The director and, quite possibly, the art director for the music video of Sexy Bitch by David Guetta feat. Akon made a mistake by using a Buddha statue as a prop. It couldn't possibly have been unintentional on their part. Even if the statue was already there near that swimming pool, there is no way they could've missed it. However, having said that, I find the suggestion that it was done intentionally as a mark of disrespect for Buddhism a little hard to swallow. Maybe it was; I do not know. What I do know is that the Western psyche is such that, in the eyes of the average white boy/girl, anything Asian/Indian/Chinese/Japanese is of an 'exotic' nature and they have somehow got to have a replica of that in their living room (or near their swimming pool, in this case).
However, even if it was not intentional, they should've known better, considering the American pop music industry is no longer exclusive to American audiences. These music videos receive worldwide airplay every single day on MTV, VH1, etc., etc. It would've/should've occured to SOMEONE on the production team, from the record label, or at least one of the distributors that it was wrong, unethical and bound to cause a stir in some distant corner of the world. But as we all know, most Americans are only vaguely aware of a world outside their borders.
Anyway, the video was made, the song became an international hit almost overnight and the rest, as they say, is history. There's no point regurgitating the things that happened and the things that were said following the announcement of Akon's proposed performance in Sri Lanka. I don't know if Akon himself had anything to do with the production of the video. He probably didn't. Especially since he was a featured artist, I'm guessing he didn't have a lot of creative control, if at all. So, I don't know how fair it was to pin the blame on him and him alone.
But then, shit happens, right?
While it is my personal belief that the government made the right choice in the end, it goes without saying that on an international level the government's decision to refuse to allow the Senegalese-American singer a Visa to enter Sri Lanka has done nothing to improve the country's image. Also, we missed a golden opportunity to promote tourism and make some decent foreign revenue by "importing" fans from neighbouring countries for the concert. However, it is safe to say that the government, taking all things into consideration, managed to prevent a sequel to the 2004 Sharukh Khan drama from being played out, which can only be a good thing if you really think about it. Human lives are far more important than money. God knows, enough blood has been shed on this land already.
So, chill out and go see Gay Sean... and do some butt-wiggling... if you're into that sorta thing.
9 months ago
