What the world needs now…is the lighten up

I have some fairly strong opinions about any number of subjects, and I’m pretty stubborn about most of them. But I’m also completely okay with people expressing opinions I don’t agree with, however wrong they may be.

Oh, I’m kidding…sort of. Not really.

What I have noticed is that there are a whole lot of people who have become so polarized in their belief systems that they become irrationally enraged about the littlest things. They become offended by the mere fact that anyone would have the audacity to think differently from them, and that’s a shame.

Katy Hudson

When former gospel singer Katy Hudson changed her name to Katy Perry and released the song “I Kissed a Girl (and I liked it)” she was well on her way to becoming a superstar and media darling. The more outrageous she became, the further away she seemed to be drifting from her Christian upbringing, the brighter her star seemed to shine.

Katy Perry

But recently she crossed the line. She committed an egregious sin. She dared to star in this video:

Girl power? Empowerment of women? A message that the affection of a man does not define who a woman is or can be? Well, yes. That’s all great. But to use actual female marines and the military as a metaphor for those messages? Katy, what were you thinking???

From the New York Daily News Music and Arts:

Activist Naomi Wolf says Katy Perry’s latest music video is “propaganda for the Marines,” and is even calling for a boycott of the bubblegum pop star’s music.

Wolf, best known for her book, “The Beauty Myth,” wasn’t buying it.

On Sunday, the famed feminist posted this on Facebook:

“I really want to find out if she was paid by them for making it . . . it is truly shameful. I would suggest a boycott of this singer whom I really liked — if you are as offended at this glorification of violence as I am.”

Um, what? Which part of that video glorified violence? How is showing marines in basic training a glorification of violence? Maybe Ms. Wolf’s problem with Perry isn’t that she featured marines in her video, but that said marines weren’t committing violence against women and children. Something tells me she’d be a-okay with that, but what do I know?

The article continues:

Public relations expert Glenn Selig, who founded The Publicity Agency, told Fox News he thinks Wolf’s call for a boycott will backfire.

“In her efforts to boycott the video, Naomi Wolf has brought more attention to it,” he said. “Without her comments, most people would clearly have seen the military simply as a metaphor and not as an attempt by Katy Perry to glamorize the military or war.

“It’s hard to believe that Naomi Wolf’s view of the video will resonate with the public at large, because most people will view her comments as completely absurd and a ridiculous attempt to make a big deal out of nothing.”

Yeah…what he said.

I, for one, will not boycott Katy Perry for appearing in a video which shows the men and women of the military in a positive light, nor did I boycott her for donning a blue hair, wearing a cupcake bra and singing about kissing girls. She’s an artist. She has the right to express herself and her work just as I have the right to like or not like her or the message.

A boycott? (rolls eyes)

Lighten up, Naomi.

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