Battling Images: Kanye vs. Taylor vs. Beyoncé vs. Viacom
During Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga appeared in what looks to be a snowman suit, a queen of hearts oufit that entailed covering her entire visage in red lace, and participated in a performance that ended with her splattered with fake blood and earning her the nickname “Bloody Eye”. See here for a nice overview. Yet she has been completely overshadowed by an interaction between Kanye West and pop princess Taylor Swift.
As Alisa Perren pointed out this morning, the incident has likewise sparked a showdown between fans and Viacom, which, as owners of MTV and notoriously protective of copyright, including YouTube clips, is hunting down clips of the incident as soon as they pop up. Try this direct link to the video on the MTV website. You’ll just have to sit through a very short commercial, so don’t be dissuaded.
The facts, more or less:
*Taylor Swift won the VMA Award for Best Female Video for “You Belong With Me,” beating out Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, and Beyonce When Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob on Twilight AND her future co-star in ****) announced her name, the close-up on her face expressed rather geniune-looking surprise.
*When Taylor came to the stage, she thanked her fans and MTV, declaring “I sing country music, so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA.” (This is a key point, I think, and has been super overlooked by those commenting on the incident)
*Kanye West then jumped onto the stage, took the microphone from Swift, and announced “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” (Referring, of course, to Beyonce’s now iconic video for ‘Single Ladies’)
*The cutaway shots to Beyonce show her seemingly aghast, surprised, embarrassed — it’s difficult to tell.
*The audience responded with a standing ovation for Swift, but the director of the VMAs chose to cut to voiceover and track back to wide screen, rather than allowing Swift to respond or recover. According to an account of someone serving as a seat holder, she stood there for about 30 seconds, fighting back tears. The television audience only saw the shift transition away from the incident.
*Swift went on to perform, singing live, a few segments later.
*When Beyonce won for “Video of the Year” at the end of the show, she welcomed Taylor Swift back on stage to finish her acceptance speech. In a moment of apparent solidarity, the two shared the stage — and, at this point, Swift had changed into a red dress that coincidentally matched Beyonce’s. The return has been variously labeled “triumphant” and “self-satisfied.” As you see below, there’s quite an interesting dynamic going on in the way that Beyonce ‘cedes’ the spotlight. Again, the direct link.
*Kanye was confronted by MTV officials and asked to leave; he was also apparently yelled at by Swift’s mother (and manager).
*According to several reports, West was drunk at the time he jumped up onto the stage.
*Kanye has since ‘apologized’ on his blog. First, in a post from last night, he wrote, in all caps:
I’m sooooo sorry to Taylor Swift and her fans and her mom,” he wrote. “I spoke to her mother right after and she said the same thing my mother would’ve said. She is very talented! I like the lyrics about being a cheerleader and she’s in the bleachers! I’m in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment!
“Beyoncé’s video was the best of this decade!!!! I’m sorry to my fans if I let you guys down!!!! I’m sorry to my friends at MTV. I will apologize to Taylor 2mrw. Welcome to the real world!!!! Everybody wanna booooo me but I’m a fan of real pop culture!!! No disrespect but we watchin’ the show at the crib right now cause … well you know!!!! I’m still happy for Taylor!!!! Boooyaaawwww!!!! You are very very talented!!! I gave my awards to Outkast when they deserved it over me … That’s what it is!!!!!!! I’m not crazy y’all, i’m just real. Sorry for that!!! I really feel bad for Taylor and I’m sincerely sorry!!! Much respect!!!!!”
*This morning, he posted: ““I feel like Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents when he messed up everything and Robert DeNiro asked him to leave…That was Taylor’s moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry.”
So there we have it: Kanye West steals Taylor’s moment, makes a big scene, causes a big stir, and apologizes. Rather insincerely. But there’s some major image reification going on here: on the part of Kanye, most assuredly, but also as concerns the images of Swift, Beyonce, and MTV and its trademark awards show in general. I’ve asked the one and only Kristen Warner, frequent contributor to the blog, to help me find a way through this discursive and semiotic jungle. (In other words: people are interpreting this event in myriad ways — figuring it in terms of race, taste, contrivance and manipulation….and hopefully we can make some headway as to the various messages the event sent and will continue to send.)
