The story is simple: Boy meets girl. Boy rapes girl. Girl kills boy.
But it’s also one that isn’t going over well with the Parent Television Council and fellow watchdog elders Industry Ears.
In the clip for her latest single, “Man Down,” one dance with Rihanna just isn’t enough for a wrong-doing rasta man; when she leaves, he creeps after her. Bad turns to worse as he sexually assaults her in an alley.
See how she gets her revenge after the jump. Here’s a clue: It involves a little friend she calls Peggy Sue that fits in her shoe.
Paul Porter, co-founder of Industry Ears, bashed the “Man Down” video, saying that she’s only getting a pass for the violent vid because she’s playing the victim card she unfortunately received after being assaulted in real life by then-boyfriend Chris Brown, and asserts that there’s a double standard.
“If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop. Rihanna should not get a pass and BET should know better. The video is far from broadcast worthy,” Porter says.
UPDATE: Rihanna’s taken to Twitter to snap back at “Man Down” critics saying, “The music industry isn’t exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! It’s your job to make sure they don’t turn out like US.” “I’m a 23-year-old rockstar with NO KIDS,” she yelled in caps. “What’s up with everybody wanting me to be a parent? I’m just a girl, I can only be your/our voice!”
I tend to side with artists on this sort of stuff. It’s their job to make their art. And if you’re a parent, it’s yours to raise your children–not Rihanna’s, or any other pop star’s. Sure, in a perfect world everyone would be working with the same goal in mind, creating music and images that aren’t potentially damaging to kids, tweens, and teens. But that’s not the reality of this situation.
What do you think of all the controversy? Was Rihanna wrong to make such a vengeful video? Should it be edited or censored? Let us know in the comments section.
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We are trying to stop violance, not tell i children it is ok, if she has to do that kind o vedio she needs to look deep within
in the bible it says… “eye for an eye”
and yes… murder for rape sounds pretty fair to me
That’s the Hammurabi code (“eye for an eye”). The Bible wants you to turn the other cheek–don’t know how that works in murders though.
Randy Jackson wants you to turn the other cheek too. lol Seriously, the Rihanna video isn’t that much more graphic or violent than a typical episode of CSI or L&O. Besides, who wants to rape Chris Brown? That comparison is meaningless.
ummm… Exodus 21:24 “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,” Leviticus 24:20 “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured.” Deuteronomy 19:21 “Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” How dare you question whether i wrote what i wrote?
Yeah, the bible also talks of people who live for 500+ years, humans being turned into pillars of salt, and zombie Jesus. Not really a reliable source.
Okay, our kids are brought up in a culture saturated with sex and violence and cultural phobias out the wazoo. If some television council has a problem with Rihanna’s video, then perhaps they should exercise the right to NOT WATCH IT.
Way to decontextualize the Bible by simply quoting that “eye for an eye” business. Ultimately, the New Testament book of Luke states that we should love and do good to our enemies, turn the other cheek and do unto others as you would have them done to you.
I don’t like the video – but haven’t Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and others done pretty much the same sentiment in their songs and videos? (mind you, destroying a truck isn’t quite the same thing…)
WHO CARES? SO WHAT?
in the old testament it is “an eye for an eye”; in the new testament, jesus upholds the “turn the other cheek” idea. christianity stems from jesus’ gospels, so forgiveness is the key.
Okay ‘EYE FOR AN EYE’let make sure you are cool when the wives/gfs of these SERIAL WIFE BEATERS attack: Eminem, Sean Penn, Charlie Sheen, Mickey Rourke, Alec Baldwin, Steven Seagal, James Taylor, Tommy Lee, Vience Neil, Sir Paul McCartney, John McEnroe, Robert Downey Jr. to name a few. if an eye for an eye is good lets hope these adult males get their just reward!
@Panther: I feel like your source is US Weekly.
eminem rapped about setting a woman on fire if she left him. he was touted as brilliant, baring his soul, etc.. Rihanna makes a video about a woman taking the ultimate revenge after being assaulted. she’s ruining children, now? IMO, they’re both art. The internet has far worse things on it. I think the video is more likely to provoke conversation on rape and how it’s a BAD THING more than to make a bunch of people go out and shoot people randomly.
that being said, while the video is great, the song sux unfort.
@j what’s funny is that he has a LONG HISTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE with his ex-wife Kim Mathers and no one has EVER complained about him being a wife beater. He has mad songs about killing his wife Kim but they tout him as a rebel and they love him inspite of the many times he BEAT HIS WIFE KIM MATHERS!
Very much agreed, j. The video is not exactly right. At least she wasn’t happy she killed him, but other artists do it all the time. They should not be bashing Rihanna all of a sudden because it’s been occuring in a lot of songs, whether they have a video or not. Seriously, the song has been out for months. Are critics that oblivious to songs unless they see a video?
