Last Sunday, I - like many others - watched the Grammys. I didn't catch the whole show, however I did watch Nicki Minaj's performance. I am confident in saying that I am not the only one offended by her performance. And I believe it sent a loud, rhetorical message to the religious - specifically Catholic - viewers.
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| Photo by: The Daily Truffle |
The first offense was what she wore. She dressed up in a red rendition of a nun's habit. Worse, the man who accompanied her dressed like the pope! Now, to some people, that may not mean anything. But to many others, it is unthinkable. The pope is the head of the Catholic Church. As far as Catholics are concerned, he is the closest man to God, he is in the chosen line decended from Saint Peter, and frankly, he is not a man to mess with. It really sent a message that Nicki and her companion wore these things. The message was that she doesn't care about religion. She does not honor other people's religious views, and instead finds that it is a joke.
Minaj did not stop there. Her performance onstage had me clenching my hands in outrage. She created a satire of the whole institution of the Catholic Church. From the sacrament of Penitence to exorcizing those posessed by demons, Minaj made fun of much about this religion. By doing this, she told the audience that Catholicism is a joke. That the foundations of the Catholic Church are frivolous and unimportant. She challenged the audience's beliefs. They then must question their faith. Would they be faithful to their religion (thus be angry over the act), or forgive her in the name of a Hollywood performance? People who are not Catholics had just as strong of reactions to this. I watched it with my friends. As it was going on, one of them said, "Wow. I'm not even Christian, and yet I even find this offensive!"
In the end, Nicki Minaj undermined the whole institution of the Catholic Church. Regardless of whether her performance was asthetically pleasing, it had disasterous effects. At least personally, I lost a lot of respect for her. I don't mind when people have views other than my own, especially regarding religion, but it is incredibly rude and immoral to make fun of others' beliefs. Sorry Nicki, but your performance was an absolute nightmare.
Speaking as early Nicki Minaj fan, the idea of her performances use to be meant to show that she was "unique" and always entertaining. Yet lately, it seems that she has fallen in her many latest performances, and even her own fans are embarrassment by the stunt of a performance. Some of my friends said "she make the entire hip hop, r & b, and rap community look like a disgrace" and even worse, was that "she went horribly wrong when she created her performance into that of the mockery of the catholic church." I was highly disappointed, and more than her little skit, she barely had an actual musical performance. I think that there are a lot of good musical artist in the world, and sometimes the risk they take just to follow the wants of the music industry, certainly leads to their downfall.
ReplyDeleteI agree that her strive to stand out has gone too far. SHe reminds me of Lady Gaga and her "Judas" song, which goes beyond the limits of provoking opinions. There is a point one crosses where it is just plain disregard and utter lack of respect for the widely held view of others. I agree with Kayla in that artists will do anything to strive for fame, and it usually leads to their downfall
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