Superbowl Halftime Show - M.I.A. Flips the Bird

[Luther Blissett]

But Prince's halftime performance is still the most amazingly subversive anti-imperial statement in superbowl history, imo.

Can we talk about that one? It was actually complicated and interesting.

I didn't watch that one. Did we discuss it last year? Can you elaborate? How do you think it got past the producers?

[compared2what?]

STOP THE LADY GAGA HATRED. SHE'S GREAT.

That's a bit of hyperbole. I don't hate Gaga, I said her video made me feel uncomfortable/somewhat afraid. My first impression might be wrong, therefore I reserve the right to further reflect upon it and possibly change my thinking. But I still don't hate her. I rather like her face. I think she must be the spawn of Fanny Bryce and Bette Midler.

It was, and I was just rushing to add an ON EDIT: "Sunny, I impore you to forgive me and humbly apologize to you for my totally misdirected and undeserved comment above. It was an expression of my frustration with all that reactionary Vigiliant-Citizen stuff that got directed her way, which is profoundly misogynist, imo. Homophobic, too.

But that has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with you.

I am so sorry to have suggested otherwise."

I like how you are able to get right inside Madonna's head. I don't doubt from her perspective, all you say is perfectly true. But you'll forgive me if I don't respond to her exhortations. I can think of better ways of beating the Empire than joining it.

Well, naturally. You're a grown-up. And her work is for real injured kids and/or injured-kids-who-never-grew-up-or-found-a-way-to-compensate, such as herself.

It's just a generational accident that her star rose during an era in which I happened to be a kid in my twenties, and therefore still young enough to know exactly what she was saying to me without any effort at all. You know. It's that "What the men don't know, the little girls understand" thing.

I no longer have that at all for new stuff now, if it's really new. If it's within one of the traditions I was fluent in during my youth, I can still kinda-sorta get it. But I'm error-prone on the nuances and argot, and I know it. That's totally natural, I think.

I'm really, really sorry. So sorry. I can't say how sorry. I was totally wrong. Please forgive me.

[slomo]

STOP THE LADY GAGA HATRED. SHE'S GREAT.

That's a bit of hyperbole. I don't hate Gaga, I said her video made me feel uncomfortable/somewhat afraid. My first impression might be wrong, therefore I reserve the right to further reflect upon it and possibly change my thinking. But I still don't hate her. I rather like her face. I think she must be the spawn of Fanny Bryce and Bette Midler.

I like how you are able to get right inside Madonna's head. I don't doubt from her perspective, all you say is perfectly true. But you'll forgive me if I don't respond to her exhortations. I can think of better ways of beating the Empire than joining it.

My initial visceral reaction to this video, with the pink triangles and imagery of larvae and death, was "no wonder middle America hates gay people."

Anyway, I need a break from this place. Later...

[sunny]

It was an expression of my frustration with all that reactionary Vigiliant-Citizen stuff that got directed her way, which is profoundly misogynist, imo. Homophobic, too.

But that has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with you.

Sorry, I'm not really up on Vigilant Citizen [though of course I am dimly aware of him/her] so the only context I had close at hand for your comment was my lone comment about the video.

For the record, I don't hate Madonna either. If I could, I would give her a hug. It's not the individuals in the system, not in all cases anyway, it's the system I take issue with.

I'm really, really sorry. So sorry. I can't say how sorry. I was totally wrong. Please forgive me.

[hanshan]

...

Those who have never heard of MIA should start with "Paper Planes."

And please. Six years from now, I don't want to hear anybody saying they've never heard of Nicki Minaj. She was there, too. And so was Cee-Lo, who added a touch of wardrobe intertextuality...



