What Does Genocide Produce? The Semantic Field of Genocide ...
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Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
Can Controversial Popular Culture Create Political Change?
Kelsey M. Briggs
Concordia University Chicago
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
INTRODUCTION:
Mathangi Arulpragasam’s music has been trying to spread awareness about the
political issues occurring in her home country, Sri Lanka (Hutnyk 2012: 555). However,
many would argue that the way she’s doing it is incorrect, while some others would say
she’s succeeding because she is now considered one of the top 100 most influential
people (Esquire 2008: 96). These views are rather contradictory. After all, How can a
person voted in the Top 100 Most Influential People, also be considered most
controversial and have their music blacklisted? This paper will explore the question of
whether controversial popular culture can create political change while using the
international star Mathangi Arulpragasam, also known, as M.I.A. as a case study. A more
in depth view will be provided about the background of political issues in Sri Lanka, the
political influence of pop culture seen there, and how media conglomeration has censored
globalized popular culture to halt these types of political influence.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND:
The singer’s portrayal of genocide was featured in her recently released album,
Born Free. Even though the music video does not portray the actual events occurring in
Sri Lanka, it is directly related. In order to understand how the recent video is correlated
to the harsh treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka, a brief history of ethnic cleansing must be
provided, then a brief summary of the video, and how it’s linked to globalization of
media.
Sri Lanka, is Mathangi’s home country, and she was born there as the ethnicity of
a Tamil (Weems 2014: 115). When she was younger, her elementary school was ‘shot
up,’ and after this horrific event, she was sent to school in Britain. There she grew up,
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Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
and was educated in the British system. She is now a European citizen of British rule, and
trying to obtain dual citizenship to become an American citizen as well.
M.I.A. is not the only Tamil affected by these types of events in Sri Lanka.
Currently, the Tamils, which is an ethnicity, are experiencing racial discrimination that
many journalists argue is equivalent to ethnic cleansing. Some extremists, in the United
States have even used the word genocide in media such as newspapers and magazine
articles (Walton 2015: 959).
The issue of ethnic cleansing or even genocide began in 1949, when Tamils were
denied the right to vote, (Sivanandan 2009: 79). From this time period, until present,
Tamils were heavily discriminated against due to skin color and religion. The majority of
Tamils is Hindu, and can be identified by religious practices, (Roberts 2005: 493).
Employment was extremely difficult for all Tamils, and in order to gain any type of
social advancement, education was essential, (Sivanandan 2009: 79). However, these
were simply considered social issues, like the discrimination that is still seen in America.
It was not until recently, that a powerful social injustice occurred, and because of
this M.I.A. stepped up the influence of Tamils in her music. On…………. The Sri
Lankan government evicted almost 400 Tamils from the nation’s capital (Colombo)
(TCHR 2007: 11). These Tamils were bussed to the outskirts of the city where they were
told to go home to refugee territories, and they were being forced to leave the city. The
Sri Lankan government used both military and police personnel, to carry out the evictions
(TCHR 2007: 11).
Nearly 400 Tamils were forced to leave the city, without any belongings (TCHR
2007: 11). The reason why these Tamils were forced to leave is because they were under
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Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
the accusation that they were assisting “ethnic separatists,” such as the Tamil Tigers plot
bombs in the parameters of the city (TCHR 2007: 11). Despite the accusation, criminal
charges were not filed against the Tamils. Many Tamils and journalists are reported to
have been abducted, and in some instances their bodies turn up (TCHR 2007: 3).
POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF POPULAR CULTURE:
The United States military has been a long-time ally of Sri Lanka and has offered
military training assistance in Colombo. However, the U.S. government does not approve
of the eviction of Tamils from Colombo, and a statement from the U.S. said “The United
States understand and supports Sri Lanka’s obligation to defend itself against terrorism,
but the action can only widen the ethnic divide at a time when important efforts are
underway to reach a national consensus to end Sri Lanka’s nearly quarter-century-old
conflict,” (TCHR 2007: 11).
Despite this statement, of the U.S. disapproval, the U.S. is still providing military
assistance and training to the Sri Lankan government. Due to events and ethnic cleansing
examples occurring in Colombo, singers such as M.I.A. are trying to influence the U.S.
government to stop providing military assistance to Sri Lanka. Her point is that the U.S.
government is supporting a so-called genocide.
In order to get her point across and stop military assistance going to the country of
Sri Lanka, M.I.A. released the music video to go with her recent album Born Free. This
video was extremely explicit, and targeted the Western American audience. With the help
of the French director, Mathangi Arulpragasam, became one of the most controversial
figures in the pop industry, (Itzkoff 2010: 2).
