The least we can say is that the video, unveiled on May 5, leaves no one indifferent.
Multiplying cultural and political references, these four minutes present themselves as a critical and uncomfortable reflection of the United States in 2018. Police brutality, shootings and national reverence for guns are evoked. Entertainment is, for its part, shown as a way to forget about violence against blacks.
So, Childish Gambino – the name used as a rapper by actor, screenwriter and director Donald Glover – smiles and dances happily amidst violent scenes. We can see him shooting at close range at a black man whose hands are tied and his head covered with a bag, or even murder a gospel choir.
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“What he tells us is that we are relieved and appeased by the African-American entertainment, while at the same time we close our eyes to [les réalités de] the lives of African Americans, ”said Mark Campbell, professor of media at Ryerson University in Toronto, interviewed by CBC News.
Handling the suffering of others
Many quickly praised This Is America, seeing it as a shining example of artistic activism. However, Childish Gambino is also criticized for taking ownership of the dramas and suffering of others.
Mark Campbell showed the video to his students in class on Monday. Many said they were shocked by its content. Although he says he understands the rapper’s intentions, the scholar is critical of how Glover went about getting his point across.
It looks beautiful, it’s empowering and it provokes discussion, but I’m absolutely certain that you don’t need to see a massacre of black people go viral.
Mark Campbell is not opposed to music videos conveying political messages, citing as an example Fight the Power, of Public Enemy, in 1990. But there is, according to him, a “contempt for black life” in This Is America. This would be “used as a way to get more clicks while celebrating the death of black people.”
Ultimately, This Is America “Only confirms and reinforces the view of certain people on the life of blacks”, he regrets.
Mark Campbell, Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto
Photo : CBC
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Far from being a newcomer to the entertainment industry, Donald Glover, now 34, broke through more than 10 years ago by participating in the writing of the series. 30 Rock. He is used to the media machine, underlines Mark Campbell: This Is America was unveiled on the night that Childish Gambino presented and sang on the hugely popular show Saturday Night Live. In addition, Donald Glover is part of the cast of the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which releases May 25 in the United States.
“Everything was well planned. There is obviously a marketing strategy, and in that strategy is the idea of using the suffering of blacks in order to have more attention, ”believes Mark Campbell.
Poetic shock that tells a reality
Yes, This Is America comes at the right time, but for quite another reason, says Toronto director Peter Huang, finalist this year for the Prism Prize, a major award in Canada for music videos.
Childish Gambino presented this visual, directed by Hiro Murai – with whom Glover is used to collaborating on the series Atlanta –, at a time when the world is horrified by the gun violence in the United States.
“I have the impression that someone finally managed to express it poetically, in a very, very shocking way,” said Peter Huang.
This video is, in a way, a surreal exploration of his own fears as a black man.
Peter Huang believes that we are witnessing a renaissance period for music videos, thanks to YouTube. Again, they would constitute a cultural vector for the new generations of militant artists. In his own work nominated for the Prism Prize, produced for the title Gatekeeper, by Jessie Reyez, the Canadian shows the singer being sexually harassed by a producer.
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Thanks to Instagram and Facebook, every artist needs a video. A great song can be taken to the next level with a great video, Huang adds. For him, nothing says that This Is America would have had such an impact without these images which “struck a chord”.
With information from Jessica Wong (CBC)
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