Is Lena Dunham right about Kanye West's 'Famous'?
Anna Wintour and Donald Trump, Rihanna and her ex, Chris
Brown, Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby lay in apparent postcoital states in the folds of a giant bed. West is positioned
squarely in the middle of the group, with wife Kim
Kardashian and her naked derriere on one side and a
likeness of Taylor Swift, breasts and pubic area exposed, on
the other. West says each member of the cast of characters
was chosen for having had some impact or influence on his
own path to fame. The video's credits gave "special thanks"
to every celebrity involved "for being famous."
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the singer said the song, and
the video, is simply "a comment on fame in America." Vanity
Fair dubbed it "thought-provoking"--elsewhere it was called
"voyeuristic" and "a feat of magic." In the words of actress
and writer Lena Dunham, however, it's "sickening." In a
Facebook post Monday night, the "Girls" creator-star called
the "Famous" video "one of the more disturbing 'artistic'
efforts in recent memory," a dangerous reinforcement of
rape culture and non-consent. "The prone, unconscious,
waxy bodies of famous women, twisted like they've been
drugged and chucked aside at a rager...," she writes. "It gives
me such a sickening sense of dis-ease."
The video, she writes, is "informed and inspired by the
aspects of our culture that make women feel unsafe even in
their own beds, in their own bodies," made her feel "sad and
unsafe and worried." Dunham, the daughter of artists, is no
stranger to using shocking images, or hypersexual visuals for
the sake of art, or to make a point (and, while she's at it, to
generate press, and ratings). And indeed she acknowledges
that "art's job is to make us think in ways that aren't always
tidy or comfortable." But is this art? And if so, what's the
takeaway—what are we meant to think?
by Peggy Drexler
Meanwhile, it's of course notable and ironic that
West and his wife, perhaps among the few who gave
their consent to be part of this work and the most
overexposed in real life, are among the least
exposed in the video. Dunham also makes the point
that what most audiences will see, especially the
younger and more impressionable ones—the ones
who are assaulted and raped and in daunting
numbers — is less nuanced than whatever message
West may be trying to send. All they'll see, she
writes, is the "the stuff of snuff films." And she's
right.
Provocative art always sparks a discussion. But it's
hard to believe that West stripped bare some of pop
culture's most notable and respected people—an
ex-president among them—for the "Famous" video
because he wanted to make an honest statement.
He did it because he can, or because he thinks he
can. And it's that entitlement that has led to the
culture we have today: where rape is underpunished, police officers whose actions lead to death
are acquitted, politicians whose campaigns carry
racist undertones can succeed not in spite of, but
because of, them. He did this for the attention he's
now getting. Notably, few of the celebrities depicted
in the video have issued a response. Perhaps they
know that the less we talk about it, the less impact it
has—that the less attention we give to the bully, the
smaller his power. It's knowledge worth
remembering
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Even West himself has said the video is "not pro- or anti-"
anyone who appears in it. It's not even for or against fame
itself. It's just a comment, he insists. And so without the
thoughtfulness or direction that most artists put behind
such provocative works or statements, it's plainly
irresponsible. Is depicting controversial figures like Chris
Brown, who had a violent relationship with ex Rihanna,
beside her in West's bed, and Bill Cosby, the subject of
multiple sexual-assault allegations over many years, an
endorsement of their actions? Or something else?
We don't know. But we are repelled. Perhaps West is taking
aim at the falsehood and overexposure of celebrity, but the
way he's doing it—by bullying, essentially, by barreling
through—negates any point he may be trying to make.
Lawless Entertainment Magazine – www.llemag.com
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