O.k.!!!!! I just saw this video a few minutes ago and have to say..... its fucking brilliant. The simple fact that M.I.A. went here with it gives me a new found respect for her. Some want like it but, to each is own. It remains me of the 1971 film Punishment Park. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you do so. Although the video has a dark undertone it makes more of a statement then big bootys and platinum chains. Below I've link the video and a write up.
M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.
Brit singer-rapper M.I.A.'s new long form music video may have been too violent for YouTube, which reportedly pulled it early Tuesday, but the controversial piece is worth watching for a number of reasons. Whether you're intrigued by its politics (redheaded children are systematically hunted down by the military), its director (Romain Gavras, son of Costa), or M.I.A. herself (whose new album hits in June), it's a welcome reminder of the power short form filmmaking can have, both as an artistic medium and as a breeding ground for up and coming talent.
Admittedly, however, "Born Free" is hard to watch. It opens as masked American soldiers raid an apartment building, beating its residents until they find their children. Arresting them on the basis of a shared minority trait equated with terrorism -- here, red hair stands in for the wrong color skin, ethnicity, surname, you name it -- the troops take the prisoners to a desert location where they're forced to kneel with their hands behind their heads. Graphic violence erupts as the prisoners panic and are shot down in vicious fashion, while the charging sounds of the 1977 post-punk song "Ghost Rider" by Suicide and M.I.A.'s detached voice pulsate in the background.
Admittedly, however, "Born Free" is hard to watch. It opens as masked American soldiers raid an apartment building, beating its residents until they find their children. Arresting them on the basis of a shared minority trait equated with terrorism -- here, red hair stands in for the wrong color skin, ethnicity, surname, you name it -- the troops take the prisoners to a desert location where they're forced to kneel with their hands behind their heads. Graphic violence erupts as the prisoners panic and are shot down in vicious fashion, while the charging sounds of the 1977 post-punk song "Ghost Rider" by Suicide and M.I.A.'s detached voice pulsate in the background.
Demetrious