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Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
M.I.A.’s extremely controversial video was directly related to the harsh treatment
of Tamils in Sri Lanka, despite what some may argue. The video depicted U.S. soldiers’
participating/creating mass genocide against redheaded children, men, and women. The
video had portrayed the graphic scenes of genocide, including stripping the women and
killing the children.
Due to such graphic images, Western audiences did not accept the video. Even
though Westerners/Americans were the target audience. Since, the audience of this form
of popular culture, did not accept it, the correlation to explicit events occurring in Sri
Lanka was not created.
M.I.A. wanted the U.S. population to understand that our troops were directly
linked to a ‘genocide’ occurring halfway around the world. The singer did this by using
U.S. troops as the antagonists/murderers of the music video (Itzkoff 2010: 2). This is
because the U.S. troops are currently assisting and providing military training to soldiers
in Sri Lanka. Instead of using actual Tamils in the video, M.I.A. and French director,
Romain Garvas, chose to use redheads, because they are a ‘dying-breed,’ (Itzkoff 2010:
2). It is a long-held rumor that in fifty years all redheads will be extinct. It’s also possible
that if the singer chose to use darker-skinned victims in her video, a Western audience
would not take it as seriously, because the U.S. is typically accused of racial
discrimination against Middle-Easterners (or any other dark-skinned race). Using
redheads as the victim was something that would attract quite a bit of controversial
awareness, because it was something that had never been done before.
It is not typical of American media to portray the U.S. attacking an ethnicity that
belonged to a Caucasian race, such as Irish. Using U.S. soldiers and redheads, was an
4
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
action plan that M.I.A. and her director used to help with the globalization of the video.
This would shock the targeted Western audience, and also help them relate more to the
content. The video was released in Britain, and since it used U.S. Soldiers, the video
would travel much quicker to its target audience, which was Americans. Globalization of
media is a very quick process thanks to the internet; however, in order for music to
extend beyond its home-parameters, it must first be accepted by another country.
This is not the first time that M.I.A. has made a controversial appearance in the
media. The hip-hop star has frequently been criticized and accused of ‘hipster
imperialism,’ (Chang 2007: 50). Primarily male critics have stimulated the majority of
M.I.A.’s backlash, (Chang 2007: 50). The majority of her criticism is from the singer’s
view on violence and politics, particularly with warfare, (Saucier & Silva 2014: 295).
M.I.A. has frequently referred to the violence occurring in Sri Lanka towards Tamils;
however, many journalists state the violence has yet to reach a massive proportion, (Bass
2008: 269). Mathangi Arulpragasam’s influence is from her father and her own
background, which inspired her to create politically, affiliated songs, such as “Paper
Planes”.
Critics believe her political influence is from her father, who has been classified
as a “wanted revolutionary leader,” (George 2009: 44). Her father was once a major
leader of the Tamil Tigers, the political refugee group in Sri Lanka. His revolutionary
views were beginning to make headway, while Mathangi lived in London and continued
studying. When being interviewed about the political affiliation of her father, Mathangi
seems rather incredulous.
5
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
The singer states that she has no current connection with her father, even though
the majority of her music is politically influenced from warfare occurring in Sri Lanka.
She states that her father was making major success in the revolutionary era, and was on
the path to making a final contract with the Sri-Lankan government to end the national
warfare. However, this deal fell through, and Arul Arulpragasam, (her father) was facing
utter defeat. In his discouragement he left the rebel group and ended up in London. He
currently resides there, and writes politically affiliated books about the issues occurring
in Sri Lanka. It’s interesting that both father and daughter are using different forms of
popular culture to spread awareness about social issues and political movements
occurring in their home country.
However, Mathangi would argue that her own revolutionary views were not as
inspired by her father as some believe. M.I.A. states that he own political stance began
while attending a college in London, (Wheaton 2006: 36). Upon arriving in London,
M.I.A. tried to forget the violence that occurred in Sri Lanka. This is common of many
post-war refugees. However, this is especially true of Mathangi. When she was only 7
years old, the singer was shot during a violent school shooting, from a political refugee
group. Even though Mathangi repressed the memory, she began to settle in with a
political community of Sri-Lankans in London. However, she became unsettled by their
viewpoints, and felt it was time to speak up for Tamils, stating "The ’needy’ deserve a
voice of their own,” (George 2009: 44).
