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

[Hagi]

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.

Same here, also thought it was a father-daughter thing.

Playing with each other, fighting with each other, following each other, drifting apart, coming back together and having trouble letting go.

Seemed like a reasonable enough explanation.

 

[Evonisia]

I thought it was a beautiful video when it came out, I still think it's a beautiful video now. With this video and Fury I'm really surprised how LaBeouf has come to be in my good graces.

Plus I don't even get any vibes of that from the video, the closest thing they do is lie next to each over which is followed very quickly by Maddie twirling away. Another time they're sat next to each over and she bites his thumb.

I love the Chandelier video, I love this video, can't wait for the next single. Seems like it'll be Big Girls Cry which I'll admit is not one of my favourites off the album but there you go.

 

[PsiChaos]

Honestly, the only people that would actually think it's child porn are probably closet pedophiles themselves. There's nothing in that video that would imply any sort of eroticism outside of only appearing nude. That said, the imagination is an impressive thing, and some people just want to find evil in every small minute detail, even if it means exaggerating a few things. It seems people this generation are embracing a new form of puritanism, but personally, I'd hate to live in such a world where everything I saw was somehow evil and immoral.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I thought it was a beautiful video when it came out, I still think it's a beautiful video now. With this video and Fury I'm really surprised how LaBeouf has come to be in my good graces.

How was Fury, anyway? I saw it got middling reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but I'm curious about it. I heard LaBeouf drove everyone crazy on set with the method acting.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Seriously internet? SERIOUSLY!!!

Firstly she's 39 and Shia is 30 whatever.

That's not Sia in the video, btw. That's Maddie Ziegler. She's 12.

I'm 25yo, for reference. If I dance with my 12 year old sister does that make me a pedophile? If I hug her does that make me a pedophile? Fuck. We've had playfights before where the physical contact was hardly different to the majority of the clip. Does that make me a pedophile?

Sad thing is, I've had the misfortune of speaking to more than a few people that would say it does.

Seriously, people are so far off the deep end with this issue that showing any kind of closeness or emotional bond of any description with someone under about 15 will get you accused of all kinds of sick things these days...

And those people shout by far the loudest, and just love to twist anything you say to make it sound like you are (or support) peadophillia. Because accusing someone of that is a pretty good silencing tactic that can quickly shut down any attempt at a critical, rational debate on the subject.

Makes me feel kind of sick, but that's what happens with a subject declared to be so taboo even so much as trying to say "aren't you taking things a bit far here?" Will get such absurd accusations thrown at you...

It's unhealthy, in the end will only make things worse for children, and yet, tthe 'kill all the sickos' mentality just shouts down everything else...

I don't know what to do with it anymore really. The extremist nutjobs seem to end up with all the power with this stuff...

 

[Evonisia]

I thought it was a beautiful video when it came out, I still think it's a beautiful video now. With this video and Fury I'm really surprised how LaBeouf has come to be in my good graces.

How was Fury, anyway? I saw it got middling reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but I'm curious about it. I heard LaBeouf drove everyone crazy on set with the method acting.

LaBeouf in Fury is probably the least monstrous of the team (sans Father and Son), he's weary and he's probably best described as the whiner. He did a really good job though, he's never insufferable and there was a certain level of passion that made his character sympathetic even if the character has done nothing to earn it.

As for Fury itself? I loved it, personally. Easily in my Top 10 (maybe Top 5) for 2014, and it was certainly one of the few films that I thought was worth seeing in cinema. Despite that, though, I always think of it as some kind of 2010s Saving Private Ryan, as it's such a good WWII film that'll take up two and bit hours of your night. The tanks are awesome, too, though I can't tell whether they're accurate. I love how it kinda humanises the Nazis. Yes they still do Nazi stuff, but at the end of the day they're just like the US soldiers but in a different uniform. You see them preparing tactics as if they were the US soldiers, you hear them sing, you see them set up an emergency surgery room in a farm house. All good stuff.

My only major gripe with the film is how they handle LaBeouf's character. I know they needed that precious father son dynamic to have dominance, but basically cockblocking the character in one of the most bewildering five seconds I've ever seen in a film was not the way to do it.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I'm curious by what you mean "evokes" Pedophilia? Do you mean could it stimulate sexual arousal in a Pedophile? Yeah, definitely.

Is the content Child Porn? Nope. If the only barometer for child porn was arousal of Pedophiles tons of childrens TV would be banned at this point. Not because of explicit content obviously.

The video is every evocative, bordering provocative. There is a huge mess of sensations being explored here like rage, fear, loneliness, playfulness, tenderness, disgust, anxiety... and yes even a little bit of sexuality. It's all conveyed with wild and jerky body movement which makes it seem all the more raw and primal. I can see how people get uncomfortable watching this and such a reaction is unsurprising to say the least. That said, I love the video. It's emotionally charged, is quite striking to watch and the song itself isn't half bad either. That girl is a terrific performer (I've seen her in another one of Sia's videos but forgot the name).

Also, It's nice to see Shia in a way that I approve... silent.
Seriously though, he was really good in this. I've liked Shia in more stuff then I hated him in (for the record, I hated him in all Transformers, Wanted and Crystal Skull). How he acts behind the camera be damned, in front of it he's a good actor when given the chance.

