Poll: Please to Give Opinion: Do you find this evokes Pedophilia?

[JoJo]

I've got to go with the consensus here, if someone sees something sexual about a little kid running about in a leotard then the problem is probably with them, not the kid. Was it emotionally charged? Yes. Perhaps aiming for controversy? Quite likely. Sexual? I don't think so, while obviously done in dance it did remind me a lot of rough-housing and play adults do with children, particularly when she was playing around with his face and riding on his shoulders etc. Been there quite a few times myself, so that part resonated particularly strongly with me.

 

[Casual Shinji]

On the subject of the video, I'll play Devil's Advocate for a moment. They're NOT rough-housing. They're dancing. And they're not playtime dancing, it's an emotionally charged, somewhat sensual exchange. Which makes sense, given the context of the song and what the scene is an allegory for. So they're not behaving in a typical adult/child fashion. I'm not remotely surprised that there was outcry...not because "people are stupid", necessarily, but because if you put a child in a flesh colored leotard and a scruffy looking, emotionally unstable man in close proximity and have them touching one another in anything remotely resembling an intimate fashion, there are people who are going to lose their fucking minds.

I don't think that's playing Devil's Advocate... That's pretty much what the video was going for. Sort of a weird, confusing interaction between pre-adolescent and adult with some sensual overtones. I mean, her squeezing through the bars and him trying to reach for her doesn't leave too much to the imagination. And it's not like the video is trying to pass this all off as a positive and loving thing, it's supposed to kind of weird you out a bit.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I wish I'd watched the clip before reading any of the posts, because once my eyes caught the phrase about it being allegorical, and Shia LaBeef (har har) representing antagonistic emotion or some other concept I kinda could not watch the video in that light. I can see how someone would feel skeevy by this, but outrage? Just another case of the PC police looking for targets IMO.

Say what you will, but I kinda dig the whole beef hobo look on mr. LaBeef (because that's how I'll call him for now). He could almost be mistaken for a slightly younger Christian Bale here or there.

 

[DementedSheep]

I'm seeing a crazy kid dance fighting a guy, then trusting him and then him trying to stop her leaving not anything sex related...so no?

 

[Hoplon]

Honestly it seems a bit like a Rorschach test, people see what they want too, not necessarily what is there. On that note i have to wonder about the people that think it's sexy in some way.

 

[the December King]

I'm seeing a crazy kid dance fighting a guy, then trusting him and then him trying to sop her leaving not anything sex related...so no?

You know, I thought at the end that she was trying to take him with her, trying to free him from out of the cage- in fact, I got the impression that this was a more internalized struggle of a single being, simply because they both found ways to leave the cage (suicide? denial?), but wanted to both leave together.

On Topic, I, at no point, got a sexual vibe from any of it.

The girl could be childhood- crazy, fearless, playful, unpredictable and trapped, and Shia could be adulthood- hesitant, cautious, once riled aggressive, but also capable of concern, and trapped.

On the other hand I don't have the sound on.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

..in fact, I got the impression that this was a more internalized struggle of a single being..

You are correct sir. That was the exact impression the artist in question was trying to convey.

On the other hand I don't have the sound on.

Pity. I quite like the song. I cannot imagine the faffing about in the cage is substantially improved by its absence.

 

[Silvanus]

I started out thinking it was odd (but not untoward), and ended up quite liking it in a way.

Never felt it was sexual in any way-- just interpretive dance, and a fairly impressive performance, even if I didn't totally "get it" until reading Sia's comments afterwards.

 

[the December King]

..in fact, I got the impression that this was a more internalized struggle of a single being..

You are correct sir. That was the exact impression the artist in question was trying to convey.

On the other hand I don't have the sound on.

Pity. I quite like the song. I cannot imagine the faffing about in the cage is substantially improved by its absence.

Cool- it's nice when an artist can convey successfully an emotion or a narrative with their work, in a non-instructional or illustrative manner.

It's also cool when this happens because I don't feel as thick as mud/feel better about my degree from an art college.

