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Sorry to keep engaging with discourse today, I completely understand that a lot of ppl want to avoid it entirely. If so, you might want to mute this (regrettably long) thread! But I wanted to talk about some of the criticisms of the WS video bc I think it presents an opportunity+
to talk about some of the things I really appreciate about Harry and his art.
(important to say too that there weren’t many/it seems to have been widely well-received, which is great!) 1 thing to think about when you are looking at a piece of art when it comes to objectification+
(important to say too that there weren’t many/it seems to have been widely well-received, which is great!) 1 thing to think about when you are looking at a piece of art when it comes to objectification+
relating back to some of the “male gaze” stuff that was said- is who that piece of art is aimed at/meant for. When people talk about how wlw are objectified by men, the examples we would use of this are in media that is targeted at a male audience. Can you honestly make the case+
that the WS mv is targeted at a male audience? Lemme give you a hint- I think it’s very blatantly targeted at a mostly female, largely queer audience. Think about it- Harry is very aware that his audience is mostly made up of women, and that a large portion of that audience is +
LGBT+. And he loves that- he’s spoken about it many times- here’s an example from an interview with Rolling Stone.
He isn’t just aware that his audience is mainly women, he celebrates that, and he loves that. He also thinks about that when making decisions regarding his music +
He isn’t just aware that his audience is mainly women, he celebrates that, and he loves that. He also thinks about that when making decisions regarding his music +
and art- think about when he spoke of how he loves that his fanbase gets to see Sarah rocking out on the drums at his concerts. So he made and released this video knowing largely who would receive it and who would be most passionate about it.
Now let’s look at the video itself+
Now let’s look at the video itself+
Does Harry himself in the video appear as a paragon of masculinity that men would watch and want to be? (this is what we think of when we think of media that is targeted towards men) Look at what he is seen wearing. Painted nails and a crop top and straw hat yes, is Harry just+
expressing himself the way he feels is authentic to him, but it is also pretty much as far as you can get from the heterosexual masculine power fantasy. And given the amount of women and queer ppl on my timeline I saw thirsting over his outfits in this video, the way he is +
styled is meant to appeal to a very different audience (thank you as always Harry Lambert)
Lastly, the actions that are taking place in the video. First of all, the song and video centrally are about a sexual act wherein Harry is the one bringing pleasure to someone, which is +
Lastly, the actions that are taking place in the video. First of all, the song and video centrally are about a sexual act wherein Harry is the one bringing pleasure to someone, which is +
not what we think of at all when we think of fetishization. Even beyond that, for a lot of the video he is passive and even submissive, the people around him actually shoving watermelon in his face. And when they aren’t eating watermelon, what are they doing? They’re running on +
the beach in the sun together, forming a cute little line and then falling down on the grass laughing together. Do those things happen bc the directors & Harry wanted a male audience to watch the video and wish they were Harry? No, the video is made this way because it is meant+
to appeal to women, who want to do those things with Harry and each other.
1 extremely important thing that I’m not going to go over here in detail is how the women in the video were treated on set- one even thanked all who were involved who “channeled so much divine feminine+
1 extremely important thing that I’m not going to go over here in detail is how the women in the video were treated on set- one even thanked all who were involved who “channeled so much divine feminine+
energy through this project”. I think that says a lot about the attitudes of all who were involved, and if you want to read about it in more detail it has been covered in this post here: https://angelharrie.tumblr.com/post/618492687779282944/two-of-the-models-from-the-shoot-are-on-instagram
+">https://angelharrie.tumblr.com/post/6184...
+">https://angelharrie.tumblr.com/post/6184...
Overall, one of the things that I love most about Harry is how thoughtful and celebratory he is of his largely female fanbase. I think the Watermelon Sugar mv is a great example of that, and I have loved seeing everyone’s excitement about it today! (end of thread!)
PS- for clarification I am a queer afab non-binary person, & as such I do not consider myself to be wlw Altho I do have a lot of history with tht label & that community! If you feel I’ve spoken over your XP in any way pls let me know I would love to kno how u feel abt the video!
P.P.S- I do not have a degree in media studies or anything, I’m just someone who was frustrated by some of what they saw today. If you do have a background in this topic or if you just write anything else like this re: the video, link me I’d love to read it!
