The video is for the song “Shame” by English pop star Robbie Williams. He’s accompanied his former (and current, again) boy bandmate from Take That, Gary Barlow. The song describes the regret over their relationship since Williams acrimoniously left the supergroup in 1995. Williams went on to have a huge solo career in the UK and the rest of Europe, while the rest of Take That broke up in 1996. But, fast-forward to 2006, and Williams’ star began to fade, but the other four members of Take That reunited, had a very successful tour and two hit albums. Currently, Robbie is back in the group and everyone has reconciled to the point where Williams and Barlow seem to have a full-on bro-mance. A new Take That album with all five original members will be released in November.

So, back to the question: Would an American man make this video? Specifically, would a straight American male pop star make this video? I don’t think two straight men, like Williams and Barlow, would make a video like this, that is ironically set in America, if they were from this side of The Pond. An American male pop star with straight-sex appeal won’t cross the line of toying with the idea of being gay, even if it’s just for a music video.

A singer has their name on the album, song and music video. They are connected to their product especially when it’s autobiographical as is the case with “Shame.” Singers are more connected to what’s going on in a video, as opposed to movies or television where actors are generally removed from the characters they play.

This shouldn’t be a surprise since America still won’t accept gays and lesbians as equal members of society. We still won’t allow gays to serve openly in the military and won’t allow them to get married in most states. There aren’t any openly male athletes in the NFL, MLB or NBA. Ricky Martin just came out of the closet this year because he was concerned about the reaction of his fans. Even though people speculated for years about him being gay, he continued to record and sing songs aimed at women.. as if he were straight.

This isn’t just about the fear of announcing one’s homosexuality, it’s about the appearing gay. Take any straight member of the boy bands in the 80s and 90s – New Kids On The Block, New Edition, Backstreet Boys – or any other male singer who’s popular right now. Can you see any of them doing this video? I don’t think the managers, agents and advisors would support it. For American singers, it’s ok to be provocative with straight sex, but not gay sex.

This sexual line in the sand doesn’t apply to women. Madonna, Britney, Gaga. They can flirt with being a lesbian and it’s no problem. If anything, it helps record sales.

It’s often said that Europeans are much more open about sexuality than Americans. Combine that with a bit of cheeky British humor, and you get the freedom to make a video like “Shame.” If American artists aren’t open to making videos of any kind because we’re so concerned about what everyone else is doing in their bedroom and we lack a little sense of humor, then that is indeed a shame.

What do you think?

See also:
Ricky Martin Announces He’s Gay

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Confederacy is celebrated in some states when the it and the Confederate flag get away with little or no criticism in popular culture. It’s because those other representations of the antebellum South are romanticized as if straight out of Gone With The Wind. That film begins with the following on the screen:

There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind…

What’s incredible is that the quote includes slavery as part of the pretty world of the film’s “Old South.”

Flash forward to today. For some, the Old South is still that pretty world. For them, it’s either country and folksy or, just the opposite, elegant and aristocratic. There are films like Sweet Home Alabama where the parents of Reese Witherspoon’s character have sofa pillows with the Conferderate Flag on them. And I like watching fast cars jumping over things as much as the next guy. When The Dukes of Hazzard movie came out, though, with the General Lee and the Confederate flag on top of it, I couldn’t go see the film. Then there is the country-pop act Lady Antebellum. The story behind their name is that the band thought they looked good in pre-Civil War style photo shoot. Ok, but is that the only name they could think of? Didn’t anyone think it might be a problem for a country band from the South to be called a name that references and glamorizes (that would be the “Lady” part) the pre-Civil War era?

This might all seem petty. You might say a movie prop or pop group’s name doesn’t mean anything and it doesn’t mean they’re racists. No, the people in the movie and in the band probably aren’t racists. But it might mean they don’t know the Confederacy and the Gone With The Wind plantation-style aristocracy was fighting to protect the institution of slavery. All those images, symbols and references do mean something. It’s a tip of the hat to a time when blacks, and anyone else who wasn’t a white male, didn’t count for anything (except maybe 3/5 of a person).

So, is it ok to portray the Confederacy in a positive or sympathetic light? Is it ok when two governors set aside an entire month to remember that history? Is it ok to refer to the Civil War as the “war of yankee aggression,” like Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) did in March on the floor of the House of Representatives – as if the nation shouldn’t have stayed together and the Confederacy should have continued to engage in the barbaric business of slavery?

No. None of that is ok. The Civil War was about slavery. The states in the Confederacy seceded from the Union because of slavery. You can dress it up however you like – with a charming drawl or a glamourous gown. It doesn’t matter. The Confederacy always comes back to slavery.

That “pretty world” talked about in the beginning of Gone With The Wind is thankfully gone, but it hasn’t been remembered. It’s been rewritten into something it never was.

See also:
Confederate History Month