Rihanna

Rihanna, like so many stars do these days, has taken to Twitter to defend herself against criticism from the Parent’s Television Council, which described her video for the single “Man Down“ as “an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song.”

The video premiered May 31 on BET’s long-running show 106 & Park and “shows Rihanna in an implied rape scene with a man whom she later guns down in an act of premeditated murder,” the PTC along with Industry Ears and the Enough Is Enough Campaign say. I wouldn’t exactly use the words “premeditated murder” since the action of the video takes place over the course of less than two days, but the crux of it is, yes, that Rihanna shoots her rapist, as Jezebel put it.

The lyrics of the song are entirely remorseful (I didn’t mean to end his life/I know it wasn’t right/I can’t even sleep at night/Can’t get it off my mind), so I wouldn’t describe “Man Down” as a “shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song,” either. I certainly don’t consider Rihanna a role-model for young girls, and I don’t think she tries to reach girls aged 12 and under with her music, unlike Katy Perry. Rihanna’s music is for adults: her melodies are sensual, her drum beats are hard and her lyrics are sexually explicit. (That said, given that her tracks are played on Top 40 radio, that doesn’t mean young kids aren’t listening.) My problem with Rihanna as an influence on teen girls is not that she uses adult themes in her work, but that – based on her song lyrics, anyway – she’s confused about where she stands on the issue of sexual and domestic violence. That may be because – according to rumor – she’s still in love with her abuser Chris Brown. Continue reading »

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Some pundits are saying that the horrific Foot Hood shooting yesterday was a “terrorist act.” Some describe the shooter, Major Malik Nadal Hasan, as a “Muslim extremist” because of comments he made online. Hasan reportedly is suffering from PTSD, and is an Army psychiatrist who himself was trained to treat PTSD. Here’s a video of Hasan taken a few hours before the terrible shooting. Continue reading »

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Chris Brown has posted a video on YouTube of himself apologizing for beating up Rihanna so badly she had to be hospitalized. Not that he has to work too hard to regain the admiration of the thousands of teenage girls who rallied behind him immediately after his brutal attack on his girlfriend…. Continue reading »

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Chris Brown, the singer who beat up his girlfriend Rihanna, has released a video where he says that he’s sorry. Continue reading »

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We may never know exactly what happened between Chris Brown and Rihanna. Brown pled guilty to felony assault and received probation. Part of the deal involves keeping the details of whatever transpired between the former couple a secret. Somebody hit somebody that night, and one of the two people is a guy. I’m not saying I know what happened, but, well. You know what I mean. Anyway, I guess it’s over for now. Also part of the deal is that Brown is not allowed to have any contact with Rihanna (no email, no texting) and must stay 50 feet away from her.

Speaking of over, Jon and Kate Gosselin’s marriage is kaputsky. Put a fork in it. It’s over, Johnny. (Video clip below, in case you don’t get that reference.) Continue reading »

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