Erykah Badu's New Video: Much Ado About Nothing? Pt.2

So.....Have you ever come to a conclusion about something in your mind and then heard (read) the opinions of others and feel guilty about re-considering your original opinion based on those opinions? (Does that make any sense?)

Hell naw. I think that part of the growing process means that you have to realize that you are not perfect, that not everyone is going to agree with you, and that some - the ones that are most important - will be able to say, "well, I respect her / his opinion but I have to respectfully disagree."

After reading and hearing various opinions about how the chick done lost her mind, I watched it last night, and was moved. I thought that her walking in a public area of Dallas and slowly stripping her clothes was first, fierce as hell and secondly, that to me, the video represented both acknowledging the invisibility of black women, reclaiming and taking ownership over her body - away from the either hyper-sexualized images we see in urban music videos or serving as a fuck you to  lack of images we don't see in popular culture - a normal, round-the-way black girl who is just being herself - no weaves, wigs, relaxers. Nothing. Just bare, imperfect and real.

She is the one taking off her clothes, baring her soul. Not a man telling her that she has to,to 'keep it real.'

She has the "I don't give a fuck" attitude that we all need to have. More importantly, if you listen to the end of the song (and sorry, I can't find what she actually says anywhere) she is talking about how people do not like conformity; that those who speak the 'truth' are essentially scorned - hence, the ending of the video. Obviously, while also trying to generate some buzz around her new album, she is making a point. A point that seems to be lost on many.

BUT okay, yeah, she shouldn't have stripped down and shown her badonk ka donk to the world when there were kids around, but are people taking this too literally? Like my last post about Decibel magazine, people are clearly doing things to generate buzz, like this post - if anyone reads it. But she, like Decibel, have something to sell in a market that is over-saturated with pretty, shiny things to buy and we live in a world were people need constant stimulation. It's not right, but it is what it is.

But people are being real hard on this, and while they have some valid points, I disagree. My man Rob over at Bold as Love wrote a great piece for The Huffington Post, where he says,

It's unfortunate that self-importance oozes from "Window Seat". A rampant ego is at play, and as much as I can't stand it in Kanye, I can't stand it in Erykah, either. Both of them would do well to remember that humility is always a good look.

The video isn't deep. It's clever, but any hoodwinking that's going on is partly our responsibility. As African Americans, we are so hungry to see our images reflected on the screen. Broadly speaking, we accept narrative that either has significant holes (Precious) or work that is so "on the nose" (Tyler Perry) that it's not artful. Case in point is the horrendous voice-over at the end of "Window Seat". I can't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if she or someone in her camp said, "After all, we gotta be sure folks get it."

I dunno. I agree that Erykah might come off as a self-absorbed narcissist, but isn't every artist who wants to make a video with themselves in the main role? Fuck, I am because I've been running a blog for seven years. The video isn't deep, which I liked. It has a milky, surreal haze that signifies perhaps the heat of the city, making you feel the uncomfortable heat, that you are right there. I'm not even a big fan of her music - which I somewhat like when I hear a song on the radio or see her live performance, but most contemporary urban / soul music makes me sleepy. But this would make me pay attention - amused, aroused or disturbed - to what she is about and what she has to offer.

I also got an email from someone that I will not reveal what blog he writes for until he posts this letter. Basically, he is trying to get Erykah prosecuted and sent to jail for public nudity and essentially for being a horrible representation of contemporary black womanhood. Here is part of what he writes:

First, let me point out that if Dallas is anything, it is the leader in the nation of young men wearing sagging pants below their buttocks in public. We, as a community, found this behavior reviling and disgusting. So, we began a Pull ‘Em Up campaign that stretched from Dallas to Fort Worth.
 
I have always contended that sagging pants is indecent exposure, and should be punishable as a misdemeanor offense, maybe up to 100 days in jail and 1000 hours of community service (or something thereabout). The display of Ms. Badu, on the other hand, stripping in front of men, women, and children is an even more gross offense. It is pornographic and offensive to the innocent eyes of children. No child should be compelled to watch a person wantonly strip off their clothes and display their private parts. It is a sight that cannot be undone, and neither can anyone restore a child’s innocent mind, once it has been corrupted.
 
Pornography has always been a crime, not only its production, but also its distribution.

Pornography? C'mon. Her actions, as clearly displayed in the video, cannot be misconstrued as though she is riding the pole at the local strip joint. Plus, you think kids have not seen a naked body outside of their parents? Internet. Free Porn. Hello! C'mon, stop being so puritanical. While, yes, if I were a parent and my child happened to see that, I would be a bit pissed but I doubt the child is going to be scarred for life. It's simply not realistic. I would argue that the writer has some issues about women in general and perhaps the fact that she was doing what she was doing of her own free will. She wasn't doing it for a man, or to get sexual attention. She was clearly doing it for herself (and yes, to sell records in a sagging economy).

 I dunno. What d'yall think?

Comments

[KojoC]

FICTION verses NON-FICTION:
My first book, MY SANKOFA was self publishes, when President Clinton made his first trip to Africa, it was picked up by a publisher Kroshka Books, an imprint of Novascience Publishers, who since then went out of business. I choose them because of their promise to supply the mass market, bookstores & etc. However they later decided to abundant that decision. So I again self publishes it. its listed on Amazon & eBay. My second book, WHAT A COMMIE EVER DONE TO BLACK PEOPLE? a Korean war memoir, was very easy finding a publisher, McFarland Publishers & Co. they however only supplies libraries & educational institutions and I only receive a once a year royalties now 12%. As for eBooks, I haven’t decided on using it as of yet, which I could only use with my self-published MY SANKOFA,
I am of the opinion that love stories, fiction and books of fantasy are best sellers since many readers find them a means of escape from the realities of the life we deal with everyday.

[Lainad]

Sorry for the delay on responding on this, Carm and Heather.....

"She let us watch her. and it felt empowering for me as a woman" is a powerful statement. Unlike the feeling you get when you are watching a hip-hop or "urban" themed video, or for that matter, a singer who is performing on a live show where it seems like the woman's clothing is simply part of a role that she has to perform in order to participate in the musical genre, Erykah is being herself,allowing her to see the truths that many women don't want us to see.
I think it takes a certain inner strength to do that, to show the truth when we know that the genral majority of people prefer the illusions of airbrushed, anorexic-thin bodies. I don't have that confidence!

[heather]

i had read a lot of comments on this, but then forgot about it, but then i came across your site and decided to watch the video for myself. my thoughts?

- i've never seen a body like that before. not just because it's a black body with bigger hips, thighs and butts. but because it's an older body, it's a flawed body, it's a MOVING body. i'm so used to seeing photoshopped/perfect lighting motionless, young, skinny, pale bodies that it's basically all i know.

-even though i'm "white" and young and skinny, i felt more connection to her body and it's realness than i ever did with any model in a magazine.

- she let us watch her. and it felt empowering for me as a woman. okay, here's this famous, rich (?), talented, stylish and woman and her body is just as funky as mine. that is so cool!

- people need to let up on the children excuse. children are the first one's to say our bodies are beautiful and they all know the recent joy of running around without clothes on. now if she were doing something masturbatory/sexual i could understand that being NOT OKAY at all. but she clearly wasn't.

okay, that's it for now.

[Carm]

That guy who sent you the email seems very repressed. I feel sorry for him.