by Camilla Ostrow

Just so every avid defender of Kanye West knows, the following content is in no way to be interpreted as offensive towards Kanye West. It is an art piece and shall be taken as such.

Kanye West released the final version of his Monster video this month, parts of which had been leaked earlier. The video shows Kanye, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minjar wearing really expensive outfits while rapping like madmen. And let me tell you kids, their “monstrosity,” stems from more than just Jay-Z’s donning of sunglasses while indoors. In addition to this unnecessary accessory, the video’s backdrop is…half-naked dead girls. (Yes, really.) There are those who hang on nooses to those who lie stagnant on beds and couches, but they all have one thing in common–they’re really, really dead.

When it first came out on the Internet, people were enraged, and not jut about those annoying new ads that precede the YouTube videos.  People were actually saying that Kanye West might be a total dick! (An inspired and innovative thought, I know.) Some said that Kanye West might be…drum roll please…a sexist. By god, I can’t believe my ears: a sexist rapper? No. No. NO. I won’t believe it!

Now don’t get me wrong, I actually don’t hate Kanye West. Obviously he’s ridiculous and probably thinks his semen tastes like chocolate covered strawberries, but I appreciate a man who wears stunna-shades like a normal person and prescription lenses.  And I’m not going to act like some hip-hop-know-it-all and get into his musical prowess, but I get that he’s super talented, and I’ll admit that I bought his new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the day it was released.  BUT, let’s be honest… the Monster video is more than just sexist and violent and disheartening, it’s also kind of stupid.

The video opens with this little disclaimer that reads, “The following content is in no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any groups of people. It is an art piece and shall be taken as such.” First of all Kanye, this video is not just “an art piece.” It’s a marketable video embedded in a multi-billion dollar hip-hop industry that will be watched primarily by 13 to 17 year-old boys. Then again, what could possibly be wrong with showing a bunch of teenage boys how sexy dead women can be?

Secondly, the original defense of the video was that it was not sexist, but was instead a commentary on how fame causes men like Kanye to view others as objects.  Maybe you think that this argument ultimately fails, but the fact that it exists at all might give Kanye some credit. Maybe he really is a misunderstood genius who wanted us to watch the video and question why men would enjoy it? But by adding the disclaimer, the video completely undermines this defense and instead admits that if not “looked at as an art piece” it must be taken as misogynist.  If the video had instead held strong to its belief that it commented on objectification rather than displaying “artful images,” then Kanye might have actually had the beginning of an at least marginally intelligent argument.

The argument Kanye instead presents is that art cannot be interpreted as offensive. Yet, art can be deemed absolutely be offensive. This actually dates back several hundred years to Shakespeare.  Everyone agrees that Othello is racist and that William Shakespeare himself was racist. However, this  doesn’t change the fact that he was a literary genius. In the same vein, maybe Kanye West is a musical genius, but that doesn’t change the fact that this video celebrates violence against women.

My favorite scene includes Nicki Minaj giving a torture-lap dance to a woman who turns out to also be herself. It’s much better than those two idiot men in the $10 thousand suits who keep getting really close the camera and waving their hands around like crazy people. I like this part of the video because it takes you in one predictable direction and then finally reveals itself to be something actually kind of smart: it’s Nicki’s admission that this industry causes women to victimize and objectify themselves!

I believe the video tirelessly retains its offensive sex appeal because Kanye West is afraid to look like a real monster. So, instead he just looks like a pimp. And the problem with that, is it tells us how at the end of the day, the BEST women for the BEST man, is a dead woman. And in a country where one in four women will experience rape or sexual assault in her lifetime, where up to six billion women are victims of domestic violence each year, and where at least three women are murdered by domestic partners every day in this country, this music video is more than just an art piece which “shall not be interpreted.” It’s not only a product of its environment, but even more than that, it’s part of what creates its environment.

So Kanye – I get that you’re a musical genius, and I get that being a cocky asshole is “your thing” or whatever, and I don’t think you are the devil reincarnated or anything like that. (FYI, Taylor Swift really isn’t that good and Beyonce totally should have won.) But all of that aside, the Monster video sucks.  I don’t necessarily think it should be taken off the air, but I wouldn’t mind if it was killed and put on a bed so I could wear stunna-shades and pout my lips, while I force it to fondle the Gold Digger video.