Escape from Disneyland
My twitter is has gone cray-cray with all the talk of Miley and her performance with Robin at the VMAs. To keep up with what the young people were talking about, I went and had a look, feeling a bit pervy as I clicked around YouTube to find the whole performance. I expected to be shocked.
Now I know the song is awful, and the lyrics aren’t something I’m comfortable with any reasonable human singing along to, but in watching Miley’s contribution, I failed to be appalled. I have seen various commentators suggesting Miley has lost respect for herself in parading around on her “nude-coloured” bikini (sounds so much more risqué when you hear it’s nude-coloured rather than beige, doesn’t it?).
I heard that Brooke Shields (who played her onscreen Mom in HM) had tweeted that Miley was “a bit desperate”. Desperate for what Brooke? Fame? Attention? To break away from being a syrupy Disney creation? It’s show-business Brooke, surely fame and attention are the point of it… I don’t think she was desperate for whatever is in Robin Thicke’s horrid, too-tight, stripy pants.
One commentator even suggested that Miley should have toned it down out of reverence for Robin’s “lovely wife”. WHAT? This is the man who sings Blurred Lines. (I’m not even going to quote it here, lest there are people eating their dinner.)
I am just befuddled as to why so much of the spotlight is on Miley, and what kind of image she is portraying to her legion of young fans, rather than why there’s a creepy guy in a clown suit, looking like he’s trying to cop a feel of a girl young enough to be his daughter, whilst smiling, and singing glibly about rape.
Miley jumped around, she twerked, she poked out her tongue in a weird way (which by the way is hard to do- try it now- kind of hurts, huh?), but I couldn’t really seem to get offended. Maybe I’m getting old, maybe I’ve seen too much, but I couldn’t find much to be appalled at. For me, the worst thing was all the galavanting around with that huge hand. I kept on expecting her to break into the Coles “down, down, prices are down” jingle. Perhaps those old Coles codgers could’ve jumped up on stage. Now THAT would have been appalling.
Were you shocked and appalled?
Can you twerk?
Of course we can, either could be true, I just find it strange to see someone saying one thing, and then backtracking, and saying the precise opposite, following a furore.
Clearly it it my contention that the lyrics speak for themselves, I don’t think I need them explained by Robin Thicke, and further, I find the ‘bad joke’ to go beyond what most people would find amusing.
Perhaps I’m just a bit too sensitive, coming from the perspective of a parent of children of both genders, with concerns about how each of them perceive and act towards the opposite sex, and following some of the hideous comments I have seen directed towards women on Twitter and Facebook in recent times, along with an escalation of violence towards women, ‘slut-shaming’ and the like.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming Robin Thicke and his cronies for all the ills of society, nor do I think his song is more than a passing blip, but I think it adds to the volume of what is currently seen as acceptable comment, and I think he believes that he can hide behind the fact that he is married. I think he was after a cheap hit, and he got it, and now he is refusing to take ownership of his words.
“I’ll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two”…???
… In my opinion…
By the way my post is just my opinion. I’m not trying to sway anyone. It’s just what I have read and concluded on the whole affair 🙂
I did read the Mamamia post Ali which was written 1 July 2013. He has never said it was about raping a girl. However the article did quote Robin Thicke as saying when asked about the song ‘What a pleasure it is to degrade women’. Since then on the Today show 31 July 2013 he went on to say he said that statement as a reaction to the controversy at the time. He explained that ‘it was a joke and sometimes a bad joke goes a long way. The idea was when we made this song, we had nothing but the most respect for women. I mean, I’ve been with the same woman since I was a teenager. For us, we were just trying to make a funny song and sometimes the lyrics can get misconstrued when you’re just trying to put people on the dance floor and have a good time. We had no idea that it would stir this much controversy. We only had the best intentions.” He did go on to say more but it’s all online.
If we read Robin Thicke’s quote on Mamamia and take it to be true can we also take his quote on 31 July to be true and an explanation of what was intended?
Ooh I love seeing everyones opinions 🙂 I don’t agree with the lyrics being about raping a girl. I read the articles before the Miley/Robin video and still think it’s a stretch. I think it’s just a guy hitting on a girl situation http://popdust.com/2013/06/20/robin-thicke-blurred-lines-lyrics-rape/
I also think the thing for me in the Miley vs Robin debate is that it was Miley performing gestures with the foam finger (shudder). It’s not a boy v girl thing for me or how girls/boys should behave. It was not a nice performance to watch, the whole thing was just awkward.
Did you read the mamamia post Chrissy? Mia apparently quoted him…?
Totally agree Al. So much carry on about Miley but most cringy bit was that Robin was involved . Miley looked misguided but he should have known better. Sick of hearing that that girls should be careful about how they portray themselves . Really ? Tell your sons to behave ! Don’t agree about song being about date rape though- have read loads about that and just dont hear it. Sounds a bit like loser who can’t get the hot girl?! Ps love the blog
I’ve heard a bit about it too: I’m trusting Mamamia on this one. I am too daft to create the link, but if you goog “Mia Freedman and Blurred Lines” you’ll see her post. Scroll down and read Robin Thicke’s comments on the lyrics. (Shudders)
Thanks for reading!
Arrgh! It didn’t link. http://www.mamamia.com.au/…/robin-thicke-blurred-lines-post/
Yes, Ali, that is true, we are lucky that our husbands are great role models to our boys, but society at large has a lot to answer for. Our children are so lucky to be in our bubble of care, it’s the children that don’t have a bubble that are at risk of becoming perverted. I didn’t know that, that song was about rape, I’m not singing it anymore!!!
Check out what Mia Freedman had to say about the lyrics.
(I hope that link works- not really sure what I’m doing over here)
To be honest, it’s our boys I’m concerned about. What are we teaching them?
In most of the media I saw, it was all about Miley, her responsibility to her fans, and whether she was lewd/inappropriate etc. In the initial furore I didn’t see one post about Robin Thicke, or the lyrics of the song. Everyone was so busy noticing whether or not Miley was twerking to notice one man singing, and another rapping a song about anal rape.
It’s all girls: beware, behave and don’t be too provocative. Boys: well it’s not your fault “you know you (sic) want it”.
The worst bit for me were the hip thrusting movements, somehow boys get away with it, but a woman doing it just looks foul and disgusting and rubbing the big dick finger all over herself and pretending to suck it were quite gross too! I just thank goodness that Lily is not a teenager that would be influenced by her, but we are not a family that watches american sitcoms, so hopefully her replacement in six years time won’t be something she will be exposed to too much.
Ha, yep. The tongue!
I wasn’t shocked or appalled but I was hiding behind my hands watching. I cringed at the child like teddy bears and then the gyrating over Robin Thicke and the big Coles hand. The performance was confused and given the age difference it was like watching a child trying to be raunchy. To be honest I was thinking shame on the stylists and managers that work with her. Miley said we are watching her go through puberty or something similar and ‘deal with it’. If its all the same to her I would rather not. Oh and please Miley stop sticking your tongue out!