Ariana vocal-produced this little number ... (Image via #RentSingAlong)
Frankie Grande and his sister Ariana Grande (ever heard of her?) ganged up for a duet on “Seasons of Love” from Rent as part of the Rent Sing-A-Long initiative to celebrate FOX's upcoming live version of Rent ...
This is not blackface. It's a fake tan. (Image via Republic)
With the publication of Eli Erlick's take-down of Ariana Grande's “thank u, next” video on INTO — which, again, ironically, is hopelessly problematic Grindr's egghead vertical — that site is now officially a self-parody, and one that is probably a negative influence that masquerades as an empowering one.
First, I am open to criticisms my own site (God, blog is so dated; it feels like having a public access show) has received over time, even annoying ones, so INTO has to be the same way, as does Eli, who has removed her name from the piece because of death threats. I empathize with her that there are people who can become obsessive and annoying, but she really has no business putting a piece like that out there and then running from it. Death threats from Ariana Grande fans are unlikely to be legitimate. Anyone who crosses the line, she will have to learn — as I have — to block, and then consider filing restraining orders/calling the cops; the law is extremely, fundamentally weak in this area, but it's doable, as my stalker and his partner will soon learn.
There is a difference between heated criticism and personal abuse and stalking.
Second, I do believe that it is more than okay to examine which messages seemingly fluffy, simple, off-the-cuff and poppy works of art/slices of consumerism may be sending — it's not utter insanity to think twice about a 75-year-old song and how its lyrics sit in current ears, it's not wrong to be offended by offensive things and it's not the height of stupidity to watch a new Ariana Grande video and say something if you see something
To clarify this point: If you spend more time being offended that others dare to be offended than you do speaking out against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, you're a part of the problem. PC is not worse than those things.
However, in the case of Eli Erlick's pompous piece calling the new Ariana Grande music video transphobic, homophobic and filled with blackface images, I think she's so goddamned far afield it can only serve to push people away from thoughtful social critique altogether. In the (pretty dumb) new movie Bodied, PC culture is savaged in a juvenile, oversimplified way in order to prop up the film and its secret hero, but as over-the-top as that film's representation of delusional, mostly white academics is, Erlick manages to match it with passages like this:
ABOVE: Protein bar.
BELOW: Keep reading for George H.W. Bush, Nick Jonas, Cameron Dallas and more ...
(Image via video still)
Aretha Franklin was honored at a widely viewed service Friday, and one moment seems sure to live on, much like Aretha's hat at Obama's inauguration — the moment when a church elder admitted to Ariana Grande he thought, when he saw her name in the program, it was “a new somethin' at Taco Bell.&rdquo
He went on to praise her graciously ...
Above: Abs-olutely flattering lighting.
Below: Keep reading for Steve Grand, Donald Trump & Theresa May, Robert Mueller, Ariana Grande & more ...
Above: Maybe, but he looks worth the effort.
