M.I.A.'s new video: "Born Free"

[mckitterick]

Just in case you haven't seen it yet, here's M.I.A.'s new music-video-slash-movie-short, "Born Free," an anthem for the modern world.

You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com

Warning: Contains graphic violence and nudity.

Jezebel writes a good analysis of the video and the changes sweeping through the modern music-video scene

Comments

[clevermanka]

I just watched this on shanmonster's LJ. Cool to see how fast it's making the rounds.

I still kick myself for not going to see M.I.A. when she played the Granada a few years ago. Stupid stupid stupid.

[mckitterick]

I'm now a fan.

[siro_gravity]

wow. that is awesome; i watched the whole thing and also read jezebel's commentary.

jezebel says she's not sure if M.I.A's vid is about what's happening in arizona or sri lanka, but the video clearly depicts rebels wearing head gear that is similar to that worn by iraqi insurgents.

i think the vid is about the goings on in middle east. she uses the red haired humans because it's easier for a white viewing audience to identify with them. and they are all red-haired because it is also about race and "othering".

don't know if you have seen wikileaks or liveleaks but i find these sites interesting, because they are "outing" our military in a really visceral way: by showing what actually happens and by letting us hear what is being said by military personnel. that "othering"-thing is put into full view in these military documents, in which the people who are shot are referred to as "targets". that one up at wikileaks right now is the one in which 2 reuters photographers were gunned down

[mckitterick]

I think the genius of this short movie is that we can impress any group onto the redheads, including the Palenstinians (the head scarves), Northern Irish (hair), those Jezebel identified, even your own persecuted group, precisely because of what you point out.

Yeah, I watched that video. It revealed much about the ugly nature of war and why our nation needs to stop getting involved in them.

[siro_gravity]

i did not think about the irish thing.

good point, that this video can refer to any persecuted group. i think that's true.

[holyoutlaw]

There were several twists in this for me: At first I thought it was near future fascist America. Then I thought no, standard INS bust that probably happens fairly regularly in California and other southern border states. Then when I saw all the red haired men and boys, it twisted again.

Also note, for whatever reason, there's a very narrow age range on the bus. Nobody's younger than 10 or 11, nobody's older than early 20s.

[mckitterick]

Interesting observations. I, too, experienced several mental shifts while watching - but didn't think too much about the age range. I wonder why the director chose them....