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The music video for British artist M.I.A.’s new single “Born Free” has been pulled from the U.S. and UK YouTube sites — not for any legal or copyright reason, but because the video’s content was deemed too extreme for the site.

The video depicts an American police or military force storming an apartment complex, destroying property, pulling a naked couple from bed mid-coitous and brutalizing them, then extracting a young redheaded man from his home and violently escorting him out of the building. The young man is forced into a bus full of other redheads, who are driven out to the desert, verbally and physically abused and finally exterminated with guns, batons and artillery.

M.I.A’s music has always dealt with political violence in the developing world in stark contrast to her club-friendly, energetic sound. M.I.A. is of Sri Lankan descent and lived there as a child. Her father was a political activist for Tamil militant groups and was hunted by authorities from multiple countries. M.I.A.’s family was forced by the civil war to flee to India, where her school was destroyed by the government. She moved to London as a refugee.

The “Born Free” video’s themes are born out of those early experiences and informed by current anti-American sentiment. It’s all the more controversial because the U.S. authorities appear to be an occupying force, and because its final scenes borrow imagery from Iraq, Vietnam and Abu Ghraib. It was described by an MTV music reporter as “brutally graphic” and an “unflinchingly, unapologetically real … statement on the treatment of minorities.”


Still on Vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/11219730

The video's message is righteous and I respect both M.I.A. and director Romain-Gavras for making such a compelling statement. But technically, the video does violate YouTube's content prohibitions, so while they might seem a bit "nanny" or whatever for having pulled the video, to have allowed it to remain would have created a precedent that they're probably unwilling to contend with. If they allowed this thing to remain, it would have opened the door for less responsible use of such imagery, and potentially even lawsuits for making certain kinds of content available to children. As wimpy as that might sound, it's understandable that YouTube might err on the side of caution. Their lawyers aren't shy, but they're well aware that the company is a magnet for test case litigation.

Appropriately, the director is the son of the great (and politically ballsy) director Constantinos Costa-Gavras, whose films "Z," "State of Siege," and "Missing" all met with controversy when originally released. Seems the son is carrying the torch of provocation, to his credit. I'm glad it's still at Vimeo.

Thanks for the insight, Dean.
I might have to check out his father's films. Thanks!

Z is a fantastic film. Kids got good genes.

What is the statement being made? That Americans are going house to house dragging people out and executing them for being a "minority"? I haven't seen the video, but it sounds fairly obvious and heavy handed.

That American special forces don't like gingerpeople.

yeah... seeing so many gingerpeople at once terrified me

It's definitely both, but since it's a music video intended to reach a broad audience, subtlety might have risked sending a mixed message (or none at all.) It was meant to be hard-hitting in a brief manner.

For what it's worth, M.I.A.'s father was a Tamil Tiger in Sri Lanka, a country that knows a thing or two about the destructive stupidity of certain types of bigoted militarism. I dunno ... whether you agree with it or not, think about the law just passed in Arizona which effectively threatens the police with lawsuits for not engaging in racial profiling on suspicion of illegal immigration. That's what I was reminded of while watching the video. melek_taus' response was a lot funnier, though.

Being a redhead myslef, I'm glad someone finally has the courage to shed light on the discrimination and hatred we face. I've been busy countering the term fire crotch with ice crotch (blonde hair) and earth crotch (brunettes) but that has made little or no impact in the fight for equal rights. Carry on M.I.A. I salute you.

That's what sells to 16 to 20 year olds. That's more than likely the bottom line. Although I did read where M.I.A. builds schools and stuff with her money.

I love redheads

How about a story about war on eyes colors.

Those graphic novels were on school official program back in college.

I like MIA but this seem unoriginal.

I have to give MIA respect for at least attempting to bring attention to her political concerns. But my god, she's got to be one of the least talented "musicians" I've ever listened to - her singing is horrendous, and not in a flamenco or blues sort of way.

Her first 2 albums were exceptional. I don't listen to 'dance' or whatever you want to call it. The music guy behind her was pretty talented. It takes 2 to tango. I heard he was her BF and they broke up. That would explain the horrible song that accompanies this new weird video. The Police State stuff was nothing new to me since I have been visiting a website called PRISON PLANET for a decade...

I'm just talking strictly about her - not her producers. My wife has a couple albums because she likes the production. But her singing is terrible. She seems to be someone who is able to network well and that's the only reason she has a career in music.

The success of "Arular" was an unexpected fluke. In fact the rough original tapes from those sessions were put up for free on the internet by the producer. People took note in a big way, especially in the music industry. Before she "broke" in a bigger way, word about the act was very hot on the up-and-coming circuit. I saw a free show she gave at Amoeba Records before she was über-famous ... the store was packed with interested enthusiasts. Point being that her escalation to fame was very much a word-of-mouth thing, not the result of the usual SXSW/contract/promo trajectory in the industry these days.

The production is definitely a big part of the act, but she's got the novelty of an oddly compelling street slang as a hook, the fact that she's cute and has a weird/cool fashion sense, and a history of great videos doesn't hurt. Check out the early videos for "Galang" (lo-fi stencil art punk) and "Sunshowers" (gorgeous Sri Lankan fantasy with elephants and mangoes and stuff.) There's definitely some "there" there, although IMHO the earlier music is a lot more rad than the more recent.

The song is garbage, but the video is really well done. Not surprising that it was pulled.

I thought MIA shot up in popularity because Jay-Z, Kanye West, TI, and Lil Wayne made an extremely successful remix of one of her songs - Swagger Like us.
This seems kind of strange actually, since she's ok working with American Rappers whose lyrics have supported murder, gang life, and crack dealing.

I think this track is great, definitely darker than a lot of stuff she's put out.

She was just trying to one up the South Park kick a ginger episode. psh.

So true. It's only bad when certain people do it, others get a pass. People in authority killing people = bad, Crack/Heroin dealers poisoning entire communities, killing each other over corners = keepin' it real.

love this tune. my boy jae from philly turned me onto it via a Daddy-O mix tape (cd).

hotness.

I have a hard time listening to anything MIA puts out. The botching of "Straight to Hell" has left me with nothing but the feeling of disdain for her.

But yea, hopefully Southpark will spoof this and get Cartman all riled up again!

I need to catch this episode.

Somebody else mentioned the video reminding them of the BS going down in AZ right now. I thought the exact same thing.

America has a long and awful history of legalizing and tolerating racism. Mainly because nobody wants to call it for what it is. Arizona passes a law requiring law enforcement to "check papers" of people they find "reasonably suspicious" and it get's called "tough immigration legislation." Fuck That. It's racism. I had this conversation with a friend of mine and I think he said it well, "Were poll taxes tough new voting bills? How about the Manzanar relocations, were they authorized by tough new housing bills? Maybe the Fugitive Slave Act was a tough new property rights bill."

Sorry for getting off topic. If nothing else, the video is interesting and thought provoking. I like it.