Mirrors On the Wall: R. Kelly "Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22"

R. Kelly "Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22"
dir. by R. Kelly and Jim Swaffield
There's a point in Chapter 8 of R. Kelly's magnum opus, as James the police officer is on the verge of discovering Bridgette's bizarre secrets, where the room darkens and bars of light are thrown across the nervous wife's face. In that moment you begin to understand perhaps the meaning behind all these illicit affairs and love triangles. Whether you're a gay priest, a stripping midget, or even a multi-platinum world famous R&B superstar (who just so happens to be amidst a rather aberrant real-life court case himself), we've all got our own skeletons tucked away somewhere.

As we watch with rapt enthusiasm as Kelly unveils the latest installments of his hip hopera (daily on IFC.com), we'll save the rest of our comments 'til the complete tale is spun. Check back next week for a full run through.

Pretty Girls Make Graves: Candie Payne "One More Chance"

Obtusity is in the process of moving, and consequently the blog will be on hiatus for a week or so. But as we pack up and head out west, we leave you with this delightful new video from Candie Payne.


Candie Payne "One More Chance"
dir. by Indica
The English singer-songwriter and her director Indica play against the expectations set-up by the sweet music and the even sweeter appearance of our heroine. As a parade of men are distracted by her long silky legs and batting lashes, the not-so-innocent beauty is masterminding a plan to escape scot-free. Meanwhile a crew of stereotypical "criminal" types walk around in the background, subtly challenging the viewer's own perceptions of what "bad" people look like.

Saturday Night Fever: M.I.A. "Jimmy"

One of the best songs of the year gets a far-out video makeover...


M.I.A. "Jimmy" [Hi-Res]
dir. by Nezar Khamal
Disco Dancer, which provides the inspiration for "Jimmy," is one of the great soundtracks of the 80’s, and the Indian musical is exactly the sort of gaudy mess that fits perfectly with M.I.A.’s aesthetic of celebrating the forgotten and marginalized art of the third-world. While the song channels the extravagant emotions of unrequited Bollywood love through dreamy guitars, gorgeous epic strings and her most impassioned vocal performance yet, the video amplifies the effect by riffing on space travel, Buddhism and the "disco" theme.*

The final shot is of M.I.A. tearfully calling out to her lover Jimmy, and it initially seems at odds with the buoyant energy of the previous 3 minutes. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it's also a telling moment of sincerity. The artist is, after all, working within a specific style which calls for dramatic gestures and visuals which convey the grandness of human feeling. In the 1983 movie the song "Jimmy Jimmy" is sung by the female protagonist during a dance competition, meant to entice her suddenly hesitant partner to come join her on stage. He never does gather the courage, and she finishes the performance alone. M.I.A. extracts the metaphor from the scene, using it as a mirror for her own struggles with love - dancing and singing in hopes of capturing the wavering heart of her own Jimmy. In many ways her spin on Disco Dancer (which to be honest, is remembered more for its music than its feeble plot) is more romantic and more animated than the original scene - she makes it brilliantly more Bollywood.

*Parts of this paragraph are quoted from my own review of the track at Stylus

The Riot is Yet to Come: Kaiser Chiefs "Angry Mob"

Kaiser Chiefs "Angry Mob"
dir. by W.I.Z.
[via antville]
The name of the restaurant - Noblesse - is engraved in the window that separates the outcast women from the diners who excised them. The French word means what it looks like, but is perhaps more widely know as in the phrase "Noblesse oblige" - a concept which implies that those with wealth or prestige have a heightened social accountability. Or to quote Spiderman, "with great power comes great responsibility."

Director W.I.Z. has previously tackled issues of class and discrimination, but here his commentary is laced with a hint of modern political allegory. The privileged patrons of the glossy establishment observe the members of the bachelorette-party with condescending smirks and glances. Eventually they set the two groups of rowdy drunk women against each other, observing the ensuing brawl with glee - simultaneously sharing knowing looks (as if to say "I told you they were uncivilized") while quietly relishing in the spectacle of the physical altercation. The lower "class" fights amongst itself while the upper, protected by the institutions of society, stands back and watches with a sense of moral superiority - a pattern which could apply to a certain war in the Middle East, or recent riots on the streets of Paris.

Yet it's the restaurant itself which got half these ladies drunk in the first place. And while they may pretend to be above the crowd, the seated folks have the same human desires and emotions as the skirt-lifting women they shun. While one group expresses their sexuality with blow-up sex toys and racy lingerie, the other resorts to secretive touching under the table. The wine-n-dine crew resent the scantily-clad and loud women across the restaurant precisely because they expose the suppressiveness of their own stuffy mentality. They stand in the window and relish the altercation out there because it releases all the emotion they hold back in the name of everything that is "proper."

It's only a matter of time before the mob realize they are being used. And when that happens they will do as they've been trained to do: express their anger through base violence. Sadly only in these moments when the fear comes home do the wealthy and powerful truly understand their social obligations - and hopefully the ersatz nature of "nobility."