The amazing British musician M.I.A. (née Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam) has relased today her new music video for her new single Born Free. In the vein of other videos that have a cinematic, short film feel to them, M.I.A.‘s new video clocks in at about 9 minutes and is full of graphic and — at times — very disturbing imagery:
The video starts out with the violent round-up by the police of a wanted person of a particular group (which is revealed in the actual video) and then goes on to show what these people are being rounded up for. I’m intentionally being vague because I think the video is more powerful when you let it reveal to you what is going on. I have to warn you, the video contains some nudity, much strong language and very violent imagery. It is NSFW (not suitable for work) nor is it really suitable for minors. Very clearly, M.I.A. is making a bold statement with this video — if you are interested in hearing/seeing her message, check out this video in full after the jump …
Those of you familiar with M.I.A.‘s work should know by now that she is always very interested in making bold statements like this. By choosing to feature a persecuted group of red heads (or gingers, as they are called elsewhere in the world) she is clearly making a statement about other oppressed groups of people around the world. I’m not sure how I feel about this music video … on the one hand, it has really affected me with just one viewing and has forced me to think about what she is saying. It reminds me a bit of the Nine Inch Nails music video for Survivalism and has a bit of that Year Zero feel to it over all. On the other hand, the violence featured in the video (whether necessary or not) has deeply disturbed me (especially the scene where the young girl gets shot and killed). What do you think of this video? It’s powerful, yes, but it is necessary, salient, relevant or important? In regards to the song, do you like it? Does a video like this make you want to hear more from her upcoming new album which is due out in June?
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First off…. definitely not a fan of this song. One bit. I do like some of her work but I am not a huge MIA fan to begin with. The video is… confusing. Which I think is part of the point. We are used to seeing this type of thing pointed in a different direction and so it opens your mind and starts to make you think. Not going to lie though, I do enjoy the use of gingers. It almost adds a comedic aspect to a serious note.
@Tina — Because the video is so powerful, I think the song is lost. I had to watch the video again to get a better taste of the track. I like it, don’t love it. I do want to hear more, tho.
HORRIBLE.
Where is the DANCE FUN BEAT????
this is a prodigy/punk horrible track.
Not modern at all and not what the world is asking for right now.
The video relays a strong message but as a music video the song is lost.
Always thought she would do great going in a darker direction. As for a video about rounding up gingers and using them as target practice… errrr. Yes, I do get that they used gingers as a metaphor for bigger problems. But with all the ‘kick a ginger’ crap out there it kind of waters this down. I would have been more impressed with a statement about the very real terror that happens in Arizona every day.
This shocks, no doubt about that. But, is it really necessary?! Is there any message here that hasn’t already been conveyed a thousand times before? Also worrying is the use of ‘Our day will come’, which is the motto of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). As MIA is British making use of such social references when the memories of the troubles in Northern Ireland are so fresh in the minds of so many, seems exploititive, not poignant or relevant.
Mark, I too thought about the IRA…I mean “gingers” are usually irish in decent. I think that she likes causing controversy, which is entertaining, but at the end of the day what is she really trying to say? The ending was really vague. I thought the pacing in between the police round up and the violence was way too slow. They could have knocked off 2 minutes easily.
The girl being shot in the head and the boy stepping on the mine has haunted me all day. Way to realistic for my taste.
Horrible song, horrible video.
the fact that this happens in real life troubles me
That was a young boy that got shot in the head.
i think that this video if it is allowed to be shown, might open up some eyes as to what goes on in the world. i think it may be hard for americans to grasp what she is trying to put out there. yes there is no persecution of redheds, but the analogy can go with a lot of things. if you dont get it, you are blind. however; this video is highly disturbing and sad. because crap like this happens everyday, so yes, its relevant. now you can all go back to your ps2′s and blogging about celebrities, because that’s certainly relevant, right?
The scary thing about this video is that even here in the U.S. we are only a moments notice away from a situation like this coming to fruition.
The government and police are way too powerful, and this video is a strong advocation for the right of citizens to carry concealed weapons.
Um, its brilliant. Its supposed to be brutal, genocide isn’t pretty. Its depicting the genocide of Tamils at the hands of the Sinahalese, which ended last year. Of course, we as Americans, don’t care about these things, because it does not directly affect us.
And, the last bit of the redheads running through the field of mines, thats not just for shock’s sake – it really happened. The Sinahalese would round up Tamil men, tie them one another and make them run through mine fields to clear out mines.
And no, shes not advocating the carrying of concealed weapons.
Also, she’s Tamil btw…which might provide some pretext for the video…so I doubt she’s referring to the IRA, or “big government”..etc.
Its just depressing that this has already all happened (and many times in the past concerning different ethnicites/races/religions/”sexual minorities”) and will continue to happen repeatedly in the future. The “shock” factor of the video, well its supposed to shock you into caring about these atrocities. Hopefully someone here will take away from it and spread awareness. :-)
Powerful. It really makes you think about how utterly ridiculous genocide (and any form of discrimination) is. War is not pretty folks, and racism comes in many shades and colors.
Glad I watched it. Genocide is happening all around us and our government, who once said it wouldn’t allow it after the Holocaust, is letting guys like al-Bashir be once again elected as the president of Sudan, inflicting further pain upon the people.
Whether or not you agree with the violence, if it wasn’t there nobody would be talking about the video nor would they then be thinking about the issues brought up by it. However, with a video like this I can’t even remember the song. I don’t remember it being that great, but since it’s like 9 minutes I’m not really going to sit through it again… whoops!
The video is about how random and irrational organised hatered is. Gingers. Why not. Makes about as much sense as the hatred against jews by nazis and africans, irish by imperialism. They’re different so they were wrong.
The use of the IRAs “Tiocfaidh ár lá” in the English form of “our day will come” while the gingers wear Palestinian type scarfs is all about the grey areas of violence and rebellion which MIA is all about in her songs. Northern Irish Catholics/Nationalists were treated like animals, which was wrong, and the modern day IRA was formed in resonse who went on to commit horrible violence. Which was wrong. Same in South Africa with aparthide and the violence carried out by the ANC.