I can't turn on the sound just now, however, as I'm at the office. I may check this out later, sound on, with my SO, to see what she thinks of it.

 

[DementedSheep]

I'm seeing a crazy kid dance fighting a guy, then trusting him and then him trying to sop her leaving not anything sex related...so no?

You know, I thought at the end that she was trying to take him with her, trying to free him from out of the cage- in fact, I got the impression that this was a more internalized struggle of a single being, simply because they both found ways to leave the cage (suicide? denial?), but wanted to both leave together.

On Topic, I, at no point, got a sexual vibe from any of it.

The girl could be childhood- crazy, fearless, playful, unpredictable and trapped, and Shia could be adulthood- hesitant, cautious, once riled aggressive, but also capable of concern, and trapped.

On the other hand I don't have the sound on.

Never mind, you're right she is trying to take him with her but yeah, I'm still not getting sexual vibes from this.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

You do realize pretty much everything you said does, in fact, point towards "people are stupid" right? How else would you explain one's inability to understand context or artistic expression or historical accuracy simply because they have allowed their irrational emotions and lack of thought to cloud their perception? These are pretty much defining traits of stupid people.

"Stupidity" isn't a catch all word that encompasses everything, and inability to properly understand interpretive dance seems to fall relatively outside the boundary of what I would consider fair use. There are a lot of things that can lead to people struggling with something like this. Excessively linear thinking. Oversensitivity on the subject of children or child abuse. A complete disconnect from any kind of artistic expression. None of it necessarily renders them "stupid". One of the smartest guys I ever met was completely blinkered when it came to any kind of art. I've seen budding geniuses on these very forums completely overlook the concept of "theme" when exploring a work, choosing instead of focus solely on "plot" and whether it fits together mathematically. Are they stupid? If someone was molested as a kid, and it freaked them out, are they stupid?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure in some cases stupidity is indeed a culprit, but I'm not just going to throw a blanket over an unknowable cross section of people and starting calling them names. I'm more curious about their reaction than anything. To me, it is very demonstrably allegorical and not remotely sinister or exploitative, but my tastes don't set the bar.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Except there's a difference between "understanding art/artistic expression" and "confusing two people dancing for pedophilia".

Sure, but there's also a wide gulf between complaints like "This is child porn! Everyone involved should be in jail!" and "Hmm, that was tonally...suggestive. I'm not sure how I feel about that." So I'll stand by what I said. It's not simply or only a question of stupid people being stupid.

 

[flying_whimsy]

That was an interesting thing to watch. I don't think it evokes pedophilia, but it's definitely more on the artistic side where it's willing to make people uncomfortable. I saw a lot of the inner and outer struggle to relate to others in it, and am really curious what it would have been like with the genders swapped.

Of all the comments going through my head, though, the only one I really had at the end (besides the fact that I didn't like the song), was 'damn, Shia sure did beef up.' Too bad he didn't look like that in indiana jones 4; I might have believed him in that role then.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I can see how this might happen if you watched a couple of still images and made your conclusions then leapt to twitter for some armchair activism. The girl is dirty and grubby in a way that could bring to mind the woman locked in a dungeon trope, and apparently locked in a cage where she can't get away. But if you actually watch the video it quickly becomes apparent it's all symbolism and artistic.

I have a sad thought, this could be viewed quite differently by a victim of abuse, somebody who had a father figure whose embraces and touches were never kind, but only sexual and cruel. They might never have had the frame of reference to think of this as as platonic love.

 

[Fox12]

Wow, that was fucking weird. Were there some vaguely sexual overtones to the video? Frankly, yeah, I think so. I think that was the point. Calling it porn is going a little far though. It weirded me out, but maybe not for the same reasons as everybody else.

All I could see was the fucking SH2 nurse. Like, seriously, get that thing the hell away from me.

 

[lacktheknack]

When I first watched this, I got more of a "internal-representation of father/daughter" vibe from it.

Maybe that makes me the creeper, I dunno. I thought it was sweet and a bit sad.