BY MIKEY MIGO
When does art become controversial? I think it's safe to say when some uptight anus thinks it's vulgar or offensive. For centuries there has been artwork that has been deemed "inappropriate", for close to a century now there has been music that has been deemed "vulgar", and for the past few decades we've had a new form of controversy. That new form is that of a music video. A short story in the form of a visual depiction of an artist's song. Today we're going to explore some of the more controversial videos and see what the big deal about them is.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS CONTAIN NUDITY, DRUG USE, VIOLENCE, AND OTHER CONTRAVERSAL VISUALS. THESE WORKS ARE NOT WORK SAFE AND NOT MEANT TO VIEWED BY CHILDREN.
"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails
There is a freakin' monkey hanging on the cross, there is a naked chick with a animal head spinning around, and there is so much weird shit in this video that most of it was edited for TV air. The editing was so overboard that the director took his name off of it. For many who think that this song is nothing more than "I wanna f*ck you like an animal" song, the video may be a bit too much. But for artistic interests, this video is directed and shot very nicely and ends up making Top 25 lists of all time great videos.
"Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera
After watching this video a few years back one would think she'd be in Brittney's shoes right now. This video had boobies and luchadore masks. Really in retrospect, its not that controversial, but more of a religious experience. The song isn't all that great, but mostly everyone knows it. To me the best part is Redman's cameo verse, but it was later edited out. The sexual content is there, but so is Christina's talented vocal work. Yep, I said vocal work.
"Smack My Bitch Up" by The Prodigy
Drugs, nudity, and hyperactive direction is what you see in this video. It works as a "day in the life" of the character and is directed very nicely. The ending is a shocker to most first time viewers if they get that far.
"Happiness In Slavery" by Nine Inch Nails
I love Nine Inch Nails, but even this video is uncomfortable for me to watch. It's sado-masochistic, nudity, and graphic content of the video just makes for a rough time. It's hard to really pin point the story of this video, but it could be viewed a few different ways. I sorta see it as a suicidal torture to escape whatever is destroying the character.
"Jeremy" by Pearl Jam
In a pre-911 and pre-Columbine world, Pearl Jam tacked the issue of high school violence. Even before all the horrible events took place this video was deemed too controversial to be shown in most markets and unedited. I my opinion is more about being pushed over the edge by a society that shuns you for no valid reason. To top it off, its a damn good song too.
"(s)AINT" by Marilyn Manson
This is one of this videos you won't see on your TV screen unless you get your hands on a DVD. Banned in America for the obvious reasons. This video has Manson snorting coke lines off the Bible, cutting himself, and nude in a bathtub. If you think that's bad watch more than the first 20 seconds of the video.
"Tip Drill" (Uncensored version) by Nelly
I remember seeing this video for the first time. I had some friends over late one night and we were flipping through the channels watching videos. We came to BET's "After Dark" and this video came on. At first I thought I had it on a pay channel because it was so raunchy that even I was embarrassed to watch. In just about every frame of this video is a female "actress" shaking their ass in no more than a headbands worth of clothing. The most brow raising part of this video the credit card swipe. Yikes.
Those are just a few of some of the more offensive videos out there.
Obscene or Art? You decide.
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