In order to create that voice, she decided to produce politically influential music
and began to spread awareness about the social and political issues of Sri Lanka. The
singer argued that Sri-Lankan Tamils do not have a voice in international politics;
6
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
therefore she would become the voice and speak out about the politics occurring in Sri
Lanka. The singer personally states, “This is the only opportunity I have had to do
something about the genocide in Sri Lanka and I’m seizing that opportunity,” (George
2009: 44). Since then, M.I.A. has been producing politically influential popular culture,
such as the song “Paper Planes”.
The song “Paper Planes” is an example of how popular culture has created
political influence in the world. It pertains to the frustrations of post-war refugee and
other immigrants like M.I.A. The ‘dark-toned’ lyrics of the song spread light on issues
such as the Iraqi War. Both of these political issues led the American audience to accept
the song, and even nominate it for Record of the Year, (Nekesa Mumbi n.d.).
“Paper Planes,” was featured in Slumdog Millionaire and made the Top Ten,
(Nekesa Mumbi n.d.). At that time, it was Mathangi’s most politically influential song.
The singer stated, “I came out on some sort of political edge, and I was inspired by the
politics that were going on at the time,” (Nekesa Mumbi n.d.). Some of the politics that
were going on at the time included the war in Iraq and the song “Paper Planes” also
pertained to the frustrations of immigrants and post-war refugees, (Nekesa Mumbi n.d.).
It was inspired from M.I.A.’s personal struggle of receiving a long-term work visa
in the United States (Nekesa Mumbi n.d.: n.p.). Her visa application was denied due to
her father’s affiliation with the Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers. This made Mathangi believe
that the American audience would not accept the song “Paper Planes”. However, the song
influenced politics in the United States, and Mathangi believes this is because the general
worldwide audience is becoming “more conscious,” about the political violence
occurring throughout the world, (Nekesa Mumbi n.d.: n.p.). When questioned about the
7
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
acceptance of the song, M.I.A. stated that she believed the audience would say ‘Oh my
God, this song is so violent,’ however, she was surprised to see the song had actually
sparked political influence due to the war overseas.
Popular culture is influencing general audiences every day. This is especially true
of the younger audiences who listen to the revolutionary music from international pop
stars, such as M.I.A. This has created a more ‘conscious’ audience aware of the social
inequality caused by war and moral injustice. Her father and her own background
inspired Mathangi’s personal political affiliation, which allowed her to create music such
as “Paper Planes”. These forms of popular culture have been accepted by the American
audience, and even led to political influence during the Iraqi war.
CENSORSHIP WITHIN THE MEDIA:
It’s possible that these forms of popular culture are too influencing on general
audiences, which is why they have, in some cases, been removed from social media and
other forms of Web 2.0. For example, M.I.A.’s video from her album Born Free was
removed from many broadcasting sites like YouTube, and M.I.A. has been censored from
the press and then considered as a terrorist. Web 2.0 and printed media are forms of
popular culture that the media can use to censor what the audience is viewing. It is also a
way to sway the public’s view of a particular artist and the message trying to be received.
Censorship of popular culture occurs within Web 2.0 and the press, which can be
considered a threat to democracy.
“The Internet and social media enable activists and others to challenge myths and
stereotypes,” (Easteal, Keziah, & Holland. 2015: pp.103). It is a benefit that some forms
of Web 2.0 have enabled audiences to challenge the stereotypes seen in the American
8
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
media. Singers and other artists of popular culture are attempting to spread the word
about moral injustices. One way that M.I.A. attempted to spread the word about moral
injustice was through broadcasting the video portrayed in her album, Born Free, This
album was considered highly controversial and ended up being removed from the major
broadcasting site YouTube. By censoring the video, the American audience is unable to
gain awareness about the issues occurring in Sri Lanka. Another issue is that by
censoring the video, the media is exposing M.I.A. as a much more controversial character
than she really is. Censorship over the internet also leads the press’s opinion to be
swayed, which leads to even more articles to be published about the subject.
Since this video is so explicit, it was actually censored or in some cases removed
by its target audience. Popular cultural forms, such as YouTube removed the video from
its website. YouTube is the most viewed form of broadcasting on the Internet. By
removing the video, the media-broadcasting conglomeration is actually censoring what
the audience is seeing. It’s true that YouTube will remove a video if it displays violence
or nudity.
However, it’s possible that the video was also removed, because it portrayed the
true situation of our military and political affiliation. The U.S. military is assisting with
’genocide’, granted it’s not genocide of redheads, but it is an ethnic cleansing of Tamils.
Perhaps, the media conglomeration does not approve of exposing the truth; therefore, the
video has been removed by all websites. Since the video has been removed by most
websites, it has caused Manthangi Arulpragasam to be considered one of the most
controversial characters of the hip-hop industry.