@Panther – I completely disagree with you. When Eminem first came out, I remember there was a TON of controversy regarding his hate speech, especially regarding both women and homosexuals. Not so much with his latest release but back in the day? Yes.
Rihanna should be DEPORTED TODAY!
I’d rather you be deported. And ur computer taken.
Dudes, lots of people complained about Eminem’s violent lyrics. And lots of people will complain about this new Rihanna video. But, every time someone complains, the complaints are dismissed as anti-art or out of touch with modernity.
The bottom line is some people understand and get the message. But, younger and less-mature people will simply see this violence as an acceptable way to deal with whatever life throws at you. Don’t like your ex, then kill her. Someone assaults you? Kill them. Someone dislikes your new shoes? Kill them. Someone moves into that apartment next door? Kill them!!!!
The majority of Rihanna stans that I’ve come across are violent little 14 year olds. #TrueStory Coincidence?
i love self-righteous people.these are the dolts who would condem a fictional account of a crime,but do nothing to educate/prevent the actual crime.then there’s the double standard,the dixie chicks made a video where one of them poisoned a man and nobody said jack sh*t.i’m no rhianna fan by a long shot,but in this case i’m on her side.
Maybe there’s an uproar because the murder is so blatant?
Rihanna is a dumb bimbo. Wasn’t she singing about whips, chains and S&M in ehr last song. A puppet that sings anything put in front of her and does whatever a video director tells her to do.
Well said, Sara.
S&M has nothing to do with rape, idiot. I’m tired of people pulling this argument out of a hat : “Chris Brown beat her – Oh, it’s OK, she’s into S&M !” – “She was raped, why did she kill her rapist, she’s into S&M ?”. Ignorance is a plague.
Well, Porter, Chris Brown has no need to be violent toward a woman in his video, seeing as how he does it in real life.
Besides, I’m sure everything was fine when Kanye released his Monster video.
kanye’s monster video was never released
@WHATEVS, 1st of all Chris Brown Had Rihanna had 1 fight and she admitted to starting that fight by beating on him 1st (see 20/20 interview and Nalt Coalition for Men’s report). Rihanna is digusting and is only trying to throw shade on Chris because he is happy and moving on in his young life. She thought she could ruin him but my boy Breezy keeps it moving PROVING THAT TRUE TALENT WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL while a cheap gimmick like Rihanna will have to disrobe and whine!
@Panther, Please go away. Your posts are annoying and wrong!
I have to agree with the counsil on this one.
I also agree with the council. Parents can always monitor or block WHEN a program they do not want kids to see comes on…with music videos, you could have something like this show up right after a Katy Perry cotton candy music piece.
I’m sorry that Rihanna doesn’t yet understand the responsibility she has as a role model to kids who idolize her. She used to be a damn classy young woman…now its all violence, s&m, leather & shock value…
Oh, please. Rihanna has always been marketed as a pop sex-pot, even in her teens. And if your kids are watching ‘cotton candy’ Katy Perry videos then they’re already in trouble. The image she projects (phalic candy wonderland?) is just as disturbing as anything Rihanna’s released.
I have to agree with Rose on this one. I cann’t even let my girls watch the Disney channel because of all the little ho’s much less the porn these videos purport as “art”.
Yeah, perhaps that was a poor example, but in defense, a lot of kids won’t get the double entandres of a Katy video whereas Rihanna’s is just in-your-face violent…just saying.
I love this video!!!
There should be a “viewer discretion” disclaimer before the video, but the violence is no worse than what you see on network TV, many shows of which you can see on daytime through syndication.
In the name of fairness, we need a vid in which Rihanna rapes a dude. Only it’d be hard to find a straight man who wouldn’t want to be raped by Rihanna.
It wouldn’t need to be a straight man to be rape.
I dunno…I’m a gay man, and yet I can think of far worse fates.
this comment board is a pretty horrible fate.
Rape jokes are jUST HILARIOUS. SO FUNNY. just keep going, people. If there is a God, I’m sure he’s mightily amused.
a revenge fantasy of a woman killing her rapist can be held to a double standard b/c a double standard already exists, especially when it comes to rape. women (and girls– 11 yr old girl gang raped in texas by neighborhood boys and men. anyone remember that?)are usually vilified- she was asking for it, what was she doing there? what was she wearing? was she drunk? etc. nobody asks those questions about men who get beat up (they rarely get raped outside of prison) so there is a double standard already. and rhianna has every right to let the world know how she feels about violence against women, especially given the fact that men get away with it all the time.