 

[VanQ]

Frankly put, people on the internet are likely to be highly sensitive to anything involving the following:

-Women
-Children
-Things they don't like that somebody else likes

When it comes to children, it's not just the internet. My girlfriend's father is an artist. He was sketching in the park, and someone called the cops because there were children playing nearby, and the assumption was that he was sketching them in a...fuck I don't know...sinister fashion? People are CRAZED about protecting children. Particularly their own children. It is an a-priori biological compulsion. I'm not even sure they can help it.

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 remember getting in an argument once with someone who claimed "Mad Men" was the most sexist show on television, because it showed period-appropriate sexism without any filter. There are people who only really do well thinking in straight lines. That the dance and their interaction could be an artistic representation of something else entirely never really registers. It's just a little girl and a grubby man, and they're extremely unhappy about it.

You know what, this thread reminds me of this news report from a few years back that aired on Australian news program Today Tonight.


It doesn't matter what the man looks like. All that matters is he's a man in close proximity to a child. It's an unfortunate form of discrimination that goes unnoticed by most and makes it extremely difficult for some men, even fathers, to have a healthy relationship with young girls.

 

[Timeless Lavender]

I do not think this is anyway involves pedophilia. But it is very weird, not artistic weird, just 'weird' weird. I do not care about Shia whatever name or even Megan Fox, I do not get the hate about them either but I do hate transformer movies in general.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, I've not been able to watch that the whole way through as it evokes boredom.

 

[fenrizz]

If you see anything sexual about this there is something wrong with you.

I thought the video was great, and I consider it art.
Same with the video for Chandelier.

Maddie Ziegler is an amazing dancer, I'm quite impresed.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, OTOH, just think of all the disappointed pedophiles that got trolled.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Honestly, although I don't enjoy modern/interpretive dance or whatever, I really enjoyed the other clip that Maddie danced in. However I'm not feeling this one. Simply matter of opinion, don't enjoy the song or the video. Nothing to do with Shia, just not something I'd watch again or recommend to anyone.

Anyone who thinks this is porn or evokes pedophilia are practically looking for controversy in places where they don't exist, and they are part of the problem. Heavy disclaimer, that's just my opinion and not backed up by scientific fact. I just think there's a broad distinction to be made here.

 

[chiggerwood]

I watched the video before reading the OP and I was thinking "This reminds me of my mental illness." And holy shit that's what it was about! Damn I'm awesome... ish.

OT: Of course it's not pedophilia. It's sad how regressive we are, sexually speaking, when we see sexuality where no sexuality lies. As for the people offended by the video, and speaking as someone who used to have an insane amount of triggers, please seek therapy and keep your lips together as to not infect others with your sickened mind.

 

[Zhukov]

Da fuck was that?

I remember it being on the frontpage of Youtube, but I never bother watching it.

Anyway, pedophilia and the evoking thereof, ummm... no?

They're dancing. Rather whacko dancing, granted, but I don't see anything sexual about it. Hell, I thought they were going for more of a father-daughter thing. That or some kind of bitter-adult-meets-inner-child theme. Eh, I dunno, I don't know a thing about interpretive dance, I'm not about to start holding forth on "what it all means".

I'm certainly not offended or upset or outraged by it. Merely a bit bemused.

On the other hand, I'm not exactly shocked that someone, somewhere is getting their knickers in a twist. At the end of the day, it is a twelve year old girl and a scruffy, occasionally aggressive, nearly naked adult man chasing each other around a cage. I mean, there's no way that the people making that video didn't expect some backlash, possibly while rubbing their hands together and cackling with glee.

 

[Vlado]

Sorry in advance if this sounds a bit like I'm full of myself, but... I won't even watch this. Why would this deserve several minutes of my life? I wish more people asked themselves this before wasting time with pointless things.

 

[jklinders]

It's art. Sure there is a bit of subtext there but that was part of it. I really did not see that performance as crossing any moral lines but it made it's point.

Any good art ruffles a few feathers in it's presentation. Great art ruffles feathers while stepping as close to the line of decency as possible without crossing it. In my opinion, this is great art.

Captcha is a multple choice this morning.

Which does not not belong

Barak Obama,
Ronald Reagan,
Head of Cabbage
Bill Clinton
George Bush

What was the question again?

 

[Pseudonym]

It seems the only discussion this sparked is whether believing this is pornographic makes you stupid or some other thing. Well, good. Then I have little to add. I believe I know what porn looks like. I don't see how this is porn.

 

[Grimh]

Okay so I watched it and no I did not get much of a sexual/pedophelic/pornographic vibe from it.

I'm not much for interpretive dance but all I got from it is that it might be about an internal struggle of some sort.
That's all I got sorry, dancing really isn't my thing.

As for it being a controversy all I can really dejectedly say about that is of course it is.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I watched Chandelier and felt extremely uncomfortable so I never finished it, mainly because I thought there was a kid younger than me dancing around in a flesh colored bodysuit. Apparently Sia really is that small. So I would say they obviously didn't intend for it to evoke pedophilia, but if someone didn't know who Sia is I wouldn't blame them for thinking the video was creepy in a pedo kind of way.