My initial thoughts are as follows:
*MTV loves to exploit the VMAs. Ever since Madonna showed up in full 18th century garb to perform “Like a Virgin” (is that right? KW in: I think Virgin was the wedding dress roll around deal; Vogue might have been the 18th century garb), they’ve been a site primed for transgression. They even have a section in their web coverage of the event marked “Most Talked About Moments.” Think the Madonna/Britney/Christina three-way kiss; think Britney’s infamous and lethargic ‘comeback’ performance.
They’re desperately trying to keep the MTV brand - and these awards — relevant. And, apparently, succeeding. See Bruno/Sasha Baron Cohen’s incident with Eminem at last spring’s MTV Movie Awards for a less successful (and visibly orchestrated) attempt. The fact that Taylor Lautner, her future co-star, presented the award = no coincidence. And while I doubt MTV knew Kanye was going to do what he did, I do think they knew Swift was going to win (duh)…and have since profitted immensely, both discursively and through ad rates on the web site, from the firestorm that has emerged. They’re selling access to the entire show through OnDemand; as you’ve seen, the clips of the show are wed to commercials. Viacom is trying to find a model to profit off of the show in the DVR era. This seems to be working.
*This is what Kanye does. Reify his image. If we define a celebrity scandal as an incident when information about a celeb emerges that clashes or undercuts their existing star image, this is NO SCANDAL. Kanye has had temper tantrums — and I don’t know how else to describe them — before. The following encapsulates the kind of quotes Kanye offers on a regular basis: “I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice…It’s me settling into that position of just really accepting that it’s one thing to say you want to do it and it’s another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan.” As someone pointed out, if anything, the fact that Kanye got up on stage — even when the ‘Video of the Year’ had yet to have been handed out, which Beyonce was obviously going to receive — points to either his stupidity or his supposed drunkenness. But it’s still not a scandal.
*This also does nothing but affirm Swift’s image as a precocious yet put-together star. I’ve been thinking about doing a post on Swift for awhile — and still might — as to the authenticity commonly affixed to her star. She writes all her own music, plays her own instruments, and puts all her friends and past loves in her songs. She’s not even 20 years old and already the saving grace of the music industry. She’s blonde, she’s adorable, she’s the anti-Miley Cyrus. One commentator calls her “a young Southern girl who is the first non-tramp role model America’s teenage girls have had in a decade.” And now that means Kanye has made her a victim - and she emerged triumphant. If anything, it’s only bolstered her fan base and consolidated pre-existing affection.
*I also want to note, in passing, that there are several theories that this was an elaborate conglomerate backstage deal: Viacom lets Kanye do his thing (the drinking was staged; that’s the reason why there was no security to take him off the stage, etc. etc.) and NBC/Universal gets to profit off his appearance on the premiere of Leno’s ‘new’ show on Monday. See Gawker’s recap for details. I’m quite dubious. As one of the columnists points out, “Yes, MTV likes controversy, but their fake controversies in the past—eg. Bruno falling on Eminem—ham-handedly telegraph “this is a stunt” a mile off. Last night, you saw a moment of genuine awkwardness production-wise after Kanye took the mic when the booth seemed to stumble and be unsure about cutting away—not the hallmark of a pre-planned, pre-choreographed stunt.” Indeed, I think the reason some people are wont to think of this as choreographed is because of MTV’s admitted orchestration of the Bruno/Eminem stunt. If you just watch these two side-by-side, you realize they’re operating on entirely different levels. Second, apparently President Obama called Kanye a ‘jackass’ in off-the-cuff, off-the-record remarks. I’m not even going to go there.