9
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
The American company, Google, is used by most of the American population as a
reliable international search engine. However, Google currently owns the broadcasting
site YouTube. This is another form of the media conglomerating, which leads to less
options for the audience to view forms of popular culture. When YouTube censors
videos, it typically means that the video is considered inappropriate due to being either
high violence or high nudity content. Even though the album Born Free fell under both
categories, it was no different than that of the majority of hip-hop videos featured on
YouTube. By removing the video, M.I.A. gained even more negative attention. This led
the target audience to misunderstand the video even more. The audience was not able to
receive the true message the video was trying to portray, because of media censorship.
Perhaps, the media was too concerned that controversial videos like these would spark a
social movement here in the United States.
The censorship of media online, can lead to more censorship within the press. The
press, such as newspapers is only releasing articles and photographs. These articles can,
at times, state their own opinion, and portray a story in a certain way. This is another way
that forms of popular culture are being censored. Audiences are only being told one side
of the story, which will influence their opinion. By using M.I.A. as a case study, the press
released two mainstream articles that seemed to sway the public’s view of the
international pop star. The first article was released by a Canadian newspaper, which
stated that M.I.A. was attempting to “incite violence,” which could create political
change, (George 2009: 44). The second article was by the New York Times, and accused
the artist of terrorism, (George 2009: 44). This is a way that the press is attempting to
sway the public opinion. This was directly post 9/11, when the US was in a state of sheer
10
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
anti-terrorism. By considering a singer in popular culture as a terrorist, the audience
would be immediately turned off by any political change that singer was trying to
influence.
Censoring media within Web 2.0 and the press can undermine political change.
Some extremists argue that this is considered a threat to democracy, because it is
violating the right of freedom of speech. “For mediated communication, free speech
involves the promotion off diversity in speakers, topics, audiences, and modes of
address,” (Kenyon 2014: 155). When Web 2.0 is being censored, which includes
broadcasting sites such as YouTube, it is violating the ‘mode of address’. Some videos
may be removed due to the topics being addressed. If other users feel the topic is
offensive, they may report the video to have it removed.
When Mathangi Arulpragasam’s video was featured in the album Born Free, it
was removed from the website YouTube. Many believed this violated the diversity in
speakers, because M.I.A. is not an American pop star. It also violated the diversity in
topics, because the video was attempting to spread awareness of the ‘genocide’ occurring
in Sri Lanka. However, instead of the video being able to promote awareness about the
topic, the staff of YouTube, which is also staffed by the company Google, deleted it. The
message was exploited through the press, and misinterpreted by the audience.
By using censorship in a combination of both Web 2.0 broadcasting sites and the
press, the media is conglomerating to ensure that a targeted audience only sees one side
of the story. This ensures that the general public does not influence political change that
interferes with the conglomeration’s media agenda. This is because the audience’s
opinion has either been swayed about a particular incident or character, which
11
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
demotivates the audience to influence political change. For example, the international star
M.I.A. was censored from broadcasting sites such as YouTube. She was also portrayed as
a terrorist in several articles found within the press. This type of censorship shows only
one side of a controversial character, causing the targeted audience to misinterpret the
message and have less of an impact on the political change being influenced by popular
culture.
CONCLUSION:
Although some companies may try to censor popular culture, it will still have an
impact on the audience to influence political change. These political changes may come
in the form of a social movement, as seen with the background of Sri Lanka. This
analysis of popular culture and it’s influence on politics was able to provide a better view
of the issues in Sri Lanka, the political influences seen there through pop culture, and the
actual censorship of these political subjects within the media. The struggle of ethnic
cleansing has been a part of the history of Sri Lanka, and has greatly affected many
Tamils there. By using international pop star Mathangi Arulpragasam as a case study; a
correlation between pop culture and political influence was made.
Even though activists such as M.I.A. have attempted to spread awareness of these
issues, they are still censored in the media. Media censorship has been considered a threat
to democracy, and it occurs due to media conglomeration. It’s crucial for international
audiences to analyze the messages that various forms of popular culture host. This way
other forms of media cannot distort or censor it before the viewer manages to interpret
the true message. Even though the United States has ideals such as freedom of speech,
some speeches can be very influential and at times deceiving. This is why some activists
12
Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
are attempting to spread awareness through popular culture, because it is one of the most
influential forms of communication and can spark global international change.
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Running Head: POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL CHANGE
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Up-Country Of Sri Lanka.” Anthropological Quarterly. 81(1): 269-295.
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