. This video isn’t lighthearted—nor should it be.

Second, I want her to own the fact that she made a choice, as a white feminist, to comment on racial objectification. If people disagree that she has the right to do so, and they will, so be it.

Lily Allen should have the tits, as she herself would say, to have the conversation.

Related on EcoSalon:

Blurred Lines and Rape Culture: That Happened

Miley’s Twerk: That Happened

Orange Is the New Black and I’m Addicted: That Happened

Image: Lily Allen via YouTube

The post Did Lily Allen Just Make A Racist Music Video?: That Happened appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnRobin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” is super fun (if you ignore the lyrics).The summer of 2012 was a sugar-coated squeefest with Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” as the unofficial soundtrack. We were treated to (or tortured by depending on your point of view) the song everywhere we went—not to mention the countless spoofs, including my favorite by Cookie Monster.

2013 is shaping up a little differently. Before I dive in, for the record, I love pop music. I blame spin class for this lapse in taste. There’s no better music in the world for spinning than Ke$ha, Gaga, Robin Thicke and the like. In fact, if I didn’t spin (and hang out with gay men), there’s a good chance I would have missed the “Blurred Lines” radio takeover—I might have missed the “Call Me Maybe”/”Head Like a Hole” mashup, which would have been tragic. But I digress.

Back to Mr. Thicke. First, all of you over-30s will be sad to hear that the kids today have no idea that his dad, Alan Thicke, is the real superstar of the family for surviving years working with Kirk “homophobe” Cameron on the show Growing Pains. Young Robin launched his singing career back in 2000 and people in the U.S. started to care when he opened for Beyonce in 2007.

“Blurred Lines” is my first real introduction to Robin Thicke and, at first, I was all over that shit. What fun! Seriously. However, the song celebrates rape culture in a way that I am not entirely comfortable with. The refrain: “I know you want it but you’re a good girl,” is just a little… off—especially when followed by the line, “tried to domesticate ya.” Then there’s the video, which is banned all over the place. Mostly, it features naked women dancing around fully-clothed men—sometimes the ladies are carrying animals.

The obvious conclusion is that this is a sexist piece of crap. But pop culture is rarely that simple. In a GQ interview, Thicke blew off his critics and explained that the origin of the song is Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up” and catcall culture, if you can call it that. He said: “All three of us [Thicke and co-performers T.I. and Pharrell] are happily married with children, we were like, ‘We’re the perfect guys to make fun of this.’ People say, ‘Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?’ I’m like, ‘Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I’ve never gotten to do that before. I’ve always respected women.’’ Obviously, a joke. You can practically hear the eye-roll directed at the crazy man-haters who take everything all serious-like.

Personally, I have a hard time saying that anything meant solely to entertain—or get me off my ass to workout—needs to be socially responsible. But then I remember that not everyone is actually thinking about lyrics; many are just absorbing the underlying message and missing Thicke’s irony. They don’t know he’s married. They don’t know he respects women. All they hear is this: When everyone is drunk and the lines are blurry, she wants it.

When it comes to “Blurred Lines,” I DO know I want it. It’s a great pop song. I don’t think Thicke and team are advocating rape. I don’t think they are personally anti-woman. But, I do think this is yet another piece of work perpetuating rape culture for those who probably don’t even know the term. With everything going on in the world, including efforts to protect sexual harassment on college campuses (yea, you read that right), this hit sends a dangerous message.

For those of you who can’t stomach this as the song of the summer, fear not. Britney has done it again with the bad-good “Oh La La.” Thank you, Ms. Spears, for the lady jam.

Image: Rapgenius (video still)

The post That Happened: Blurred Lines and Rape Culture appeared first on EcoSalon.

Every day is better with a new track.

Dancy, catchy and this video is simply amazing, in an 80s throwback kind of way.

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Image: Big Up Magazine

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Every day is better with a new track. 

Origami – Got 2 Find a Way 2 U by O r i g a m i

Every day we bring you one track for a little musical inspiration. Have a track you want to submit? Email us at contact@ecosalon.com.

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