KW: I love disclaimers. So I will list the key one here: I do not think what Kanye did was acceptable. I think as Katy Perry said, his behavior essentially, “stepped on a kitten.” That said, there’s a couple things I want to elucidate on with regards to the phrase “stepped on a kitten.” The visual imagery that phrase suggests is powerful and visceral and somehow makes what Kanye did seem all the more traumatic and painful. He stomped on pure, white, fluffy, feline innocence and because of that we all need to rally around that innocence and encourage her. But what does that make Kanye? A big bully? An ogre? Someone who would tred on innocence? I don’t disagree that his alleged drunkenness certainly made him act out in highly inappropriate ways but is the way that we are discussing his behavior cause him to fall into one of those tropes? You know those tropes, those easily definable types that help us narrativize and make sense of these kinds of events. I can’t help but think that to a small degree we are working with some tropes about violent, oversexualized black masculinity in contrast with white innocence. I mean, for Christ sakes the girl is a country singer! You cannot get more down home white girl than that (also a trope). (AHP Comment: Just look at that picture. She’s wearing a white dress for goodness’ sakes.)
Also it is worth reiterating that Sunday night is not the first time Kanye has gone off book and expounded (most times not too terribly well) on the persons, places or things he believes have been wronged or unjustly inconsidered. Specifically, I’m thinking of the Concert for Hurricane Katrina Relief in September of 2005 when Kanye made his infamous statement (while standing next to poor, innocent Mike Myers) that “George Bush hates black people.” Watch that here:
An interesting point of comparison comes when you examine the similarity in Mike Myers reaction and Taylor’s reaction. Mortification, shock, dismay is quite evident for both “victims” of Kanye’s attack. But of course the latter event is layered with issues of gender and race that make it far more painful for Taylor and for the viewer. For Kanye, however, the distinction between Taylor and George is slim; the point is that in BOTH cases he was telling the truth as he saw it-live television be damned. Now I think that discussing the way Kanye’s latest outburst affected Taylor is important but the trauma will surely be shortlived. The message there will be that Kanye is a buffoon and a prima donna and Taylor is entitled to a long, successful career winning VMA’s and Grammy’s and whatever else she may dream to earn. However, the implications of Kanye’s statement during the Katrina telethon suggest that he is willing to stake his career (and yes, perhaps fulfill his very large ego’s desire to be the center of attention) on being plain about how things are and the fact that maybe, Bush isn’t the biggest fan of black folks-or of New Orleans, or of the greater Gulf Region for that matter. For me, nothing that he will ever do will top that telethon speech-not even commandeering Taylor’s VMA ‘moment”.
Finally, I know that to Annie, intention is hardly a component of celebrity gossip or scandal. It matters less that this might have been a planned kerfuffle than it does how the star images will be deconstructed and reconfigured through the tv news circuit and social networking communities (I hear he cried on Jay Leno!?!). Trust, I think both Annie and I agree that both parties will be fine. Kanye was fine post-Katrina telethon; Taylor will be more than fine after this encounter. However, I do want to consider the possibilities of this being a staged pseudo-event because everything seems so perfectly synchronized and everyone seemed so perfectly positioned throughout the course of the ceremony to be a simple coincidence. Similar to the above mentioned incident with Bruno and Eminem that was eventually proven to be staged, it is highly likely that something of equal twisted pathology could have been staged for these folks as well. Hell, even Beyonce got to play a key role in the restoration of the status quo. Look at this magnificent narrative at work: Kanye steps on the kitten, gets cursed out and banished from the building and we wait for the entire second half for the redemption which comes by way of the black Queen herself, Beyonce. Wearing the same red as Taylor, she ushered the teenager (who I might add was PREPARED to return to the stage complete with utter lack of shock or surprise face that would have been required for such a surprise) back onto the stage to “have her moment.” Everyone wins. Well, kinda. We get to talk about female solidarity (I’m not quite convinced that a pseudo event actually counts as genuine solidarity) but we also have to talk about racist tropes of black masculinity that so subtly creep back into public consciousness by way of simple but accurately poignant phrases like “stepped on a kitten.”
My final thought is: Why isn’t anyone really talking about the differences between Madonna reclaiming Michael Jackson as a pop star that more closely aligned with her own identity and not a BLACK pop star who lived in-between cultures for the great majority of his life? And why isn’t anyone talking about the greatest faux pas of the night: Rapper Lil’ Mama’s involuntary (she says she couldn’t help herself) stage jumping during Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ performance of “New York State of Mind”? I’ve got some theories…and they all involve the lack of kittens.