...for those keeping score at home.

ok - first, a huge tx for the acute analysis of Madonna.
Add power of spectacle

(2) for your MIA reference :



it's a stunning, revolutionary song wrapped in a cute/catchy melody;
the video is infectiously sweet
(Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B)

"Paper Planes"

[x2]
I fly like paper, get high like planes
If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name
If you come around here, I make 'em all day
I get one down in a second if you wait

[x2]
Sometimes I think sitting on trains
Every stop I get to I'm clocking that game
Everyone's a winner, we're making our fame
Bona fide hustler making my name

[x4]
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
And (KKKAAAA CHING!)
And take your money

[x2]
Pirate skulls and bones
Sticks and stones and weed and bombs
Running when we hit 'em
Lethal poison for the system

[x2]
No one on the corner has swagger like us
Hit me on my Burner prepaid wireless
We pack and deliver like UPS trucks
Already going hell just pumping that gas

[x4]
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
And (KKKAAAA CHING!)
And take your money

M.I.A.
Third world democracy
Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B.
So, uh, no funny business

Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go

[x4]
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
And (KKKAAAA CHING!)
And take your money

A little about the artist Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (Tamil)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.I.A._(artist)

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (Tamil: மாதங்கி 'மாயா' அருள்பிரகாசம், Mātaṅki 'Māyā' Aruḷpirakācam ?; born 18 July 1975),[1] better known by her stage name M.I.A. (both a play on her name and abbreviation for Missing in Action), is a British rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A. began her career in 2000 as a visual artist, filmmaker and designer in West London before beginning her recording career in 2002. Since rising to prominence in early 2004 for her singles "Sunshowers" and "Galang", charting in the UK and Canada and reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales in the US, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Grammy Awards and the Mercury Prize.

She released her debut album Arular in 2005 and second album Kala in 2007 to wide critical acclaim. Arular charted in Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Japan and the US, where it reached number 16 on the Billboard Top Independent Album Chart and number 3 on the Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. Kala was certified silver in the United Kingdom and gold in Canada and the United States, where it topped the Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. It also charted in several countries across Europe, in Japan and Australia. The album's first single "Boyz" reached the top ten in Canada and on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales in 2007, becoming her first top-ten charting single. The single "Paper Planes" peaked in the top 20 worldwide and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. "Paper Planes" has been certified Gold in New Zealand and three times platinum in Canada and the US where, as of November 2011, it is ranked the seventh best-selling song by a British artist in the digital era. It has become XL Recordings' second best selling single to date. M.I.A.'s third album Maya was released in 2010 soon after the controversial song-film short "Born Free". This became her highest-charting album in the UK and the US, reaching number nine on the Billboard 200, topping the Dance/Electronic Chart and debuted in the top ten in Finland, Norway, Greece and Canada. The single "XXXO" reached the top forty in Belgium, Spain and the UK. M.I.A. has embarked on four global headlining tours and is the founder of her own multimedia label, N.E.E.T..

M.I.A.'s early compositions relied heavily on the Roland MC-505 sequencer/drum machine, while her later work marked an evolution in her sound, presenting layered textures of instruments, electronics and unusual sound samples to form her acclaimed and distinctive avant garde music style. Lyrically incorporating a range of political, social, philosophical and cultural references that have defied existing pop music conventions, M.I.A. was one of the first acts to come to public attention through the internet. M.I.A. is a philanthropist and humanitarian outside of her musical career. In 2002, she received an Alternative Turner Prize nomination for her art. She is the only artist in history to be nominated for an Academy Award, Grammy Award, Brit Award, Mercury Prize and Alternative Turner Prize, and the first artist of Asian descent to be nominated for an Academy and Grammy Award in the same year. M.I.A. is named as one of the defining artists of the 2000s decade by Rolling Stone in its "Best of the Decade" list. Esquire magazine ranked M.I.A. on its list of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century and Time magazine named her one of the world's most influential people.

edited 1 time for additions to bio info


...

[compared2what?]

STOP THE LADY GAGA HATRED. SHE'S GREAT.

That's a bit of hyperbole. I don't hate Gaga, I said her video made me feel uncomfortable/somewhat afraid. My first impression might be wrong, therefore I reserve the right to further reflect upon it and possibly change my thinking. But I still don't hate her. I rather like her face. I think she must be the spawn of Fanny Bryce and Bette Midler.

