Heart of Bitterness

Is M.I.A the Anti-Lady GaGa?

Lady GaGa has ridden to fame on the back of songs thematically based on boys, booze, boners and the healing power of dance.

M.I.A's oeuvre, on the other hand, is much darker, with her latest video Born Free proving no exception.

Banned by YouTube, "Born Free" is one of those 'story' videos. In it, USA!-USA!-USA! paramilitary types raid a dilapidated tenement, arrest all the minority members they can find, transport them to a remote location and kill them in classic fascist style.

The big surprise of the video is that, rather than being negroes, homosexuals, or Mexicans, the minorities being ethnically cleansed are redheads (or 'gingers', as they are referred to in the UK).



When I showed the video to one of my friends he roundly ridiculed the video, saying that the idea of 'The Man' one day rounding up all the redheads was totally unrealistic. Man, did he ever miss the point.

Of course it is ridiculous, as well as deeply unsettling. I think the point M.I.A is trying to make is that any minority can be chosen as The Other when a society is looking for scapegoats.

In M.I.A's personal life, her Tamil parents were part of The Other in Sri Lanka, and in the USA today Latin Americans are fast overtaking moslems and gays as The Other.

I must admit, when assembled as a group the redheads had a pretty creepy vibe to them (see screen shot below). I have never seen so many together before. There is even more than in the Scotland football squad!