10 Responses to “Battling Images: Kanye vs. Taylor vs. Beyoncé vs. Viacom”
All really great thoughts Annie and Kristen and I’m glad to see the attempts to weed out the multiple readings many have been making on the event. What I think is also telling is that on blogs and message boards, I read many responses that wished Pink would have won the award because “Kayne would have never even tried that” or that Pink would have prevented his outburst, especially after her “quote me” tweet. This reveals how many viewers read Kayne’s persona as much as Pink’s, the latter arguably considered a more combative and/or stronger white woman than Taylor “kitten” Swift. I remember reading a message board response implying Pink could show Taylor a thing or two about how to deal with guys like Kayne, a loaded statement tying together all their artist personas in opposition to one another.
How viewers of the VMAs are positioning the artists involved in the incident keeps reminding me of attempts to narrativize the event into fairytale: Kayne is the big bad, Taylor as a damsel in distress, and Beyonce as the fairy godmother who saves the day. Even fellow music artists who tweeted responses fell into this mode of categorization so quickly, which definitely highlights how these tropes are already ingrained in society, just waiting for applicability however simplified.
Racquel, can you link us to Pink’s tweet?
I was taken aback by Pink’s performance — much more astonishing and, well, a ‘performance’ than Swift’s or Beyonce’s. But as far as the contrasting images, I’d also note how masculinized Pink is: her hair, her build, even her voice, as compared to the ‘princess’ rhetoric surrounding Swift. Who would Pink be in the fairytale? The revisionist princess who punches the ‘big bad’ in the face?
Here is a link to Pink’s twitter page and the quote I refer to (“Kanye west is the biggest piece of s*** on earth. Quote me,”-minus the stars of course) is about nine down.
As for who Pink would be in the scenario? I do like the idea of the revisionist princess or even self-appointed “protector” because besides Beyonce’s baffled expression during the incident, Pink’s expression (I’d say a mix of “WTH?” and embarrassment for Swift) during a cut away is equally interesting and raises all sorts of questions about production and choice cut-aways. Why Pink, who very much positions herself as a badass, in your face performer, rather than Katy Perry (who was also nominated)?
It’s all so complicated by all these images and personas interacting, yet great to try to peel apart and deal within the structure of the event itself.
Here’s the link that I forgot to put above: http://twitter.com/Pink
Annie, I also found something one of my co-workers emailed me today pretty interesting (if you want to go the Lainey route and compare Kanye’s outburst to Chris Brown’s abuse of Rhianna). Here’s what she sent me:
“Rihanna gets the crap beaten out of her and very few celebs stand up and make a statement with any teeth. Taylor Swift gets bum rushed on stage and celebs are coming out of the woodwork to verbally bash Kanye. Seems like the priorities are a bit wonky there.”
Thoughts? I also find it a little weird and I think there’s some subtext there that I can’t quite articulate, but that’s nagging at me.
I did not watch the VMAs since I’m 32-years-old (kidding) BUT I saw the buzz all over Twitter and FB and watched the clip. I too immediately thought of West’s now infamous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” line. These events are definitely similar-West’s statements were made on live TV, disrupted the program and were clearly directed at a white power structure. But they are also so very different.
The VMA outburst was just silly and stupid.
By contrast, the Bush statement-which never ceases to make me laugh, no matter how many times I watch it-while probably also an act of self promotion, was also extremely subversive. West truly did say something that so many others were not saying explicitly-not that George Bush the person doesn’t care about black people (I’m sure he doesn’t care about all people equally)-but that the Katrina aftermath was very much about the racial inequalities that still exist in the U.S. In fact, I don’t think the issue of race was very prominent in mainstream discussions of Katrina until after this statement (but I could be completely wrong about this). What a wonderful moment in live television. Mike Myers reaction was priceless. For that single line alone, West will always hold a special place in my heart.
Thanks for this great post, all.
This is what frustrates me about Kanye: he, like most rappers, is self-centered and discusses his greatness quite frequently in, and outside of, his songs- but he is the rare talent who can back it up. He’s been nominated for more awards than I can count, and his albums have, mostly, received near perfect reviews (especially his first three). In rap music, at least, there are few other artists who have maintained such consistency. We see people like this in all forms of life, they are the people we hate on so readily, but continually amaze us with unmatched brilliance and domination in their specific field, such as: Kobe Bryant, Terrell Owens, Adolf Hitler (yes, I did just connect Kobe Bryant to Hitler in less than 6 degrees), John McEnroe, etc. These are the people who frustrate us because they spend all day building themselves up, but can actually back it up.
