If you're not familiar with Rebecca Black, you might want to read about her here at KnowYourMeme.com.
I was at work when I first watched this video, and I called my coworker over to show her. We laughed at it. Let's be honest, the video is funny in just how impossible it is. Kids her age are not driving on the highway, and they shouldn't be partying at some block/houseparty type deal either. We both asked "Where are their parents?"
I joked about what I would do if I came up on my kids out in the middle of the night, driving down the highway carelessly, etc (I'd get the belt!). I showed it to my husband, my brother, and watched it a few times for a good chuckle. Gotta love the girls with the braces by the way! I stand in solidarity with my little sisters in orthodontics (mine come off in April! POW!).
Look, the song is not good. Whether or not Rebecca Black can sing is not my concern. I mean, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Ciara, Katy Perry, etc. can't sing to save their lives and they are incredibly affluent. Britney was only two years older than Rebecca Black when she came out with a song ("Hit Me Baby") that made no sense to me (and I was 15 years old too). The problem with "Friday" is the lyrics are too simplistic, her voice is incredibly nasally and she apparently didn't do ho shit in the video.
Katy Perry releases a crappy song about kissing a girl and liking it, and she's a celebrity. Are we seriously just now coming to the realization that music today lacks substance? Who is surprised that a song like "Friday" has been written? I'm not. Had she stripped to a bikini, licked her lips, acted like a Lolita, like Britney did back in the day, they'd probably ride for her.
Of course, it unfolded on Twitter (she's still trending), Tumblr, Facebook and Youtube, which is where I found the two adult men who wish death on this child, and call her a "bitch" repeatedly.
One man, who is known as It'sKingsleyBitch (please note the Britney reference in his name) on YouTube makes fun of Rebecca's appearance, wishes she would die, calls her a bitch so many times I lost count, and is generally mean to a cruel degree. After awhile, my blood boiled and I tuned him out:
(Don't you just love his Britney posters? The irony!!!)
This man is apparently 20 years old, and he's taken time out of his day to rant and rave about a 13 year old girl. He couldn't just rant about the song. He had to rant about her as a human being when he doesn't know her. What I find troublesome is the ease in which he verbally abuses and cyberbullies a child he doesn't know. What's even more troublesome is the people that agree with him far outnumber the people that don't.
At 20 years old, I did not care what some 13 year old kid was doing, and I certainly didn't feel strongly enough to tell the world (and we had internet). I had more important things to do with my life like marriage, my own child, my career, and school. But a grown man going hard on a 13 year old girl? Am I the only one who sees some element of sexism in this? Would the singer still be a bitch had Rebecca Black been a boy?
Not far behind, comes a Youtuber called BigHavener86, who is 24 or 25 years old (Seriously, bro? Seriously?) who, I assume, saw how popular Kingsley's gleefully wicked attack on a kid was growing, and decided to create a video in the same vein. First thing out of this neanderthal's mouth is to call this child a bitch:
I find his attempts at being humorous to be an EPIC fail, but again, his meager little fanbase seem to be alright with him calling this child a bitch.
Whatever you may think about this Rebecca Black, her parents, and the ARK Music company that backed and funded her, none of it should include the word bitch and wishes for her untimely demise. This is someone's child, maybe someone's sister, grandchild, etc. As an adult, I have no desire to take down a little girl whose parents were obviously wealthy enough to invest in her dreams. She does not have a record deal with BMG or Sony to my knowledge. Just with some small outfit that seems hellbent on shoving the next Justin Beiber down our throats. If we should be mad at anyone, we should be mad at the people who weren't honest enough to tell her that the video should NOT have made it to YouTube (or at all).
When I was 13, I thought I was an awesome singer. Damn it, I was an awesome singer (lolz). I would be in the kitchen with my mop, singing into it like a microphone, with dreams that I would one day make it like Monica or Brandy. I sang my HEART out, windows open and all. Maybe the neighbors thought I sucked. Maybe they didn't. But nobody called me a bitch to my face for it. Nobody excoriated me for it. I reckon nobody thought it mattered that damned much because, well, I was a kid. And had they called me all of the things these two vile goons called her, my mother would've probably gutted them (and rightfully so).
Rebecca Black is no different than MOST of us were at 13. She just had the funding to put herself out there, humiliation be damned. If our parents had these resources back then, I'm sure some of us would've tried. This just stinks of sexism and classism. I almost feel like people feel the need to punish this kid for having the money to put herself out there. Yes, the video shows some entitlement. I get it. And that can rub people the wrong way, but this video is harmless.
It'sKingsleyBitch and BigHavener86, if you really want to verbally slice and dice someone, why don't you go after people who deserve it? Why don't you pick on people your own size? Why not go after Qaddafi? Sarah Palin? Obama even? Newt Gingrich? Lindsay Lohan for stealing, etc. And you know what? You don't even have to use the word bitch to get your point across. Isn't that novel? There were a plethora of things you could've gotten her on, but you chose to show your intellectual weakness by using basic insults on a kid. Gold star for you!
I have a daughter. Am I really raising her in a world where a grown man can feel entitled to insult, not guide or assist her, by calling her a bitch because she's done something that he finds somewhat irritating, but not harmful? If that's the case, I'd better put my fingerprints in the police's archives, because I'll cut a motherfucker...
LinkWithin