I like how you are able to get right inside Madonna's head. I don't doubt from her perspective, all you say is perfectly true. But you'll forgive me if I don't respond to her exhortations. I can think of better ways of beating the Empire than joining it.

My initial visceral reaction to this video, with the pink triangles and imagery of larvae and death, was "no wonder middle America hates gay people."

Middle America hates gay people because (they think) the bible tells them so, and also because (they correctly think) the mainstream, official authoritative cultural party-line does too. So they don't really need any help from Lady Gaga, who isn't -- in any event -- speaking to them, although she may be symbolically attempting to draw and absorb their fire. She's speaking for and to real-kids-who-feel-like-freaks and also for and to grown-up-kids-who-felt-like-freaks-and-&tc.

There's a very long tradition of that one in popular music, too. Freddie Mercury belongs to it, albeit in a very conflicted kind of a way. But still. He definitely got the job done, and I well remember that it was a lot better than nothing.
_________________

As I more or less said above, it's natural for Lady Gaga to look like a horrible, nasty immoral mess to you and to most of us. That's what the kids' pop culture always looks like to almost everybody who isn't a kid, which is one of the things that gives it the power to do what it does for them in the way of self-definition as a culturally interactive process.

And I really do mean "culturally interactive," not "imitative." Because most kids don't really relate to their idols as idols in any literal sense. They have real relationships (of the imagination) with them, which involve opposition and disagreement as well as love and identification.

We can all remember that, can't we? It comes in many forms and works on many levels. Any one manifestation of it doesn't necessarily strike all kids the same way as all others.
_____________________

And....I don't know. I'd say that it's certainly true that many manifestations of it operate in ways that not only very few kids but also very few people are probably ever capable of recognizing or articulating in real time, I wouldn't say that it therefore operates as clandestine mind-control.

For example: When I was a kid, I loved the Ramones and did not love sensitive singer-songwriter types. In fact, as far as I knew at the time, I looked upon them with scorn and contempt and as a bunch of cry-babies and whiners who were part-and-parcel of all the fake sentimental/patriotic crap in relationship to which I liked to think of myself as an angy rebel and cynical outsider -- as (from my perspective) I could totally prove I was by wearing a Schott's biker jacket.

IOW: I was an idiotic, innocent, but basically well-intentioned kid in the process of defining myself in relation to the world.

When I listen to the Ramones now, it's very, very clear to me that almost all of their music is just drenched in exactly the kind of heartbroken and forlorn emotional pathos that I thought myself quite above falling for my own self, simply as a function of how huge and central and primary Joey's vocals almost always are to it. Because he truly was a great expressive vocalist. Rod-Stewart-class great. And a heartbroken, forlorn sould. He just didn't call much attention to it. Or possibly even know about it himself.

Nevertheless. He sang like a girl. Not to put too fine a point on it. (I mean "a girl singer." A la Ronnie Spector. From within the prison of himself.)

Anyway. In retrospect, I can see that one of the reasons I loved the Ramones was because I did relate to that sense of wounded, bleeding emotional vulnerability and loss to such an extent that I felt I had to wear black-biker-jacketed armor and an air of scorn and contempt to protect myself any from further assaults on my heart..

My point being: It was always part of the genius of the Ramones that they spoke to kids like me in a way that we could handle. But I certainly didn't fucking know it then. I mean, I definitely knew that there was something affirming going on. But I only thought that I knew what that was. In reality, I was as clueless about it as I was about everything else.

And unsurprisingly so. I was very young.

But I knew what I liked, in spite of myself.

________________

That didn't quite come out the way I'd hoped it would. But you know what I'm saying, right? Most pop-culture-for-kids stuff looks a lot more ominous and threatening than it is for most kids. Maybe not all. But most.

Anyway, I need a break from this place. Later...

I'm sorry to hear that. I'll miss you.
_________________

edited and reworded slightly in a futile effort to reduce its suckiness.

[compared2what?]

...


it's a stunning, revolutionary song wrapped in a cute/catchy melody;
the video is infectiously sweet
(Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B)

Isn't it great? I love that children's chorus.

