mtv is gettin' hectic!

i took a screenshot of the "hot 5 videos" they picked to be on their front page today.



5) wyclef jean "president"
4) john mellencamp "walk tall"
3) sarah mclachlan "world on fire"
2) prince "cinnamon girl"
1) eminem "mosh"

you already know about "mosh." (incidentally, msnbc only caught wind of the "mosh" video three hours ago and still thinks it is an internet only production. news networks can be painfully slow and incredibly far from the pulse of popular culture... it's so pathetic.) so

instead, i'd like to talk about "cinnamon girl" by prince, a video that came out weeks ago, another powerful video that has sometimes become misinterpreted by the mainstream media (and flaming idiots who can't see past the imagery) as being incendiary and justifying suicide bomber attacks.

lyrics from the song:
Cinnamon Girl of mixed heritage
Never knew the meaning of color lines
911 turned that all around
When she got accused of this crime

in the video, as a result of 9/11, an innocent arab-american girl becomes a victim of discrimination, which makes her upset and ashamed. her parents' store is vandalized with the words "terrorist scum." other bad things happen to her. in her frustration, she imagines blowing up an airport terminal but... here's the catch... IT DOESN'T HAPPEN. the airport terminal returns to normal. it's only in her head, and she is visibly distraught at the end. now, did everyone miss the "didn't happen - it was all imagination" part? heh, if anyone ever took a picture of the images in my head on bad days at school, they'd think i was a columbine killer wanna be.

a more detailed explanation from detroit news

seriously, people, just sit back and soak it all in - and then process before you react. it pains me to have to tell this to adults.

and here are some lyrics from john mellencamp's "walk tall," because it's about stupid people:
The simple minded
And the uninformed
Can be easily led astray
And those that cannot connect the dots
Hey look the other wayPeople believe what they want to believe
When it makes no sense at all
So be careful of those killing in Jesus’s name
He don’t believe in killing at all

i love my mtv.