Saturday, October 23, 2010
Die Antwoord - Evil Boy
Die Antwoord are a South African electro-hip hop group. They've been blowing up on the internet for a few months now; I saw them live in September and they put on an amazing show. Without knowing more about South African music, I couldn't say what their influences are, exactly; but they seem to combine hip hop, rave and an artistic sensibility. I'm fascinated by the white working class Afrikaans identity - apparently adopted quite consciously by Watkin Jones, the lead singer, who has a career as a performance artist.
Their latest release, Evil Boy, features Wanga, an 18 year old member of the Xhosa tribe. The video is incredible: ornate, grotesque and hyper-sexual. For your NSFW viewing pleasure:
Spoiler: you will have noticed the homophobic comments. According to Boing Boing, the story is that Wanga's coming-of-age ritual includes getting circumcised. Since he refuses to be circumcised, his mates have called him gay and effeminate. By saying, I'm not a gay, this dick is for the ladies, he's rejecting the charge that that makes him less of a man. This is not a comment directed at gays.
I have no doubt Wanga is sincere in just wanting to defend himself and doesn't intend an anti-gay slur. I wonder, however, about the merits of translating "I'm not a gay" without any backstory. Most viewers won't know this is about him, it just looks like macho posturing, and given the recent spate of gay suicides in the U.S., more homophobia is even more unnecessary.
It could also be a big in-joke, because there are an awful lot of penises in a video proclaiming heterosexuality. Some men can be remarkably good at missing homoerotic subtext, but it's just a text here, I mean Ninja sings into a penis at one point.
I don't blame an 18 year old for not considering how his comments might be received on a different continent, nor in thinking that gay = less manly; but I wonder at the artistic director. It's great Die Antwoord are pro-queer and pro-sex; at the concert I was at, it was clear they had a large queer following (one man got on stage and kissed Ninja on the cheek; on the way out the door afterwards, I overheard a girl telling her friends, "I can't believe I slapped Yolandi Visser on the ass!") Artists aren't responsible for how their work is received, but when something is so obviously open to misinterpretation, they could try a little harder.
Still not acceptable? - The It Crowd
Their latest release, Evil Boy, features Wanga, an 18 year old member of the Xhosa tribe. The video is incredible: ornate, grotesque and hyper-sexual. For your NSFW viewing pleasure:
EVIL BOY (official) from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.
Spoiler: you will have noticed the homophobic comments. According to Boing Boing, the story is that Wanga's coming-of-age ritual includes getting circumcised. Since he refuses to be circumcised, his mates have called him gay and effeminate. By saying, I'm not a gay, this dick is for the ladies, he's rejecting the charge that that makes him less of a man. This is not a comment directed at gays.
I have no doubt Wanga is sincere in just wanting to defend himself and doesn't intend an anti-gay slur. I wonder, however, about the merits of translating "I'm not a gay" without any backstory. Most viewers won't know this is about him, it just looks like macho posturing, and given the recent spate of gay suicides in the U.S., more homophobia is even more unnecessary.
It could also be a big in-joke, because there are an awful lot of penises in a video proclaiming heterosexuality. Some men can be remarkably good at missing homoerotic subtext, but it's just a text here, I mean Ninja sings into a penis at one point.
I don't blame an 18 year old for not considering how his comments might be received on a different continent, nor in thinking that gay = less manly; but I wonder at the artistic director. It's great Die Antwoord are pro-queer and pro-sex; at the concert I was at, it was clear they had a large queer following (one man got on stage and kissed Ninja on the cheek; on the way out the door afterwards, I overheard a girl telling her friends, "I can't believe I slapped Yolandi Visser on the ass!") Artists aren't responsible for how their work is received, but when something is so obviously open to misinterpretation, they could try a little harder.
Still not acceptable? - The It Crowd
Labels: Die Antwoord, homophobia, sexuality
