Lily Allen - This summers biggest racist?

i like when she actually points out that she's being SARCASTIC in the lyrics as if we didn't get the drift

lily allen is human trash

Whatever, I like the ad itself. Just don't care about the music in it.

I fear it being reproduced for the US, because I know they'd use Zooey Deschanel.

it's an ADVERT

i like that keane song and can think of far worse things for lily allen to do than cover it. especially today.

it's an ADVERT

So that disqualifies it dead stop from being likable in any way?

she covered it about a week ago

as i said, she's being fast-tracked to national treasure status, and even being a vile racist more than once isn't going to stop her

it is totally on you and not my problem if you want to give a shit about an advert

why is the john lewis xmas advert a cultural event in this fucking country

because Woolworth's went bust is the tragic but likely true answer

Hey guys, guys, I don't know WHAT you're talking about because get this: I don't watch TV. In fact, I don't even know if I own a TV.

no but did you cry

ads have been iconic for many years. the fact they're made to make money hardly distinguishes them from other forms of art.

doesn't change the fact that the john lewis ad is an annual low point for british culture.

this year's isn't even as bad as usual cos the original is worse than the cover.

i heard a bit of this the other day and wondered why somebody had chosen to cover Keane in a style not very different from Keane, assumed it was some ad agency copyright-dodging bullshit

You are supposed to know if you own a TV or not.

xxxxpost

Just checked and yes, I DO have a TV. But I don't watch it. In fact I turned it around to face the wall because I literally don't watch it.

i think that was irony that didn't appear to be irony.

xpost - almost certain.

i'm gonna save my contempt for advertising and all its works for a different thread cos this one obviously needs to focus on Lily Allen and her ironic racism

i don't equate thinking advertising is shit with being above TV and therefore being a terrible person who spits on the common "man" tho

xxpost

We've never had it so good, uh huh
We're out of the woods
And if you can't detect the sarcasm
You've misunderstood

personally, i would judge advertisements on their merits, the same as anything else. tho i suppose it has got a lot worse as live tv becomes less popular.

xpost.

well tonight thank god it's them instead of you
and if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood

I really liked her second album--clunky social commentary aside--but so much of her behavior, not to mention this song and video, is just beyond unacceptable.

Doing all the same gross shit as pops major players, but with an added wink wink nudge nudge does not constitute clever, witty, incisive commentary. In fact, such a thing is little more than posturing, and functions almost exclusively as a way for Allen to position herself as above the shit she's lambasting while still benefiting from it.

"and if you can't detect the sarcasm, I'm fucked"

Amazing girl, she can both sing and animate like a pro!

Greer OTM

she posted this on twitlonger:

Privilege,Superiority and Misconceptions

1. If anyone thinks for a second that I requested specific ethnicities for the video, they're wrong.

2. If anyone thinks that after asking the girls to audition, I was going to send any of them away because of the colour of their skin, they're wrong.

3. The message is clear. 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.

4. If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens; I actually rehearsed for two weeks trying to perfect my twerk, but failed miserably. If I was a little braver, I would have been wearing a bikini too, but I do not and I have chronic cellulite, which nobody wants to see. What I’m trying to say is that me being covered up has nothing to do with me wanting to disassociate myself from the girls, it has more to do with my own insecurities and I just wanted to feel as comfortable as possible on the shoot day.

5. I'm not going to apologise because I think that would imply that I’m guilty of something, but I promise you this, in no way do I feel superior to anyone, except paedophiles, rapists murderers etc., and I would not only be surprised but deeply saddened if I thought anyone came away from that video feeling taken advantage of,or compromised in any way.

6. Ask the ladies yourselves @shalaeuroasia @monique_Lawz @ceodancers @TempleArtist @SelizaShowtime @melycrisp

If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens

b-b-but "you have a brain"!

I do strive to provoke thought and conversation.

oh god, she really pulled the "conversation? good, that was the idea" card.

http://www.goolfm.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/arsene-wenger-head-in-hands.jpg

paedophiles, rapists murderers etc

The smartest piece I've read yet, drawing comparisons with older songs by Pink and Jewel.

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/11/13/2929071/lily-allen-hard/

"I'm not going to apologise, I'm sorry but I'm not"

tbh i actually prefer the "i'm not going to apologize" over the bullshit "i'm sorry that YOU were offended"

I agree with the assessment that nobody seemed to be thinking about anything while the video was in production.