Thank you. Did those idiots at the PTC even watch the video before spewing their bull? She didn’t invite getting raped, so how is she “pulling the victim card”? And how on EARTH does Chris Brown even relate to this? Seems that the PTC is merely drumming up faux controversy to gain attention.
I’m torn between your point of view, Jen, and Paul Porter’s point about the reaction if Chris Brown (or any other man, really) shot a woman in a video. I can understand both sides. But mainly, the crime I’m most horrified by in this video is wearing socks with high heels. I didn’t realize it was really becoming a thing until I saw it all the time on Glee. WHY IS THIS A THING? It’s an absolutely tragic fashion trend.
that was my point- that the reaction to a man shooting a woman would be and SHOULD be totally different, b/c men are predominantly the perpetrators of violent acts, and the women so often get blamed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one asked what was the SF giants fan doing at a Dodgers game? didn’t he know the reputation that DOdgers fans have? the double standard is already there. anyway- you are so dead on about the socks with high heels and it made me laugh which i totally need today
so thank you for the perspective!
lol yes socks with heels is what everyone’s all riled up about
lol @ kt’s observation.
Seriously, there’s controversy over this? “I Shot the Sheriff”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Folsom Prison Blues” — murder in music isn’t all that new.
Forgot “Janie’s Got A Gun”, probably the closest parallel.
Yeah, the theme in Janie’s Got A Gun is essentially the same as the Man Down video! There seemed to be no outrage back then over the main character in the video killing her dad for repeatedly raping her. Everyone understood the message and sympathized with the victim (of the abuse, that is). Now people can’t seem to understand that same message in Man Down, especially when it’s so freaking obvious. Have people just gotten dumber since or is it just overwhelmingly easy to pick on Rihanna for just about anything these days?
Maybe it’s the peppy tune that’s confusing. Seriously, that was an awful song and lame video.
what about Goodbye Earl where the Dixie Chicks killed off an abusive husband or Gunpowder and Lead by miranda lambert. she sings about sitting and waiting to kill her abuser. “His fist is big but my gun’s bigger. He’ll find out when I pull the trigger”
Janie’s got a gun and Dixie chicks were ok because they weren’t black. Rihanna is black; these councils are all racist. The end.
peter- excellent point. and i’m with j too. i absolutely think racism is part of this nonsense.
I think Rihanna’s being discussed AGAIN because her video is just ANOTHER addition to her continuing slide of featuring questionable dark subject matter. Each one has been more a bit more shocking than the last. It has nothing to do with her race. If Britney or Kathy were doing this stuff time after time, the same discussion would be happening!
I personally think Rihanna’s a superstar in talent, but if she sees this as “art” she isn’t going to have much of a legacy longterm.
Clearly, Rihanna shot this creep in Reno just to watch him die.
lawls
You Win the message board.
The talk is about the video. They said an image is worth a thousand words, right?
Fine, “Janie’s Got A Gun” showed the point-blank shooting of a father by the daughter he molested. It was graphic enough that it was edited in some showings. So I say again, this is nothing new.
I went to Aerosmith’s VEVO to refresh my memory. First, the victim is not the A-list artist singing. Second, we see a shadow shooting the man (camera trick). Third, the girl goes with the police, which is what is supposed to happen in real life (Rihanna flew the scene).
I agree with you, there’s nothing new about revenge, but Rihanna’s video gives people (PTC, media) room to talk. And they’re going to sip on it.
Well, I’m sure she expected and wanted people to talk about the video. I imagine she hoped they’d take it a little more seriously, though.
@ Miss Talk:
Yes, the police gets involved AFTER she kills him. And there’s a line in the song that says “She had to take him down easy and put a bullet in his brain. She said “cause NOBODY BELIEVES ME, the man was such a sleaze.”
So in the song the victim DID attempt to bring attention to what was going on without resorting to violent means, but no one cared to take her seriously. So feeling that no one is on her side, she takes matter into her own hands. I think it’s a similar thing in Man Down, the victim feels so powerless that she feels avenging her own justice is her only option, not because it’s something she relishes in doing.
Sorry, I mean avenge her rape.
I’m going with the council on this one. I do feel like she’s playing her victim card from the assault by doing this video. I’ve lost a little bit of respect for her. This could be her way of acting out her demons, I don’t know but I don’t care for her reenacting such violence (especially when she doesn’t want to talk about the Chris Brown debacle, don’t blame her there) and bringing this to the forefront again. I realize this isn’t a retelling of her and Chris BUT for someone who was wanting to move on and not have to discuss this (at least within the media) she had to realize that was exactly what this video was going to do.
She is far from the first person to act out killing someone in a music video. It’s the Council that is dragging the Chris Brown incident into this for whatever reason they have.