Further elucidation:

"Paper Planes" is a song by British musician M.I.A. for her second studio album Kala (2007). The song was written by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer and produced by Diplo with additional production by Switch. The song is a denouement following stereotypical perceptions of immigrants, violence and M.I.A.'s own visa troubles while recording her second album. She said in an interview "I was having this stupid visa problem and I didn’t know what it was, aside from them thinking that I might fly a plane into the Trade Center—which is the only reason that they would put me through this...". She chose to do the song's famous chorus in sound effects rather than in full spoken word and recorded children singing the words, saying listeners could interpret the song's protagonist as being anyone from street hustlers to gun-selling corporations....

"Paper Planes" was written and produced by M.I.A. and Diplo with additional production by Switch. It was recorded at the artist's home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and in London where it includes kids from Brixton singing on the chorus; the song was one of the last written for Kala, recorded soon after she regained entry to the U.S.. The track stems slightly from M.I.A.'s family history and from M.I.A.'s own frustration at American government visits to her official website following the release of her debut album Arular in 2005, a refusal to grant her a work visa to record her second album in the US in 2006 despite several previous travels to the country before and after her debut album's release, coupled with her brief presence on the US Homeland Security Risk List in 2006 due to her politically charged lyrics. M.I.A. has openly discussed the origin of the song, saying "I was thinking about living [in Bed-Stuy], waking up every morning—it’s such an African neighborhood. I was going to get patties at my local and just thinking that really the worst thing that anyone can say [to someone these days] is some shit like: ”What I wanna do is come and get your money.” People don’t really feel like immigrants or refugees contribute to culture in any way. That they’re just leeches that suck from whatever. So in the song I say "All I wanna do is [sound of gun shooting and reloading, cash register opening] and take your money." I did it in sound effects. It’s up to you how you want to interpret. America is so obsessed with money, I’m sure they’ll get it."

They make money for the Man. But they don't all totally work for the Man in every single way. Madonna's never been a friend to establishment power, except through that misguided fucking cult she belongs to, in which case that's not what she thinks she's doing. And M.I.A. isn't very power-friendly, either.

They're both just rich, and probably vain, and certainly flawed human beings with a talent for mass-communication and hit pop singles.

[hanshan]

...


it's a stunning, revolutionary song wrapped in a cute/catchy melody;
the video is infectiously sweet
(Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B)

Isn't it great? I love that children's chorus.

Further elucidation:

"Paper Planes" is a song by British musician M.I.A. for her second studio album Kala (2007). The song was written by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer and produced by Diplo with additional production by Switch. The song is a denouement following stereotypical perceptions of immigrants, violence and M.I.A.'s own visa troubles while recording her second album. She said in an interview "I was having this stupid visa problem and I didn’t know what it was, aside from them thinking that I might fly a plane into the Trade Center—which is the only reason that they would put me through this...". She chose to do the song's famous chorus in sound effects rather than in full spoken word and recorded children singing the words, saying listeners could interpret the song's protagonist as being anyone from street hustlers to gun-selling corporations....

"Paper Planes" was written and produced by M.I.A. and Diplo with additional production by Switch. It was recorded at the artist's home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and in London where it includes kids from Brixton singing on the chorus; the song was one of the last written for Kala, recorded soon after she regained entry to the U.S.. The track stems slightly from M.I.A.'s family history and from M.I.A.'s own frustration at American government visits to her official website following the release of her debut album Arular in 2005, a refusal to grant her a work visa to record her second album in the US in 2006 despite several previous travels to the country before and after her debut album's release, coupled with her brief presence on the US Homeland Security Risk List in 2006 due to her politically charged lyrics. M.I.A. has openly discussed the origin of the song, saying "I was thinking about living [in Bed-Stuy], waking up every morning—it’s such an African neighborhood. [b]I was going to get patties at my local and just thinking that really the worst thing that anyone can say [to someone these days] is some shit like: ”What I wanna do is come and get your money.” People don’t really feel like immigrants or refugees contribute to culture in any way. That they’re just leeches that suck from whatever. So in the song I say "All I wanna do is [sound of gun shooting and reloading, cash register opening] and take your money." I did it in sound effects. It’s up to you how you want to interpret. America is so obsessed with money, I’m sure they’ll get it."[/b]

They make money for the Man. But they don't all totally work for the Man in every single way. Madonna's never been a friend to establishment power, except through that misguided fucking cult she belongs to, in which case that's not what she thinks she's doing. And M.I.A. isn't very power-friendly, either.