Kanye’s statements always frustrate me because I know he always speaks the truth, but I wish he would find a more constructive outlet for his statements (e.g. in a song, at a press conference, or on his blog). We all know Beyonce’s video was better, even Taylor Swift knew it (just look at her face when they announce her name as the winner), so most of us were already thinking what Kanye got up there and said. However, 99% of us would never have expressed our feelings in that way.
Was Kanye wrong? In his actions, yes, in his thinking, no. The bottom line is, people blew this thing waaaaay out of proportion. Both Kanye and Taylor will not be hurt by this one bit. They will both benefit, and, as this post has said, continue to win whatever awards they want.
This was a greatly written piece, I don’t think anything I’ve read has really grasped the issue as this piece has done. Kudos!
@Racquel: I absolutely agree with you about Pink being considered as a sort of corrective for the whole incident. It would have been an entirely different thing had she won…or Kelly Clarkson who wrote that really long post asking about Kanye’s childhood. That would have been an interesting setup as well. Tropes are easy to slip into-especially when the images are as strong as they were Sunday night. Kanye’s force, Taylor’s dismay, Beyonce’s embarrassment are all easy to register in that moment and thus easier to narrativize into binaries of good and evil or innocent and corrupting.
@Tiffiny: The difference: It’s the kitten!
@princesscowboy: You’re absolutely right: it was stupid and silly. But again, I think for Kanye the difference between his actions at the VMAs and his actions on that telethon is minute (or the difference between sobriety and inebriation to be frank). I agree that his telethon statement is what at least caused folks to begin uttering what some of us alredy thought (I am from New Orleans and was affected by Katrina) and what others hadn’t even considered quite yet. But I think that the conversations emerging from this event are also quite telling at revealing how progressive we really aren’t.
I think it’s important to mention that as an outsider to the whole popular music thing (I mean, I know mostly who everyone is, but still) my only access to these people is through their antics at these awards shows.
In this sense, I suppose that I can say that I only became a genuine fan of Kanye West after his “President Bush doesn’t care about black people” speech (which I still think is one of the most compelling moments of television in the past decade, at least for this generation…). Up until then, I didn’t really know who he was at all.
I guess what I’m trying to say, is that although I don’t actively always know what Kanye is saying (or to whom) I find the sheer force of his ego (its consequences and its works) pretty compelling. It is like he is this raw wound, walking around and saying whatever actually comes to his mind. I find something about this honestly somewhat earnest and compelling, however awkwardly it comes out.
THANK you for this thoughtful, intelligent post about people behaving and responding unintelligently! This is by far the best discussion I’ve read about this incident.
As for celebrities coming down on Kanye West and not Chris Brown, I wonder if this is sort of like Annie’s recent post about Rebecca Gayheart’s sad, sad heroin addiction not getting much media attention. To speak out about it would be to be “getting up in other people’s bizness” and would mean taking time to think about something very heart-wrenching. It’s easier to speak out about what Kanye did because it’s easier to *think* about what he did than what Chris Brown did.
Not that it matters much, but, for the record, I loved Kanye’s comment about W not caring about black people! I really do think it was a big part of starting that important conversation. And he was in a situation where the spotlight was supposed to be on him. So I think that was a much smarter (albeit ballsy) move than his VMA move.
As for Kanye’s ego matching his actual abilities, I appreciate that you appreciate his music. I really love his music, especially his first album, but seeing him perform live last year was a huge disappointment. It was all ego with very little to back it up — the music sounded pretty bad, even at a quality venue, and he covered most of his best songs in special effects. He auto-tuned his voice almost every time he sang, and when he didn’t he was pretty off-key. He spent the entire evening telling us that he’s the biggest star in the world. Michael Jackson never had to say anything like that, and people in 3rd world countries are rockin’ out to him right this minute (a friend in Peru just told me this tonight!). The difference was that MJ spent more time on his music, and I wish Kanye would do the same. I miss The College Dropout!