In late April, Avril Lavigne released the music video for her new song, “Hello Kitty.” It elicited an outpouring of criticism, including many who called the music video racist. Lavigne simply responded with a tweet:
RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!! I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video…
— Avril Lavigne (@AvrilLavigne) April 24, 2014
Then this week, Fine Brothers Production, released their own video, Kids React to Avril Lavigne’s ‘Hello Kitty.’ And at about the 4:24 mark, one of the adorable kids in the video says:
“They [the Asian backup dancers] were all dressed alike. And they all looked really similar to show how unique Avril Lavigne is and how different she is.”
The girl just spelled out what is racist about the music video: Lavigne uses people of color as background – to distinguish herself – which turns these human beings into props (a concept not unfamiliar to the music industry recently). In this case, when even a child sees that Lavigne is commodifying Japanese culture … it looks like the “debate” is officially settled.
If you’d like to learn more about the history of American pop’s Asian “fetish,” check out this article.
If you want to hear more of the darndest things kids say in response to Lavigne’s video including “yes [it’s racist], there were no black people in this!” check it out here.