They're both just rich, and probably vain, and certainly flawed human beings with a talent for mass-communication and hit pop singles.

tx for the further elucidation; often miss what's current-in-culture (no tv, rural )
she's enough experience to comment presciently, acidly, about where's she's been,
what she's seen, & w/ talent. Capitalism will co-opt it's own demise.


...

[compared2what?]

But Prince's halftime performance is still the most amazingly subversive anti-imperial statement in superbowl history, imo.

Can we talk about that one? It was actually complicated and interesting.

I didn't watch that one. Did we discuss it last year? Can you elaborate? How do you think it got past the producers?

I can't find a video of the whole thing. Universal's evidently been on a copyright-enforcement spree. This was the only clip I saw with decent sound:



I'm not only sure that the producers didn't understand that it was an invocation to political revolt, but also that most of the audience didn't. I mean, that Foo Fighters cover is a break-up song when they do it. But that doesn't make it anything except what it was. Which was an invocation to political revolt, as I believe anyone here will easily be able to see.

The songs that came before it position it a little more clearly as intentionally in the tradition of festival-rock protest, I guess. I think it stands on its own. But I don't really know. You tell me!

(FYI -- The words that get cut off the line at the end are Spoiler:"I ain't no fool.")

It was followed by "Purple Rain," for that big unity moment, IIRC. Show business. But it has its uses.

edited for spoilerdom.

[Simulist]

STOP THE LADY GAGA HATRED. SHE'S GREAT.

Initially, I was put off by Lady Gaga, mostly because I'm allergic to hype. (I stupidly ignored Harry Potter for too long, for the same silly reason.)

Then I saw Teeth.

And I was hooked.

[compared2what?]

Oh, fuck.

I stayed away from this thread for days because I just knew I was going to ruin everybody's good time, without even coming close to succeeding in my attempt to give them back anything of equal or greater value And I so totally didn't want to do that.

I can't tell you how much I hate myself sometimes.

Carry on. Please.

[sunny]

Oh, fuck.

I stayed away from this thread for days because I just knew I was going to ruin everybody's good time, without even coming close to succeeding in my attempt to give them back anything of equal or greater value And I so totally didn't want to do that.

I can't tell you how much I hate myself sometimes.

Carry on. Please.

You didn't do that. Please don't trouble yourself.

I'm always down for some Prince. Who's with me?

[compared2what?]

Oh, fuck.

I stayed away from this thread for days because I just knew I was going to ruin everybody's good time, without even coming close to succeeding in my attempt to give them back anything of equal or greater value And I so totally didn't want to do that.

I can't tell you how much I hate myself sometimes.

Carry on. Please.

You didn't do that. Please don't trouble yourself.

Yeah. Self-pity is one of the least lovely forms of egotism, isn't it? Not that any of them is really very becoming. Of course.

Thanks for the salutary reminder.

I'm always down for some Prince. Who's with me?

[/quote]

I'm there.

[Project Willow]

It was an expression of my frustration with all that reactionary Vigiliant-Citizen stuff that got directed her way, which is profoundly misogynist, imo. Homophobic, too.

Thank you for that. I admit to having a near startle reaction to VC brand conspirotainment, it's so harmful.

.....

I like this.

[Simulist]

It was an expression of my frustration with all that reactionary Vigiliant-Citizen stuff that got directed her way, which is profoundly misogynist, imo. Homophobic, too.

There is a profound hatred of what is traditionally termed "feminine" in this culture, whether that perfection be found in women or in men.