[Previous entry: "fns w janeane gaorfalo"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Ralph Klein"]

02/24/2003 Archived Entry: "Avril Lavigne"

ATTACKING PEOPLE WHO EARN $6.85/HR. IS SO COOL: I have to agree with Steve that given a choice between the "X-Men" and the Grammys, I watched the "X-Men" (my sister's teacher, Mr. Brown, got to scream in agony before an audience of millions since he plays the cop whose forehead Magneto slowly drills a bullet into; I wonder what kind of audition you need to prepare for a role like that?). As for Avril...well, I've got a tiny little rant to get off my chest about her. You're going to think I'm insane, but here it goes.

One of the more aggravating things about my television viewing experience in 2002 was the fact that Avril's first music video for her hit single "Complicated" was inescapable for anyone living in the First World (if you wish, you may gaze upon that masterpiece here). The first time I saw the damn thing, I got really, really angry. I mean we're presented here with that stupid spoiled brat of a "rocker," her all-male punker "crew," and the lyrics of a song about how love's so complex and what not. So what kind of concept does the video's director think of? Why, let's have Avril and the gang trash a shopping mall! Fine, whatever. Vandalism is a traditional mode of youthful exuberance. What that has to do with the mysteries of the human heart is beyond me, but then again, I'm not a music video director. But even better, let's have Avril and friends steal from, mock, and physically assault some hapless, pimply, minimum-wage earning drones who look like they're exactly the same age, except they aren't as cool-looking or "rebellious" as Ms. Lavigne and her pals. Ms. Lavigne's unfortunate victims (including a poor sucker who has the oh-so dignified job of being a store mascot) look like they're all toiling away to pay for their college-tuitions, while real-life high-school dropout Avril and her thugs actually have the temerity to walk right in and humiliate them as they try to work. I mean, those losers and conformos just had it coming to them, didn't they? Avril and her unbathed gang of goons are just too cool to bother with the niceties of earning their money for a living. This is supposed to be the new face of rock?

Anyway, I actually ranted about this to my fellow student-interns at the Ministry of Culture, and the first response was a well-deserved eyeroll along with, "Dude, it's only a music video." To which I responded, "Yeah, but think of the age group that the video's aimed at. What kind of message are we sending to little kids: 'Multimillionaire, vandalizing, skater queen good; hard-working, minimum-wage earning nerds bad?' What happened to the rock music that was supposed to stand up for the have-nots in the world, instead of telling us to squish them like a bug?" Alright, as you can tell, I'm still inexplicably deranged about this four-minute long spool of film. But that's why I hate Avril Lavigne (that and the fact that my little sister stole one of my only ties in order to get that "Avril" look, but that's another story...).