General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCan someone explain Rihanna to me? Does she consider herself
an artist, or merely an entertainer? How does her latest video (to which I am NOT going to link) elevate ... well, anything, either herself, life, or anything at all? Seriously not getting the point. Is this her "Hell is for Children" moment? As a disclaimer, I have enjoyed almost all of her early stuff, but this is just too much, IMO.
Where to start with Rihannas video for Bitch Better Have My Money? It seems traditional to apologise for being too white and past-it to comment on any video by a young black artist. But tough, because Im not going to. Then theres the fact that Rihanna has produced better songs than this (sub-Sia ear-dung), and the seven-minute video (co-directed by Rihanna herself) primarily comes across as a painfully obvious self-indulgent attempt to revive industry interest in her God-awful acting.
However, people are mainly discussing the BBHMM video because it has a plot where a gangsta Rihanna is peeved with a male accountant (played by Hannibals Mads Mikkelsen). So with her henchwomen, Rihanna kidnaps his girlfriend (white, blonde, trophy, cuddling a pooch so, you know, totally deserves it), and strips, drugs, tortures (swinging her upside down naked from a roof) and drowns her. The woman is last seen bobbing lifeless beneath gangsta Rihannas lilo.
Nice. Thanks for co-directing that, Rihanna, and for demonstrating how female-on-female torture and murder are just as SEXY! as the male-on-female versions. We were all a little unsure before but now we know.
Perhaps more than Rihanna knows herself, because the BBHMM video also serves as a study in celebrity delusion: take away the skin colour and the white spoilt bitch has far more in common with real Rihanna than the gangsta Rihanna shes portraying, whatever she likes to think of the state of her street cred. But I digress.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/05/rihannas-video-bitch-better-have-my-money-misogynistic
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Heavy on social media, fashion, and lots of singles
I like a few of her songs but overall this gen of music artists is mediocre.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)She wants to be Beyonce when she grows up.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)I guess if Rihanna is making somebody have a sad it's a good day
WARNING WARNING! NUDITY AND BAD LANGUAGE!
WARNING WARNING! NUDITY AND BAD LANGUAGE!
WARNING WARNING! NUDITY AND BAD LANGUAGE!
Also Forced Marijuana Smoking!
One of my favorite Rihanna songs as a bonus
Baitball Blogger
(46,739 posts)Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2015, 04:28 PM - Edit history (1)
I don't think the song is very good, either.
But, I'm sure that it will find its audience because of the shock value.
Warpy
(111,277 posts)Decent enough pipes, manufactured persona.
Don't take it too seriously. Either you love that stuff or you don't.
ProfessorGAC
(65,078 posts)Listen to that hit she had "Only Girl in the World" Clearly pitch corrected and nearly every high note is still not nailed, even with the computer doing its magic.
I don't think she's that good a singer. At least some of the pop divas making hits today have a decent voice. Rhianna, like Katy Perry, is not among them.
Warpy
(111,277 posts)so I never go there unless the sound is off.
ProfessorGAC
(65,078 posts)Thanks
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)detailed characterization of the very work that is too awful to link to. 'It's bad, trust me, let me tell you all about it'.
It's a short piece of cinema, and I can't tell you what I think about it by reading what someone else thinks about it. It's inherently wrong to ask people to base an opinion on a piece of work on criticism of the work and not the work itself.
Without having seen it I can't know if this 'critic' is making a common bias based error and approaching a narrative work as a personal statement.
tkmorris
(11,138 posts)I have seen enough of this to tell you I think it's shite, but you need to see it for yourself.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Which is basically the same thing this 'critic' did in your OP. High level work you have going on there. You showed me an article, I reviewed it. Show me the video, I'll review that.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)There was a link to the video in the Guardian article. If you actually wanted to think about the video, wouldn't you have followed the link the The Guardian and seen that?
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)about that. It's a sort of bullshit in criticism that I loath, characterization in place of review. Add to that the fact that this particular writer is playing with some forms that in my experience have a smacky smack of bias. My point is that if you want to talk about the video, post it. And if you post bogus, intellectually vapid and slightly biased criticism I will speak about that if I wish. I'm not here to go fetch video clips for the OP. He brought a piece of junk criticism and I criticized it.
I will repeat. It's vapid to refuse to show what you are talking about and instead describe it with editorial flourish. It's craven. The writer of this Guardian piece is a hack and a half.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)when it was you who said the OP was shabby, self serving, smug and craven? All because the thread starter didn't put the YouTube video in the OP?