Why does EVERYTHING she does HAVE to be inextricably linked to the incident? So EVERY song, EVERY video she makes, is subliminally about Chris? Why is it that she’s better than you at moving on from something that personally happened to her, NOT you!
And I don’t mean you personally, more like the collective you of everyone who is OBSESSED with the incident.
I guess that’s part of my thing True Blue, you would think she would realize that people are going to make the comparison and ask her if this is about Chris. Obviously, I don’t know for sure but it does seem to be (I know I’m making assumptions but given what she’s gone thru, why wouldn’t the average person think that?). And why is it then okay for her to perpetuate the violence? Yes, I realize that this is pretty common on TV and the few music videos that are shown anymore but personally, I would think she would see from her past experience just how keeping those violent images going can damage our young people. And by “young”, I don’t necessarily mean kids.
I don’t think the video or the song celebrates the violence or portrays it as a good thing. The lyrics certainly convey a sense of “I can’t believe I did this”. At worst, it leaves it ambiguous.
I agree with you. Lost respect for her after the Chris Brown incident. But this video and her tats make me think the girl has issues she needs to work through. Not a fan at all.
Wait….you “[l]ost respect for her after the Chris Brown incident”?? Did I miss something?
U lost respect for HER after she got beat by a man. I think all people as idiotic as yourself need to be gathered, gagged and thrown off a cliff.
Are you sure your name isn’t Kelly BENsimon? What an idiot!
Ah yes because being beaten by a boyfriend and having tattoos makes one quite screwy in the head right..Tell that to my sister, who has several tattoos and was previously in an abusive relationship. More importantly tell it to her college degree and family she has now. Imbecile.
Besimon, your comment is just as dumb as your name.
@ST I agree with you completely Rihanna is forever sending mixed signals. She says whatever will get her over. There isn’t a trustworthy bone in her overexposed body. 1 minute she does not want to talk about abuse (mainly because her history of abusing men will leak out)the next she makes a crap video followed by a BS explanation. I feel bad for any man who has ever been involved with her or any man who might be dumb enough to try her in the future!RIHANNA = LYING PSYCHO
There should be a “viewer discretion” before the video but it’s far tamer than some recent videos. Where was the uproar for Disturbed’s “Asylum” video, where an inmate is beaten and tortured by orderies for the entire video?
Normally, I think the Parent Television Council is out of their minds, but they may have a point with this one.
Parents just don’t understand.
Ooo, remember when Will Smith killed his friends for laughing at his shoes in that video?
There is absolutely a double standard.
Janie got a gun.
Rihanna tackled an important issue but failed in her statement (if there was any) as the video shows her clearly shooting the guy. If she wanted to send a message to all those young female teens who follow her then at the end of the video, she should have put the gun down and called the police. If she wanted to stick to the entertainment purpose, she could have put a disclaimer or the director could have used a trick to make people believe in the shooting without actually watching it.
PTC made a valid point but bringing Chris Brown’s name in this is unnecessary. Clearly they wanted the attention and they got it. EW, why didn’t you review the video before PTC came in the picture? Just want to know if there was any particular reason.
If u listened to the song, she clearly says that she killed a man. Not almost killed a man, so ur suggestions wouldn’t work. The video matches the song, and she expresses a lot of remorse in the song. She makes it clear she is conflicted by the choice she made to shoot him. The PTC is blowing this outta proportion.
Actually, the video does not match the song, which has a rather peppy tune. And she may be expressing remorse, but Rihanna is such a bad actress that she doesn’t show any.
Her statement justifying her video was just plain awful. At 23, she should be mature enough to put together a coherent thought, and not just blame it on being young. Yes, artists should be free to create art, but they also need to understand what they are creating in order to defend it when inevitably questioned about it.
Really Dahlia, look at her face RIGHT after she shoots him, couldn’t look any more conflicted. Everything you said in your comment literally has no shred of truth or evidence in it to make it valid so please for your own sake and our sanity stop commenting.
Peppy? It has a reggae beat, and reggae traditionally deals with VERY non-peppy subjects.
I wouldn’t say this is a peppy tune. It is a dancehall reggae tune and that’s how most of those sound. It might be new to a ‘pop’ audience, but it s a typical reggae beat and a lot of dancehall tunes deal with heavy topics.
people should learn that sexual assualt should not be tolerated in this country anymore. And studies have proven that it those who come sexually based crimes are the most likely to be repeat offenders.
nobody woman or man should be able to sexually assault another and maybe if this country actually took these kinds of crimes seriously instead of blaming the victim, we wouldn’t have such a problem with these types of crimes
I have no problem with the video. I DO have issues with the GOP trying to define “rape” (great deal deleted).