Avril Lavigne’s most recent attempt at a comeback is unfortunately what may have killed her career. How bad was it? Let’s explore this candy-coated jaunt through objectified Tokyo to unravel Lavigne’s mess of an attempt to “be Gaga, Ke$ha, Miley…” or something else entirely.
Before we get started, I’m going to make a confession. I kind of liked Avril Lavigne when I was a young teenager. I mean, her music wasn’t ground-breaking – she was just another pop-punk star walking in the wake of what Gwen Stefani did before her, but she was alright. I have a bit of a nostalgic spot in my heart for “Sk8ter Boi” and the whole “misunderstood youth trying to find their identity thing.” Her music really did resonate with a lot of 00′ teens. I was a geeky girl that took dance classes and loved punks shows. I even wore those hideous wrist-cuff things!
The mesh shirt, baggy pants, those jelly cuffs… A lot of us dressed like this! /noshame.
As it goes most pop stars, however, Avril Lavigne faded into obscurity once the stylings were no longer popular and her music didn’t evolve with her audience. Ten years of mostly silence ensued…until THIS hit the internet two days ago. (AUTHOR’S WARNING – If you’re willing to try to survive the video, here’s another illegal upload. Please note that the video may be pulled at any time).
If you watched the above video, you might be thinking to yourself. Huh, is Avril Lavigne trying to channel her inner Gwen Stefani, Ke$ha or Miley? Did she fall in love with Japan, but is sadly off the mark on her execution? Did her producer do a shitload of cocaine while watching K-Pop?
Here’s why I think this whole thing was attempted:
The J-Pop and K-Pop wave.
J-Pop and K-Pop are incredibly popular lately, and some Western artists are making stylistic choices as a kind of omage to these genres of pop. Gangam Style, Bubble Pop and other songs have been getting K-Pop and J-Pop artists a lot more of a following here in North America, and it makes sense! Their beats are catchy and usually contain the insatiably-upbeat pop rhythms you can’t help but get stuck in your head.
It’s important to note here, however, that these explorations in pop music (and this honestly lends too much false credit in terms of musical innovation) are fueled by both corporate research and chosen levels of cultural infusion to give the music local appeal – they’re not objectifying people or symbols in quite the same ways that come across in Avril’s video.
Furthermore, Avril doesn’t have the catchy beat or trademark dancing that “Bubble Pop” has – it barely even has a hook! The first time I watched the video I kept waiting for it to kick into high gear but instead found myself in that awkward place in which the song was just droll and samey throughout.
Edgy Lyrics are “in,” but Lavigne isn’t on the “brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack” end of the spectrum.
Let’s take a look at the lyrics in print for a second – “It’s time for spin the bottle. Not gonna talk about it tomorrow. Keep it just between you and me…” “Come, come, kitty, kitty. You’re so pretty, pretty. Don’t go kitty, kitty. Stay with me.” – This manages to make me more uncomfortable than Miley gyrating about like an idiot because the subtext is awkward and a bit gross upon further analysis. Tone and subtext are important, and there’s a pretty big difference between “edgy” and “unnerving.”
Japanese culture is often fascinating to Westerners.
We have to ask; is our fascination with Japanese culture okay? Certainly it’s great to admire the culture of another people – variations across cultures are what makes the world a wonderfully diverse, awesome place! So how do we know when our admiration and emulation has gone too far? The topic is honestly too gigantic to dive into here, but one things is for sure – when we think people are being objectified, we get rightfully uncomfortable because we’re not sure if those involved are being mistreated or misrepresented in a way that hurts someone.
Gwen Stefani caused quite a bit of controversy with her “Harajuku Girl” backup dancers in 2004. They’re professional dancers being paid for their time, and in interviews they seem pretty cool with what’s going on, but we still don’t know if it’s okay. It’s an artistic expression that we don’t quite understand or have enough context on, so it might just make us uncomfortable (for the record, I think Stefani’s attempt was innocent enough, but there were some uncomfortable moments).
Unfortunately, it’s pretty obvious that the fusion of sexuality and vacant-looking Japanese girls in “Hello Kitty” is enough to make EVERYONE uncomfortable. We don’t understand it, and we’re pretty sure there are people that don’t feel good about it. Are these women okay with the way they’re being portrayed? Certainly they’re being paid for their time, but that doesn’t necessarily make the whole thing right. And, seriously, what the hell is up with the scene of her at the sushi bar? I really hope that’s an actor, because otherwise I immediately feel bad for the poor chef, who for all we know is highly respected in his craft, that had to appear in this piece of crap.
You’ll note that as the song ends we hear the iconic *ding-ding* sound of a Japanese train-gate closing – desperately making me hope that this video has been hit by a train and we’ll never see it again. The production company keeps trying to erase it from Youtube, but the internet has absorbed it into its unfaltering memory banks.
Sorry Avril, but this isn’t going to go away, no matter how hard your producers try to wipe this from pop history. Just try to lay low for a while? Maybe the memes won’t be too bad…
