Azealia Is Unfamiliar, Uncomfortable Territory For Entertainment World
You and I are similar, Paul. I like to understand human motivation.
I think one of the biggest things that’s convoluting Azealia’s media image is the fact that very few people understand Black Twitter and the nuances of language she employs. Whites (myself included) were not raised understanding her language. There is an awkwardness in even talking about it. There’s a complete ignorance about it, actually.
So in the media, there tends to be an oversimplification of her message. Our pc world cannot handle the fact that she’s freely using the term “faggot”, but among the gay population, it’s my understanding that they can use the term freely to describe one another. This is much like the use of the word “bitch”, which can be used to describe oneself, in black or white women, but it’s offensive when a man calls a woman a “bitch.” Feminists have long called themselves “bitches”, as a way to reclaim the word again, out of the power of men.
Azealia is bringing to surface the racist patriarchal system that not only controls the flow of money but also controls thought processes and language formation. Even our opinions about ourselves and everyone else around us is shaped by these power structures. Most people are not conscious of the power structures in which our brains operate.
The white world does not understand the language Azealia uses. Most media companies are run by whites. But even an Ebony writer has found fault with Azealia. She possesses contradictory personality traits and we are certainly not used to dealing with a black female celebrity who refuses to be a vapid pawn for the patriarchal, male-gazing power structure that decides which fuckable new hot female singer/pop star will rise in the charts. The entertainment industry is similar to the fashion industry. It exploits based on superficial fuckable traits and also demonizes individual identity and any signs of defiance. Women are reduced to fantasies within the male power structure and this structure does not include free-thinking, creatively independent females.
Azealia breaks everyone’s rules. She agitates and makes fun of others for sport (Exactly like Trump). The world is not used to a woman being a “bad bitch” and getting away with it. Men have long punished women for this behavior. Nothing has changed.
That’s what is truly going on but people are so brainwashed that they cannot even think outside of the power structures in which their brains have been programmed.
I would like to help her gain power so that she can become more in control of her income thereby creating more stability both for herself and other defiant artists. I think as her feelings of control increase, her energies might be turned towards her life, but who knows? It’s not my place to change her. But we all don’t want to see her go down the tubes, either. It’s a strange place to be.
She’s shining a bright light on what the USA has become and she’s doing it in a way that we all instantly demonize her for. She’s a mirror that most people don’t have the mental energy to deeply contemplate or figure out. It’s too painful and requires a certain level of empathy that she too doesn’t seem to have cultivated, or that gets crowded out by her self-hatred mixed with narcissism and, I believe even a rage built up over a lifetime.
But she’s funny and is smarter than people think. I find her to be unusual in a sea of tropes and pawns. I don’t quite understand her but I think I get some of her motivations. Negative press is press, after all. I know this too. The only video I’ve made that regularly pays me money is also the one that a lot of people on the Internet hate.
Like you, I try very hard to understand people, especially those who are complex or unusual.
Thanks for your insights Paul Martinez