#4 really undermines the whole song, not just the "Don’t need to shake my ass for you ‘cuz I got a brain" but the entirety of the second verse.

"you should really be more self-conscious and judgmental about your body...by the way i'm being sarcastic!" vs "hey the reason i was the least naked woman on the screen is because i want to spare everyone my cellulite"

if you're hot and can twerk, you should TOTALLY be half-naked and twerking in a music video, how could you ever think lily allen feels otherwise

a lighthearted satirical response

Not buying "the video is meant to be a light-hearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all" when in an interview her director says that:

"We deliberately didn’t want to reference anyone specific. It was more, "what would be the most hip hop thing you could ever do?""

It has nothing to do with race, at all.

Glad that's sorted.

actually thought the video might've been directed by dawn shadforth - curious to know what she makes of it

Were you nervous about doing a video that sent out quite an explicit message about your own industry?
No, it all needs talking about. I just thought it would be hypocritical to claim that this is what everyone else does but we don’t do it. That's why she joins in, and does all the things that everybody does. I think we’re all complicit, you have to be, that's what's required these days.

amazing hate-the-game response

She hasn't really addressed the issues Angry Twitter has been highlighting since yesterday, eg. Lex's 'what about the blackface penis?' concern. Also, the minute someone excuses their own behaviour using the words 'light-hearted' it's indicative of ASSHOLE SPOKEN HERE. And perhaps being a bear of littler brain than most sentient creatures.

I was also unimpressed by the deployment of a cigar-chomping 'Jewish' guy in the video, should've gone for a Terry Richardson-type powerful sexist doucheroo. On the other hand, if she'd picked a bunch of ugly men to twerk in the background, a lot of Angry Twitter would've been all 'OMG she's a Queen Bee' and then those people would've been castigated by several prominent women who are public friends with her, who are not in any way social media Queen Bees themselves, of course.

glad the director made it clear they were deliberately going for hip-hop, so we don't have to deal with obtuse folks claiming that the obvious hip hop tropes and signifiers are just, like, post-racial pop culture tropes with no loaded racial implications to be brought up or questioned.

the suzanne moore piece on this seems to be... actually good? who knew that this would be what it took.

It would be cool if more black females were actually promoted as recording artists rather than just appearing in videos for Arcade Fire/Lily Allen/Spiritualized/Miley/whoever.

this director is a traet

Well you know what we were editing it at my house, and my cleaning lady was there and she doesn’t speak English, and we were just chopping up the bit with the champagne and the bums and she was watching and she had no idea it was for Lily Allen, she doesn’t even know what I do as a job, and it was me and the editor sitting in my kitchen editing, and she was looking at it, thinking "fuck I think he’s a porn director." That was quite awkward.

but the real nail in the coffin, ladies and gentlemen:

the inspiration for the video was the lyrics. The lyrics are really blatant so when I sent a pitch in to do it, I wanted to encapsulate the that idea of music industry sexism and poke fun at it. I didn’t mean it to be a statement as much as a bit of fun. I think the music video clichés we make nods to in the video are part of a culture we’re all complicit in. So, our video’s not attacking those things as much as addressing them and having a bit of fun with them. That culture is something we’re all complicit in – we all sit and watch those videos with twerking and champagne spilling over gyrating naked women and all that on MTV all the time, so to really rally against them would be hypocritical. It’s much more effective and much funnier to kinda have a bit of fun with those things instead of making any kind of angry statement against them in the video. It’s just a bit of fun.

"Just a bit of fun"

Julianne Shepherd's response.

the video is definitely... walking a lot of lines. BUT i read the line "don’t need to shake my ass for you ‘cuz I got a brain" as more of a "hi, women are not just sexual beings for you to leer at until we get ancient at the ripe old age of 25, and we have worth beyond your slobbering gaze" sort of protest? nb i am a person who is very fatigued by the notion of "slut-shaming" because women who aren't seen as sexual also get a shitty end of the ol' patriarchy stick in ways that aren't as acceptable to discuss because doing so kickstarts the "slut-shaming" cycle, which, sigh

But what about the vile racism? Think of the vile racism.

"at the ripe old age of 22*" is probably what Lily Allen would argue there.

..I'll see myself out.