SKY FERREIRA

like c'mon dude do you really think I am sitting here all "this video is totally not racist at all and it's sole fault is that she is not a v good performer"

Let the floodgates open: http://flavorwire.com/452072/sky-ferreiras-i-blame-myself-video-subverts-the-gender-dynamics-of-gang-culture

― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, April 16, 2014 5:10 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the confirms my suspicion that most websites have a vending machine where they keep think pieces for all occasions--and just put in a dollar the minute something comes around.

she looks horrible in this video btw. i guess i like the parts of the choreography that are obvious call-outs to michael jackson.

and i guess i like the tuesday weld glasses she's flaunting in a few shots.

What's wrong with bein' racy?

Rac-IST! IST!

It does seem like a cynical post-miley attempt to be the center of an internet thinkpiece "shitstorm." i still like her though, in general

i blame, i blame, i blame miley

I don't want to watch this because I don't want to ruin my sense of this song as being very clever and thoughtful.

"Either way it's all the same / it's like talking to a friend who's trying to be your lover" was one of my absolute favourite lyrics of last year.

That Flavorwire piece is somehow even worse than I expected from the URL.

https://www.facebook.com/skyferreira/posts/10152761383779115

sigh (ferreira)

Oh, she's good at this! I can't wait for the ever escalating Facebook defenses and Internet backlash

oh dear, this video, no sky no

it's so half-hearted as well

I was all "where is the thinkpiece I can read so I don't have to actually watch the shitty video" and thread delivers.

Which is, like, 2014 pop consumption in a nutshell.

Don't demean the actors & dancers in the video. They are more well spoken & aware than you and I will ever be.

yeesh

it's well to keep in mind that she's... what... 20 years old? that doesn't excuse her any more than it excuses the frat bro down the street, but... she has a long time to learn some things. unfortunately for her that's likely to happen in public.

(i'd also note that this is instance no. 45,863 of someone essentially saying "a racist is the most hateful thing one can be, therefore i am not a racist." as many have pointed out, people seem to think that being called a racist for anything short of burning a cross in a black family's front lawn is a grave injustice. it's like popular discourse has effectively abolished the existence of more than a few token racists by positioning the concept of "racism" outside of the continuum of daily life.)

(also if she's so proud of her complex multiracial family, why does the video explicitly offset one white girl--the star--with a bunch of black dudes? unless i am forgetting parts of the video already, which is possible. the actual substance of the video gives the lie to her elaborate/confused rationalization of it.)

(finally, I'd like to hear alternative interpretations of the video esp. in context of the song's lyrics but i suspect a convincing one is unlikely to be forthcoming.)

it's like popular discourse has effectively abolished the existence of more than a few token racists by positioning the concept of "racism" outside of the continuum of daily life

otm

re: ferreira's age, it's important to note that the commentary on this is less personal condemnation of Sky Ferreira, The (Possible) Racist; more cultural criticism of the video as an artefact she's put out into popular culture.

if that's not true, it _should_ be true. but of course she's acted like most 20 year olds would act, taking the criticism as a personal slight.

can't wait for the "i had to endure people calling me a racist" survival narrative that will emerge when her next album comes out

in 2023

important to remember that she's not solely responsible for it; yes, she should bear some of the responsibility but as a major label artist this video would have been OKed by a lot more people than just her and the director

can't wait for the "i had to endure people calling me a racist" survival narrative that will emerge when her next album comes out

lily allen is already playing this card!

she's precocious

i'm hesitant to rush to make excuses for sky, but lily's facial expressions - evoking loftiness, mockery, condescension - seemed a lot more blatantly racist than what was going on here.

got sky on the guardian website front page tho

?You know what? I know some of you racism aficionados won't approve, but I think Sky's response is good. However, I submit the following for your enjoyment re the video's director.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u120/kingkonggodzilla/SkyFerreiraDirector_zps24010e1c.png

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u120/kingkonggodzilla/SkyFerreiraDirector2_zpsbc5d0845.png

Gu Wop

Starting the video with a direct reference to Trayvon Martin is strike #1 against this video (and it doesn't need any more strikes against it after that imo).

what Trayvon reference?

Well this is uncomfortable.

It begins w a shot from the back of someone walking down the street, with a hood up, so the viewer spends time literally following a hoody-wearing person (whose identity is hidden before the reveal of sexy Sky legs) from behind.

Or are we as a culture completely over that by now?

Hmmm, true. I couldn't finish it.

But surely this entire 'controversy' is utterly calculated. I mean, that Facebook response, srsly.

A white female popstar juxtaposing her image against black bodies to indicate some kind of edginess? Must be a Thursday.

No, but this is so typical of the shit Miley, Britney, Madonna, etc. pull and have pulled that I can't even muster up more than casual annoyance. It's too tired to really be risible at this point. This kind of thing deliberately preys upon embedded racist notions of white womanhood and it's vicinity to stereotypes of black masculinity to generate a response. So I don't buy her claim that the fact of her as the lone white body in this video as the leader of an otherwise entirely black gang in a song where she sings "I blame myself for my reputation" is purely down to coincidence and only hiring the most qualified people to be in the video.

Though I must admit I enjoyed the random dance break in the midst of whatever the rest of that was.

really sky ferreira just needs to get a new director, none of the videos have been particularly great

also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mB0tP1I-14

When she was on The Tonight Show, she just did this song with a lazer show. Should've made a video like that.

yeah it's just a huge cliché at this point - i'm disappointed in it on two levels, one the racist tropes it plays into and two what a tired concept it is anyway. i don't get the impression she's trying to ~make a point~ which lessens the offensiveness slightly but makes it barely worth any interest. how hard is it to do a video that doesn't play up to clichés and stereotypes, good god

The worst part about this is that it was a totally unforced error. The actual song (which is really good!) doesn't in any way suggest this video. As much as she represents this as part of her grand vision, I can only imagine the record execs sitting around trying to come up with ideas that were "edgy".

whenever I see videos like this I always imagine Bruno sitting in the director's chair

the actual song suggests an entirely different sort of video cliche

wow she's still going on about it on facebook

"Does exploitation still exist? It's so '90s." (one comment)

Jeez

I guess she doesn't blame herself for this, eh eh?

it's like talking to a fan who is calling you a racist

I know it's not your fault that you don't understand

She's just a face, she had no choice

Greer otm