Lily Allen Makes a Parody

Lily Allen is known for her cute and edgy 2009 track “Fuck You” from her sophomore album It’s Not Me, It’s You and, that’s about it (that is, if you’re not one of her die-hard fans). If you are a die-hard fan of the English synthpop writer of total chick anthems, you probably became one after your girl friend showed you “Fuck You” back when you were still sneaking boys into your parent’s basement. Since those days back in 2009, Allen has sort of slipped out of sight and out of mind. I mean, it makes sense. We have had two Kate Nash albums in that time to satisfy us with quirky jams in our “ew, boys” mood since Lily Allen did her thing in 2009. Yet, Allen is back in the feminist conversation by employing the “Miley tactic”- be as obnoxious as possible so they have to talk about you.

Lily Allen’s Controversial Music Video

Lily Allen has a new music video for her female powerhouse pop number “Hard Out Here”. Before getting into specifics about the video, the song is a very tactless approach to talking about the issue of women and the plastic standards they are held to in the media as wells as outside of it. Even though Allen sings “And if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood”, she still could have found a way of saying “Don't you want to have somebody who objectifies you?/Have you thought about your butt? Who's gonna tear it in two?” with a little more wit. The music video is being attacked on the same grounds. Allen attempts to mock the rigor that female artists go through in order to keep an image that is appeasing to men in a male dominated industry. In the video, Allen gets a liposuction and is persuaded to dance provocatively in front of cars and with wads of of cash. You can watch the music video here.

Parody Does Not Always Equal Comedy

Lily Allen makes it pretty obvious that her video for “Hard Out Here” is a parody but, is it funny? Many critics are settling on the fact that it’s insulting. Mostly the insult is to women of color. Lilly Allen, who is white, remains the only fully clothed female throughout the video. Her outfit is tight but, she still isn’t showing any skin. Her ensemble of background dancers, however, are not as conservatively dressed and are definitely taking the bulk of the provocative dancing. It’s like Allen tried her best to make something feminist but then opened up a whole other door of feminist conversation. However, the aim may have been just that, to start a conversation.