M.I.A.
So I think to most people M.I.A. is that chick who did that song with the guns firing in it. It's a great song. Well as of Sunday night she is also that lady who flipped the bird on national television during the Super Bowl Halftime show. Which you know. Is either "just whatever" or "THE WORST THING SINCE JANET JACKSON'S NIPPLE" depending.
I mean look. It's pretty juvenile and inelegant thing to do in general but it's not like most people in America haven't experimented with the middle finger before. And really, in the grand scheme of things, what is the big deal? So I guess the big argument is that Madonna invited her to perform so it's so rude of her to say "fuck you" to the innocent Americans at home just looking to watch a football game. Also it's inconsiderate to Madonna since now everyone's going to focus completely on a single gesture made by a guest singer who's on stage for maybe a few minutes and not the living legend who invited her.
Which is only happening because for some reason the internet decided that's the mature thing to do. To express vocal outrage over a middle finger.
Because we don't have other things to be angry about. Such as whatever heinous shit is now happening in Syria or the disaster that is the Republican Primaries or a slowly recovering but still painfully high unemployment rate, etc etc etc... I guess people just need a break from all that seriously depressing shit that's actually worthy of our indignation to focus on something absolutely trivial and inconsequential.
But I guess M.I.A. got what she wanted. Because everyone's talking about her. Or maybe she thought it was appropriate since she says shit in the lyrics and you know, profanity and profanity and all that.
I find MIA sort of interesting in general because of the debate over her authenticity and whether or not a freedom fighter should be allowed to eat truffle fries.
T_T;;;;
Ok, so if you believe in world piece and the end to oppression and whatever does that mean you should never ever spend money on luxury items and enjoy the millions you earned through hard work and being lucky enough to find success in lucrative fields? Because if that's the case well, that's bullshit. Bill Gates and his foundation does wonders for world health. And the man is one of the scions of modern technology. He can buy himself a freakin' billion dollar mansion if he wants. He's not obligated to give away his vast fortune just so that the money is evenly spread out.
At the same time, there's a difference between enjoying what you've earned and being greedy. Earning millions is your right. Changing laws so that you as a multi-millionaire are taxed at a lower income percentage than someone who makes 50k a year is NOT ok.
Angelina Jolie earns millions making movies. She and partner Brad Pitt also donate 24% of their salary to charity. On top of whatever they pay to taxes. They are both also incredibly active in charity work. So does that mean they're hypocrites if they rent million dollar mansions in France or rent private jets to fly around the world?
What the fuck ever.
What are YOU doing with your life? Sitting around complaining about shit and then never lifting a finger or donating a dime to change things?
MIA talks a big game and yeah she fails a lot of times to get the facts straight or even actually represent the people she claims to support but how is that better or worse than whatever person who's criticizing her? She may be a hypocrite (are you hypocrisy free?) but it doesn't mean writing a 9 page essay about her short comings changes anything. It doesn't feed "Starving-Children-In-Africa" (TM) or end oppression in the Middle East. And what does Lynn Hirschberg do with her life? Instead of writing about the social failings of some random rap artist maybe she should actually do some real good and go report on inequality among female and homosexual MCs in the hip-hop community. Or the ongoing murderous rampages in Syria. Or labor inequality in China. The lack of authenticity in one rapper is small bananas compared to the actual inequality that seems to concern both parties, whether the concern is fake or genuine.
Plus the whole thing about her dating some mega-rich trust fund kid is incredibly narrow minded. A person is not their family. You have the freedom to make of yourself what you want. No one gives Anderson Cooper shit for being the son of an heiress. Why? Because he's more than a bag of money and judging someone solely on their net worth is just as superficial as the perceived superficiality of the rich. I don't know who this guy is that MIA is dating but being a philanthropist or an activist or just a rapper who dabbles in political rhetoric doesn't exclude you from dating the affluent. If we're in agreement that people aren't objects, we should also be in agreement that dating a millionaire isn't the same as buying a $10,000 purse sewn together by a fetus. One is a human being who may, themselves, contribute a great deal to good causes. The other is something you put your wallet and chewing gum in.
You know I can sit here and complain about how someone is a hypocrite or an idiot or whatever but at least Bono is raising funds and lobbying politicians and meeting with influential figures to do something for the planet. All I do is sit around watching YouTube videos and typing up self-important blog entries. But you know speaking from personal experience it's easier to just feign outrage over something than to take actual action. So thanks news media. Lesson learned.
