I’ve been preoccupied with Rihanna’s video for “We Found Love,” directed by Melina Matsoukas, since its release last week. Two reasons:
1) “We Found Love” has gotten comparisons to “Trainspotting,” “Requiem for a Dream,” Cee-Lo’s video for “No One’s Gonna Love You,” some Gregg Araki movies, and even a more sinister version of those heavy-handed Levi’s All-American commercials full of youthful ladies and gents running around in cornfields. But all of these examples feature white people. Most of the comparisons I’ve seen made so far feature white teens and twenty-somethings living their beautifully tragic lives, exploring what it might mean to get wrapped up in drugs, the idea of love, dependence on either, and then trying to find a way out. This happens even when the media is created by mixed filmmakers or plays during covers sung by people of color. Rihanna’s video focuses entirely on two people of color, including non-white faces in a story bloggers have already reminded us ad nauseam that we’ve seen before in other forms.
That is, writers point that out, and then commenters point out that the lead male in the video, Dudley O’Shaughnessy, looks like bleach-haired Chris Brown, which may or may not be intentional, but does lead me to —
2) Rihanna’s said a few times that she’s not interested in or equipped for being a formal spokesman for domestic abuse, but she does want to give people who’ve had similar experiences a voice. I see “We Found Love” as the latest instance where she’s weaved that kind of complicated story into her mainstream image, from her involvement in “Love the Way You Lie” to the video for “Man Down” and most recently these new visuals. And while advocacy is hugely important, Rihanna’s creative efforts with directors like Melina Matsoukas remind me not to discount the impact simply including different people and experiences in stories can have. It gets people talking, and encouraging survivors and communities to talk is typically one of the biggest goals for anyone trying to help marginalized groups.
But what makes all of that most effective is that it’s presented in a video that feels worth watching. The relationship is believable, the juxtaposition of happy song with a darker reality is striking, and that’s what makes it all work.
So I’ve watched “We Found Love” multiple times. I keep thinking about it and wanting to talk about it. That’s probably a good thing.
Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan Star In Video For Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie”
At this point, my obsession with Megan Fox is well-documented among my friends, so it’s only fair that I try to make it abundantly clear to the internet, too. I think Megan Fox is great! I am always on her side!
I am also someone who was a young teenager when The Lord of the Rings hit theaters, loved what Peter Jackson and his team did with the story, and still tend to watch a lot of what the actors involved do even when it’s kind of wretched. (What up, Elizabethtown?) So to see the premiere of Eminem’s video for his latest single featuring Rihanna, “Love the Way You Lie” and realize that Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan star in it, playing the completely dysfunctional and abusive couple? Color me stunned by beauty and conflicted by content. I’m sure the fact that it was midnight had something to do with me being bowled over, but, really, this video is surprisingly fantastic:
The visuals are well done, the video narrative matches the lyrics enough without being entirely literal, and there are some interesting parallels drawn between Rihanna and Eminem’s separate experiences with abuse and destructive relationships. Take all that and top it with the knowledge that Megan Fox donated all of her earnings from the project to shelter for women and children who’ve suffered abuse, and this video is just where I’m at today, over and over, completely entranced.
