Rant on Katy Perry
Ok, so I'm pretty sure everyone has heard at least one Katy Perry song in their life, especially if they're reading this blog right now. I'm not going to come out and say that Katy Perry is a terrible artist, because in all reality, she really isn't. In fact, she's kind of a brilliant genius, but what she does with her genius is what troubles me.
Take her first big hit, "I Kissed A Girl". In this song, she admits to having a boyfriend and cheating on him ("I kissed a girl and I liked it/ Hope my boyfriend don't mind it"), doing so under the strong influence of alcohol ("I got so brave, drink in hand") and she also pretty much excuses her less-than-chaste behavior by calling it "human nature" and an "experimental game". Now, this is all well and good when you think about it. It's just a song, right? We're all adults, right?
Wrong. Statistics show us that over 50% of the people listening to that song at any given moment are teenagers under the age of 16. Is that really what we want to promote to young impressionable minds? That cheating, drinking and objectifying go hand-in-hand and that it's OK if you're under the influence of alcohol? I don't know about you, but that's not exactly something I would want my children to learn.
And I could stop at that song and say that's the worst of it, but it goes much deeper. Almost every Katy Perry song has some hidden horrible message for children and young adults. For example, "Teenage Dream". It sounds innocent enough, but when you actually delve deeper and listen to the lyrics, it turns into some pornographic nightmare. Now, I could say that she makes having sex when you're a teenager OK (come on, who am I kidding? If 11-year-olds are already having children, there's really no hope for them, even if songs didn't promote it) and that that's what is fundamentally wrong with this song, but that's actually not the part that sets me on edge. The chorus, while incredibly catchy, is filled with things I, yet again, wouldn't want my children subjected to. "You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream/ The way you turn me on/ I can't sleep/ Let's run away and don't ever look back" You make me horny -excuse the crass language- so let's run away together and make like the bunnies? Seriously?
And what about "Drove to Cali/ And got drunk on the beach" -- um, not even in California is it legal for teenagers to get drunk. Trying to tell us something, Katy? Or how about "I'ma get your heart racing/ In my skin-tight jeans/ Be your teenage dream tonight/ Let you put your hands on me/ In my skin-tight jeans/ Be your teenage dream tonight"? Now, I could just be misinterpreting Miss Perry's meaning to the song, and saying that all of those things happened when she was an adult and it FELT like she was a teenager, but still. She still makes it seem like this is what your average teenager dreams of. Getting drunk, falling in love, running away together. Not my kind of dream, for sure.
And now onto my hardcore pet peeve: California Girls. This song not only irks me because I'm from the East Coast and I don't like how she makes EC girls seem lame (which believe me, is so not true in reality), but because she makes it seem like every girl from the West Coast is, to be frank, a beach bimbo and a symbol of sexuality. The video alone makes me want to puke every time I see it. Girls with "perfect" bodies dressed up in candy bikinis and daisy dukes, acting like it's how every girl should be like if they want to be loved? And the song lyrics are just as insulting. "You could travel the world/ But nothing comes close to the Golden Coast/ Once you party with us/ You'll be falling in love" and "California girls/ We're unforgettable/ Daisy Dukes/ Bikinis on top/ Sun-kissed skin so hot/ We'll melt your popsicle"...May I remind you of the 12-year-olds listening to these songs? And then, to add insult to injury, at the end of the song, Snoop Dogg says he wishes every girl could be a California girl, as if that is the only respectable girl in the world. Um, I think not, thanks. I would rather be pale and curvy and live on the East Coast than be a brainwashed beach tramp any day, thanks.
Those three songs are just the tip of the iceberg with Perry, though. If you listen to One of the Boys or If You Can Afford Me, this vulgarity is continued. And what's worse, Katy Perry doesn't just sing about this stuff, she embodies it. She pretends to be as innocent as a little school girl -- which, by the way, only enhances the male libido when he hears that baby voice -- and blatantly ignores any insinuations that her songs are inappropriate. When Sesame Street refused to use the clip she'd filmed with Elmo singing Hot and Cold, she simply could not fathom why parents didn't want their children to watch her scantily-clad self running after their favorite fictional character. Grow up, Katy.
One thing I will say for her is that she has one absolutely fantastic song amongst all her atrocities. "Firework" is amazing and I love both the video and the message. Empowerment, self-love and pride and strength are the core of that song and I'm glad she finally decided to do something worthwhile with her music. Katy is a talented young artist. She has promise and the uncanny ability to score hit after hit after hit, but what she does with her lyrics I simply cannot agree with. If she keeps spouting songs like "Firework", I'll be sure to be a fan, but if I have to listen to another version of "Teenage Dream", I might actually want to kill her.