I mean look. It's pretty juvenile and inelegant thing to do in general but it's not like most people in America haven't experimented with the middle finger before. And really, in the grand scheme of things, what is the big deal? So I guess the big argument is that Madonna invited her to perform so it's so rude of her to say "fuck you" to the innocent Americans at home just looking to watch a football game. Also it's inconsiderate to Madonna since now everyone's going to focus completely on a single gesture made by a guest singer who's on stage for maybe a few minutes and not the living legend who invited her.
Which is only happening because for some reason the internet decided that's the mature thing to do. To express vocal outrage over a middle finger.
Because we don't have other things to be angry about. Such as whatever heinous shit is now happening in Syria or the disaster that is the Republican Primaries or a slowly recovering but still painfully high unemployment rate, etc etc etc... I guess people just need a break from all that seriously depressing shit that's actually worthy of our indignation to focus on something absolutely trivial and inconsequential.
But I guess M.I.A. got what she wanted. Because everyone's talking about her. Or maybe she thought it was appropriate since she says shit in the lyrics and you know, profanity and profanity and all that.
I find MIA sort of interesting in general because of the debate over her authenticity and whether or not a freedom fighter should be allowed to eat truffle fries.
T_T;;;;
Ok, so if you believe in world piece and the end to oppression and whatever does that mean you should never ever spend money on luxury items and enjoy the millions you earned through hard work and being lucky enough to find success in lucrative fields? Because if that's the case well, that's bullshit. Bill Gates and his foundation does wonders for world health. And the man is one of the scions of modern technology. He can buy himself a freakin' billion dollar mansion if he wants. He's not obligated to give away his vast fortune just so that the money is evenly spread out.
At the same time, there's a difference between enjoying what you've earned and being greedy. Earning millions is your right. Changing laws so that you as a multi-millionaire are taxed at a lower income percentage than someone who makes 50k a year is NOT ok.
Angelina Jolie earns millions making movies. She and partner Brad Pitt also donate 24% of their salary to charity. On top of whatever they pay to taxes. They are both also incredibly active in charity work. So does that mean they're hypocrites if they rent million dollar mansions in France or rent private jets to fly around the world?
What the fuck ever.
What are YOU doing with your life? Sitting around complaining about shit and then never lifting a finger or donating a dime to change things?
MIA talks a big game and yeah she fails a lot of times to get the facts straight or even actually represent the people she claims to support but how is that better or worse than whatever person who's criticizing her? She may be a hypocrite (are you hypocrisy free?) but it doesn't mean writing a 9 page essay about her short comings changes anything. It doesn't feed "Starving-Children-In-Africa" (TM) or end oppression in the Middle East. And what does Lynn Hirschberg do with her life? Instead of writing about the social failings of some random rap artist maybe she should actually do some real good and go report on inequality among female and homosexual MCs in the hip-hop community. Or the ongoing murderous rampages in Syria. Or labor inequality in China. The lack of authenticity in one rapper is small bananas compared to the actual inequality that seems to concern both parties, whether the concern is fake or genuine.
Plus the whole thing about her dating some mega-rich trust fund kid is incredibly narrow minded. A person is not their family. You have the freedom to make of yourself what you want. No one gives Anderson Cooper shit for being the son of an heiress. Why? Because he's more than a bag of money and judging someone solely on their net worth is just as superficial as the perceived superficiality of the rich. I don't know who this guy is that MIA is dating but being a philanthropist or an activist or just a rapper who dabbles in political rhetoric doesn't exclude you from dating the affluent. If we're in agreement that people aren't objects, we should also be in agreement that dating a millionaire isn't the same as buying a $10,000 purse sewn together by a fetus. One is a human being who may, themselves, contribute a great deal to good causes. The other is something you put your wallet and chewing gum in.
You know I can sit here and complain about how someone is a hypocrite or an idiot or whatever but at least Bono is raising funds and lobbying politicians and meeting with influential figures to do something for the planet. All I do is sit around watching YouTube videos and typing up self-important blog entries. But you know speaking from personal experience it's easier to just feign outrage over something than to take actual action. So thanks news media. Lesson learned.