I was afraid this day was going to come. Avril Lavigne released an EDM inspired song with an accompanying music video. “Hello Kitty” is aptly named after Avril's love for the immensely popular, fictional Japanese cartoon character. After living in Japan for a few years, I can tell you first-hand that Hello Kitty is one of the primary representatives of Japanese pop culture. For Avril Lavigne to be the one to use this iconic symbol, and attempt to infuse it with Dubstep (There's a reason why your teachers don't let you cite wiki's as credible sources), is utterly outrageous. I tried to take a step back and analyze this situation without bias. But I, Like most of our readers I assume, have a vested personal interest in what makes our music scene so special. You see it when the artists such as Deadmau5 criticize the music industry on the negative effects of mainstream popularity, or with Hardwell challenging the musical creativity with some of his peers.
The video is littered with offensiveness. It starts with the flagrant use of Japanese words. The lyrics start off “Mina sako arigato, k-k-k-kawaii,” which basically translates into “Thank's everybody, you're the best, c-c-c-cute!” Throughout the lyrics, Kitty appears 46 times, with Kawaii repeating in the chorus. The best analogy I can make to parallel this perverse capitalization on Japanese culture, would be by imagining Pikachu taking a big shit on a bald eagle while taking a #SELFIE. Repeatedly. I guess a Vine would be more appropriate for this situation, but I think you get the point.
The video isn't nearly as enthusiastic as it should be. The lyrics are poorly synched with her lip movements. Her dance moves were unimpressive. The backup dancers, who I'm assuming are Japanese ladies, don't appear to show much emotion. Likely just another meandering stereotype that was “overlooked”. How do these things get past the managers and handlers? There had to be someone influential throughout the creative process that watched this and said “Yeah, that's a good idea,” several times.
I will say the highlight for me is :21 seconds is when she throws the giant prop cupcake, accompanied by the lyrics:
Let's all slumber party
Like a fat kid on a pack of Smarties
Someone chuck a cupcake at me
I excuse myself from this because I happen to have a cupcake throwing experience spanning into my younger days. Let's just call this “nostalgia blinders”. Though honestly, if you listened solely to the drop present in the song, it isn't so bad. A little poppy for my tastes, but I can see it working out elsewhere.
If you're going to watch it, let it be an inoculation, a reminder of what is to come as the future as electronic dance music increases with popularity.