-- Cassy
Take her first big hit, "I Kissed A Girl". In this song, she admits to having a boyfriend and cheating on him ("I kissed a girl and I liked it/ Hope my boyfriend don't mind it"), doing so under the strong influence of alcohol ("I got so brave, drink in hand") and she also pretty much excuses her less-than-chaste behavior by calling it "human nature" and an "experimental game". Now, this is all well and good when you think about it. It's just a song, right? We're all adults, right?
Wrong. Statistics show us that over 50% of the people listening to that song at any given moment are teenagers under the age of 16. Is that really what we want to promote to young impressionable minds? That cheating, drinking and objectifying go hand-in-hand and that it's OK if you're under the influence of alcohol? I don't know about you, but that's not exactly something I would want my children to learn.
And I could stop at that song and say that's the worst of it, but it goes much deeper. Almost every Katy Perry song has some hidden horrible message for children and young adults. For example, "Teenage Dream". It sounds innocent enough, but when you actually delve deeper and listen to the lyrics, it turns into some pornographic nightmare. Now, I could say that she makes having sex when you're a teenager OK (come on, who am I kidding? If 11-year-olds are already having children, there's really no hope for them, even if songs didn't promote it) and that that's what is fundamentally wrong with this song, but that's actually not the part that sets me on edge. The chorus, while incredibly catchy, is filled with things I, yet again, wouldn't want my children subjected to. "You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream/ The way you turn me on/ I can't sleep/ Let's run away and don't ever look back" You make me horny -excuse the crass language- so let's run away together and make like the bunnies? Seriously?
And what about "Drove to Cali/ And got drunk on the beach" -- um, not even in California is it legal for teenagers to get drunk. Trying to tell us something, Katy? Or how about "I'ma get your heart racing/ In my skin-tight jeans/ Be your teenage dream tonight/ Let you put your hands on me/ In my skin-tight jeans/ Be your teenage dream tonight"? Now, I could just be misinterpreting Miss Perry's meaning to the song, and saying that all of those things happened when she was an adult and it FELT like she was a teenager, but still. She still makes it seem like this is what your average teenager dreams of. Getting drunk, falling in love, running away together. Not my kind of dream, for sure.
And now onto my hardcore pet peeve: California Girls. This song not only irks me because I'm from the East Coast and I don't like how she makes EC girls seem lame (which believe me, is so not true in reality), but because she makes it seem like every girl from the West Coast is, to be frank, a beach bimbo and a symbol of sexuality. The video alone makes me want to puke every time I see it. Girls with "perfect" bodies dressed up in candy bikinis and daisy dukes, acting like it's how every girl should be like if they want to be loved? And the song lyrics are just as insulting. "You could travel the world/ But nothing comes close to the Golden Coast/ Once you party with us/ You'll be falling in love" and "California girls/ We're unforgettable/ Daisy Dukes/ Bikinis on top/ Sun-kissed skin so hot/ We'll melt your popsicle"...May I remind you of the 12-year-olds listening to these songs? And then, to add insult to injury, at the end of the song, Snoop Dogg says he wishes every girl could be a California girl, as if that is the only respectable girl in the world. Um, I think not, thanks. I would rather be pale and curvy and live on the East Coast than be a brainwashed beach tramp any day, thanks.
Those three songs are just the tip of the iceberg with Perry, though. If you listen to One of the Boys or If You Can Afford Me, this vulgarity is continued. And what's worse, Katy Perry doesn't just sing about this stuff, she embodies it. She pretends to be as innocent as a little school girl -- which, by the way, only enhances the male libido when he hears that baby voice -- and blatantly ignores any insinuations that her songs are inappropriate. When Sesame Street refused to use the clip she'd filmed with Elmo singing Hot and Cold, she simply could not fathom why parents didn't want their children to watch her scantily-clad self running after their favorite fictional character. Grow up, Katy.
One thing I will say for her is that she has one absolutely fantastic song amongst all her atrocities. "Firework" is amazing and I love both the video and the message. Empowerment, self-love and pride and strength are the core of that song and I'm glad she finally decided to do something worthwhile with her music. Katy is a talented young artist. She has promise and the uncanny ability to score hit after hit after hit, but what she does with her lyrics I simply cannot agree with. If she keeps spouting songs like "Firework", I'll be sure to be a fan, but if I have to listen to another version of "Teenage Dream", I might actually want to kill her.
-- Cassy
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