The top of the pop charts has become a low, low, place indeed. Just
last summer, the singer Cee-Lo took popular culture one rung lower into
the sewer with the release of his song titled "F-- You." After a few
weeks, it was mainstreamed into "Forget You," but why bother? While
both versions sold well, the vulgar one clearly had its intended effect.
The pop star Pink now has her own version with her new single
titled "F--in' Perfect." How creative. That's reaching for the stars.
Once again, there are two versions, with the words "less than"
replacing the profanity. Again, why bother pretending to be concerned
about standards? The original song contains seven F-bombs. She asks
"don't you ever ever feel / Like you're less than f--in' perfect," and
then insists "you're f--in' perfect to me!"
It's topped the charts at iTunes - deliberately putting profanity
smack dab into children's iPods from coast to coast. (You can thank
LaFace Records and its Japanese parent company Sony Music, the
second-largest global provider of recorded music.) Like Cee-Lo's "F--
You," the F-bomb is utterly unnecessary. It's only there for naughty
"buzz."
The video for "Perfect" is disturbing as well, with the depressed
female protagonist sinking to a low where she descends into a bathtub
and carves the word "perfect" into her forearm. In the blood-spattered
tub, she appears to be waiting to bleed to death...but then she
apparently resolves to live and regains self-confidence after staring
across the room at her childhood teddy bear. The story ends happily. As
in the beginning of the video, she's in bed with a man, who it's
implied she just met.
Then she takes her teddy bear to her daughter (with some other man,
obviously). The viewer is supposed to be happy for Mommy - but it's
hard not to wonder whether the little girl in this story would ever
have a stable home.
Pink is clearly succeeding on the radio and in the marketplace with
her image as a rough girl with a dirty mouth. She's also still on the
pop charts with the song "Raise Your Glass." The shock-jock passage of
this video depicts a string of lovers in her bed. It starts with a
Jewish rabbi. Then, taking their turns next to the star in bed appear
to be a Catholic cardinal, an Orthodox priest, and lastly, a nun, as
Pink raises her eyes to God in the heavens with a prayer of "Thank you."
The video also features Pink fiercely stabbing a bullfighter with
two swords, who then falls to his knees. This is apparently an Animal
Rights Thing, since Pink has been an activist with the radical group
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A few seconds later, Pink
is feeding a calf with a bottle, but the bottle is attached to a hose
that appears to come from milking the (covered) breasts of four seated
and blindfolded human females. Despite looking calm (or perhaps
drugged), the women appear to be hostages, since Pink and her male
cohorts are wearing masks. The words "dairy farm" are spray painted on
the wall behind.
In between the two animal-rights scenes, Pink also throws in a
full-on gay male kiss. That's also a Political Message for the masses.
In a 2008 interview, she complained about defenders of traditional
marriage: "Why are we concentrating on taking away love from people?
Who are we to say we need less love in the world? It's so beyond what
we should be focusing on right now."
Now it's about to get ridiculous. MTV reports that Cee-Lo will
perform an "unforgettable" version of his "F-- You" song at the Grammy
Awards with...are you ready?...The Muppets. Brian Henson, the son of
Muppets founder Jim Henson, has signed on to provide this star's "weird
and cool" band.
The world of pop music today is selling a far different message
than what most parents realize. Traditional values, even the most
simple expressions and symbols of common decency - the Muppets! - are
deliberately being torn to shreds. When you can't even count on the
Muppets to behave in front of children, the world has become sick
enough to make your head spin.
