AmericanPupusa: Pop

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Looking at Madonna's "Give me all your Luvin" and M.I.A. "Bad Girls" two twists of the same thing

This right here is social consciousness critiquing 101 of Madonna's Superbowl Ready -- "Give Me All Your Luvin". Obvious:

if this wasn't made for the Superbowl, i dunno what is...
Of course, there is a subordinate/dominant relationship with the POC cheerleaders behind the white lady Quaterback
Of course there is some white-centered melting-pot during the rap interlude with Nicki and MIA wearing Madonna's throwback Marylin Monroe steez
This feels A LOT like some Blondie "Parallel Lines"
The dichotomous Grrrl Power against all boys is jive played out
Giving M.I.A the Dubstep track for about 8 seconds...

In some respect, I can't see Madonna going to anyone else as they are the only provocative female entertainers in mainstream, showing light on the lack of range in pop culture for females. As I type, i cannot think of anyone else who could be there... Brittney, Christina, Gaga (maybe)... they are all stale bread. I'm kind of satisfied that these two women of color, and Rhianna, are the "it" women of provocation and pop imagery... I'd take these three any day over Beyonce, Shakira, Mariah Carey, or Christina Aguilera.

In another respect, M.I.A. carries her flaw of acting REAL privileged and REAL down in an inconsistent way. We have Nicki with her butt-implants and doll posturing -- lending itself to another version of the Beyonce, Rhianna, Christina cyborg thing. It all kinda works, but not convincing until we are given a more complex layout of innovative and provocative pop-art, around them, that isn't derived from the overrepresented spitfire, whore, slut, model. I'm still wrapping my head around the mechanization of female bodies and the tension/conflict of the transnational culture.

Then take a look at M.I.A. "Bad Girls," another attempt at flipping the script by taking U.S. subcultural components (Bling, Hyphy, Ghost Riding) and applying it to a middle-eastern landscape. Throwing in old and dirty high end cars from the 90s adds a flex of "we broke, but not that broke cause we can still cop the gringo cars." The carrying over of U.S. created subcultures to an international audience is nothing new, as this has been happening as early as the Jazz era. The flipping is becoming a bit repetitive with the "Born Free" video following the same script. A rather novel choice of cultural isms to bring together. But all together not that impressive. I'm not that surprised that its only static items; location and clothes, that signify an "other." The only action of "other" is someone riding a horse. I can imagine mainstream kids digging the novelty of the donuts and ghost riding.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Attack of the People of Color Cyborg R&B Singers

My favorite happens to be Rhianna. While, she doesn't have overt technology on her body, her plastic, cold, looks, and sleek style make me believe she has a USB port somewhere...