Catholic Reviews: Janelle Monae’s PYNK is a Testament to Female Friendship
From Torch, the Catholic Music Reviewer:
Janelle Monae, known for often wearing suits and men’s clothes, takes a comfortingly feminine lens to her new video for PYNK. Cruising through what looks like the hills between Victorville and Barstow (color-corrected to be pink) in a pink Corvette hovercar with her own personal #girlgang, they pull up to a restaurant with a sign out front: GRRLS EAT FREE AND NEVER LEAVE
Already, this music video is promoting generosity between women: they are offering to feed and house any woman who needs it.
Monae then appears in uber-feminine frilled pink pants, meant to blur the line between masculine and feminine, because they may be pink and frilly, but they are still pants, and therefore masculine. She sings “Pink, like the inside of your baby” honoring the sacred role of women to be mothers. “Pink, behind all of the doors, crazy” obviously referring to a woman’s terrain: the home, and whatever “craziness” it may include. “Pink, like the tongue that goes down, maybe” in reference to the tongues of fire from Pentecost.
Tessa Thompson, close friend of Monae, appears between her legs, a celebration of the divine feminine and the power of birth.
“If you got the blue, we got the pink” in the chorus emphasizes the role of Eve as a counterpart to Adam.
The rest of the video is a blur of women celebrating their close friendship.
Exercising together…
Having a sleepover and discussing biology…
There are also a number of images that refer to penetration, perhaps the penetration of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost, as referred to previously?
There is a frankly worrying sign labelled “PUSSY POWER” but fortunately a cat was shown previously, so this is a clever joke meant to subvert a political message.
DISCUSSIONS TO HAVE WITH CHILDREN:
Before showing this video, talk with your child about Theology of the Body and celebrating the female form without undermining the Church’s teachings.
There are a number of images referring to Pentecost, so perhaps show this to any Confirmandi you may know. How does Confirmation mix the blue of the profane with our mundane pink?
Rating: 6/10
Catchy, but it’s no Oceans.