So about a zillion years ago I put up a post about M.I.A’s “Paper Planes” which, much to my surprise, is still one of my popular posts to date. So now she’s back- post baby-with more to say. Of course, you could take the easy way out and say “Hey! Born Free” is like a resurgence of the good ‘Ol “kick a Ginger day.”
Uhm, not quite what I think she means. (Of course, strip away all of the overt statements about governments treatment of people based on skin, religion, geography or finances and hey, maybe she really doesn’t like gingers- how the hell should I know?)
My favorite subtle little sting? The fact that the rounding up of people wasn’t done by some faceless nameless guerrilla force. (Anyone else flash briefly to the new immigration bill passed in Arizona?) That would be easy. That would be boring. Those US shoulder patches were small but spoke volumes. It’s a brilliant video- some might think it gratuitously violent- but forget the blood and guts and beatings and look at what it’s actually saying. Think about the message- the story- that she is telling.
And no, it’s not that she hates gingers, you idiot.
M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.
