Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino’s new clip is a perfect illustration of the daily life of black people in the United States
The new single from Childish Gambino, « This is America »fits perfectly with the plot of the second season of the series Atlanta, presenting a grim – but real – vision of the American continent. These two works have in common the idea that the nation is governed by entertainment, more important, more powerful, than justice.
In « This Is America », people are dying. But all they want us to do about it is sing and dance.
Wakeup call :
Directed by longtime Glover collaborator, Hiro Muraithe clip for « This Is America » opens with an act of horror: Glover shoots a hooded, handcuffed black guitarist. A school couple rush to drag their bodies off screen. As chaos sets in, more and more children join Glover in dancing in the heart of the huge warehouse.
The decor evokes that of « Bad » from the king of pop. He had used the same abandoned urban space to talk about the place of a black artist in the entertainment society.
In « This Is America »the cars are set on fire, a man commits suicide from the top of a balcony, and finally, Glover fires without any scruple on the whole of a choir of Church.
Childhood is also at the center of the story. A child handles Glover’s gun after each shot, children are also there, sitting on the edge of the railings, filming the musician’s actions with their phones.
Our normalization of racist violence has come at the cost not only of lives, but of l’innocence.
Popular culture vector of suffering
Like several other famous works published in recent years, « This Is America » deals with the phenomenon of l’absorption. On screen and in real life, a black person is exposed to terror and injustice, but they keep moving forward. « Lemonade » from Beyoncé, released two years ago, treated the body like a diary, collecting past pains and potentially redeeming experiences. Last year, Get Out showed this unhealthy fascination that a white family could have on a black, who cashed, cashed… Later, the phenomenon Black Panther told the story of a hero who has the ability to absorb the violence inflicted on him to reject it against his enemies.
https://youtu.be/YTKAHxXoI_k
Even so, Captain America was portrayed as white. Glover’s track – whose heart beats in large part thanks to the clip – recalls this long journey that black people continue to experience. Throughout the video, he plays the role of a tightrope walker on this sensitive chord, setting himself up as a spokesperson for many hip-hop artists who have known success, while living through painful experiences. « Get your money, black man » – phrase that acts as the cornerstone of the piece – is sage advice that has been passed down from generation to generation. As we ponder, Glover continues to dance about the relationship between materialism, consumerism, and the exploitation of black people. He forces his continent to look exactly what it is.
A tension that has been at the hot spot of countless pop culture earthquakes: Kendrick Lamar loses Grammy for Best Rap Album of 2014 to Macklemore; ” Lemonade » Loses Grammy for Album of the Year 2017 to « 25 » of Adele; the Oscars get it wrong Moonlight et La La Land...
As Glover runs frantically in the dark, chased by indistinguishable people, this finale ranks as the most terrifying passage. Why are they trying to capture him: for causing so much destruction, or for revealing the truth about America? This individualization seems to have the same purpose as Get Out ; where black is instrumentalized as a toy, an object of study, of entertainment. As the crowd closes in on the protagonist, the clip ends in a fade to black. Here is America. shut up and dance.
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