Wow. It's clear you did give a shit about the video. You wanted to respond, but couldn't be bothered to go and look at the Guardian article the OP had an excerpt of. You are demanding that the OP contains the video. But you can't just ignore it either - you're responding.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)The reponse was almost as substantial, bright and cheerful as the OP
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)because I don't know who she is.
Don't tell me. If I wanted to know, I already would.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)It was painful to see such a small, small role totally ruined...I mean...anyone who could remember their lines could have done better.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)The author takes the "sunburn art trend seriously." C'mon now.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)there is not much redeeming about the video and the song sucks. rihanna is jus another 'splash' artist...
sP
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)But I see you corrected it.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)and realize my egregious error... it was bad... i am disconsolate...
sP
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Warning: Jack Bauer
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)tavernier
(12,393 posts)who got the shit beat out of her by her boyfriend some time ago? I don't follow that genre so I don't know about her music, but it seems she runs with a pretty rough crowd. I don't think her videos would interest traditional rock and roll fans, but you have to play to your target audience.
IVoteDFL
(417 posts)It's a music video. It's not a documentary or commentary on her life. There is no study in celebrity delusion. It is essentially just a short film with music. Notice actor Mads Mikkelson from Hannibal in the video. Imagine that we watched an episode of "Hannibal" and deduced that he was a psychotic cannibal based on his craft.
I also think it is weird that whenever a person of color gets to a place of excess wealth people automatically want to link them to whiteness.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Only what the writer of the article inserted into it
It's a money/revenge fantasy. Our media is full of that kind of stuff.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)Playing a kidnapper and torturer of an innocent woman ... is Rhianna saying she feels guilty about wanting revenge? That she feels she is that evil?
ismnotwasm
(41,991 posts)Reminded me of a cross between the movies "52 Pick Up" and "Hostel 2". Although the video is graphically shocking--and nothing sells better than naked, tortured women--it's actually better than the song which is mediocre IMO. You could dance to it though.
So Rhianna took a very common theme (think Law and Order SVU) and stuck it in a video. She'll sell millions of records. Nothing to explain.
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)Where do they get off doing what they want to do artistically?! And a woman no less? This cannot stand!
closeupready
(29,503 posts)But that's really stretching the meaning of the term, and the word sounds too French to apply to her.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)There are bad artists, mediocre artists, good artists and great artists, but they are nonetheless artists.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)Please please please?
closeupready
(29,503 posts)RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)If "art" is too complex, then it seems "not art" must also be complex.
uriel1972
(4,261 posts)So we are all artists and all that we do is art.. not all of it good mind you.
On the other hand there is no such thing as "Art" or "Artists" as far as I am concerned.
RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)Art is something conveying a message using more than what is essential to convey a message. Aesthetics as opposed to efficiency, I suppose.
gwheezie
(3,580 posts)It's about her former accountant who left her broke. Ripped her off for millions of dollars.
I'm not a huge fan of popular music so it doesn't effect me much one way or the other.
olddots
(10,237 posts)then realize that I would become a serial killer if I experienced more pop culture .
Hey isn't that Taylor Swift as cute as a bug in a rug ?
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)I guess if the top movie actors in the world can make violent action flicks and that burnishes their star power, well, this is the world that music video exists in.
Now I'll watch the video. If I'm appalled, I'll edit this. But unless it's torture porn or celebrates degrading women, my bar for being appalled is pretty high. I do watch some violent action movies.
Edit: Not appalled but it had some tawdry visuals that went no where and didn't justify the exploitative imagery. I think she can do better and the talent and resources involved could have been put to better use.
But she is a good singer, so there was that.
Lurks Often
(5,455 posts)Musically she is a mediocre singer who is at her best doing catchy up tempo dance songs.
Of course I'm not in the market segment her music is aimed at either, so your mileage may vary.
To me a great musician or band is one who's music lives on long after they've passed away, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James are all some notable examples of a great musician. (I'm on a jazz kick lately)
Avalux
(35,015 posts)The song and video are personal for Rhianna, after she was hoodwinked by an accountant who bilked her for a lot of money. She was pissed about it (as any of us would be), and chose to express her anger in this way. It's not my style, but good for her.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)derby378
(30,252 posts)...but I finally checked out the video. It reached me the same way Taylor Swift's newest video did - a mediocre tune paired with some high-falutin' video production leaves you with a mediocre tune with eye candy.