"Offensive to cultural appropriation"? You are not the one to judge.
http://thespiralgroove.com/2014/04/why-avril-lavignes-hello-kitty-is-an-offensive-cultural-appropriation/
Mélina Lévesque
October 6th 2014
Unless you can get inside their head, you never will truly understand what leads music artists to do what they do. What led them to make a certain stunt, why they were a certain outfit, or even why they really wrote a certain song.
We're talking about a song that was recently released, followed by a "racy and scandalous" music video to go along with that. As a free individual, you have the right to think whatever you want and have your own personal opinion, but there is a limit as to what you can share with others. According to this article, you are strongly against Avril Lavigne's motives in the video as you are saying that she is being culturally inappropriate and somewhat racist whereas you are discussing a very sensitive topic from a bias point of view. I quote, "Lazy western take on a complex area of popular culture." The Canadian artist CLEARLY is not Japanese but has a strong appreciation for the culture. She not only has a successful clothing line, but all throughout her years of stardom she has always showed interest in the culture by paying regular visits to Tokyo, the capital. I personally can argue and say that she can interpret the culture in any way she wants, without being inappropriate at all.
You hold a strong grip towards your point stating that Avril uses Japanese terms in the wrong way. "Kawaii (cuteness) to the point of parody". Kawaii, being a Japanese expression, is what it is, how can it be interpreted any other way?!
In several instances throughout the video, Avril is followed by female Japanese backup dancers who just happen to show no emotion and keep a straight face while following her dance moves. You can almost argue that they are "robot" like. You use the expression "white girl props". I find this extremely offensive not only towards the culture but to Avril as well. Do you want to talk about racism and stereotypes? Because there we have it! Avril is not only with her dancers but also with her fans if you would be kind enough to watch the video again instead of just swooshing through it close mindedly. Your point is invalid.
http://thespiralgroove.com/2014/04/why-avril-lavignes-hello-kitty-is-an-offensive-cultural-appropriation/
Mélina Lévesque
October 6th 2014
Unless you can get inside their head, you never will truly understand what leads music artists to do what they do. What led them to make a certain stunt, why they were a certain outfit, or even why they really wrote a certain song.
We're talking about a song that was recently released, followed by a "racy and scandalous" music video to go along with that. As a free individual, you have the right to think whatever you want and have your own personal opinion, but there is a limit as to what you can share with others. According to this article, you are strongly against Avril Lavigne's motives in the video as you are saying that she is being culturally inappropriate and somewhat racist whereas you are discussing a very sensitive topic from a bias point of view. I quote, "Lazy western take on a complex area of popular culture." The Canadian artist CLEARLY is not Japanese but has a strong appreciation for the culture. She not only has a successful clothing line, but all throughout her years of stardom she has always showed interest in the culture by paying regular visits to Tokyo, the capital. I personally can argue and say that she can interpret the culture in any way she wants, without being inappropriate at all.
You hold a strong grip towards your point stating that Avril uses Japanese terms in the wrong way. "Kawaii (cuteness) to the point of parody". Kawaii, being a Japanese expression, is what it is, how can it be interpreted any other way?!
In several instances throughout the video, Avril is followed by female Japanese backup dancers who just happen to show no emotion and keep a straight face while following her dance moves. You can almost argue that they are "robot" like. You use the expression "white girl props". I find this extremely offensive not only towards the culture but to Avril as well. Do you want to talk about racism and stereotypes? Because there we have it! Avril is not only with her dancers but also with her fans if you would be kind enough to watch the video again instead of just swooshing through it close mindedly. Your point is invalid.
Now, when we want to talk about the song itself, I agree that some of the lyrics are rather odd. Quoting you again, “Most of Hello Kitty’s lyrics consists of a creepy juxtaposition of the teasingly adult and the childishly innocent, mixing references to ‘pinky swears, ‘truth or dare’ and ‘spin the bottle.” Reality Check!!! Almost every song in the world consists of that stuff nowadays...if not worse! Every single artist out there has probably made that dumb mistake before, but this issue just so happens to land on one? What is this?
Also, something that really irritated me while reading this article was that you constantly complained about the music itself in terms of the beat, lyrics, etc. This is not a matter of how the music is composed, we're talking about cultural appropriation here so STAY ON TOPIC.
I myself, am not a major fan of Avril Lavigne, but i still respect her for what she does. Yes the song and the video for "Hello Kitty" is rather odd but I would not directly relate it to cultural appropriation. You would think that maybe the Japanese government would be totally against it...based on what you've said. I actually came across another article saying how the Japanese embassy hopes that the rest of the world embraces the rich culture of Japan through this song. Clearly, Avril's intentions were positive!
One last thing. All J-Pop artists nowadays are influenced by the western culture and their ways, so why can they not influence a Canadian musician the same way? This is totally UNFAIR.
Anyone coming across this article would have to agree with me in saying that you are being close-minded towards the topic of cultural appropriation. Throughout the whole article, you sound angry. Maybe there are some personal issues there that you need to sort out before you take it out on social media.
My last words to you are, before you take out your personal opinion on something you've seen, think about your point of view compared to the rest of the world. Pop Icons like Avril are making money by the minute, and you're hiding behind a computer screen judging their ways. Congrats.
Regards,
Mélina Lévesque
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