I’m still slightly in a state of shock after seeing the new video of M.I.A. To cut it short: Born Free depicts some sort of police force hunting down and beating up people with a very bitter twist and lots of extremely (!!!) graphic violence. I can’t remember having seen an artist choosing such a drastic way to express her political views. You could say that being graphic is a bit of an easy way. But what other way is there to make people who live in cocoons of safety (like we do) realise how fucking terrifying and brutal the reality of wars, terrorism and dictatorships is. And I’m pretty sure these terrible things you see in this videos happen all around our world many times as bad as this.
It was interesting to read a few reactions to the videos. Obviously many people are offended by the violence (Yes, right, better close your eyes and go back to your cocoon). Of course it got instantly banned on video portals like YouTube. But what I found most amusing was one commentor describing Mia’s allegory with the redheads as a “goofy”. Seethe scandalous video and more press images after the jump. The new album will come out in the end of June.
photos by Jaime Martinez via
To be honest you kind of forget about the song with a video like that. But what I hear the song is nothing like the album.
