Sam Smith: why his latest music video causes controversy

If someone titles their last song I’m not here to make friends (“I’m not here to make friends”), you’re probably waiting for a reaction.

And with his latest video, Sam Smith has certainly raised quite a stir.

If you haven’t seen it, the singer spends most of the video wearing a corset and nipple tasselswhile executing suggestive moves with supporting dancers.

There are those who say that the video is “hypersexualized” and they want me to carry a warning. Others believe that Smith is being the victim of double standards.

What the video shows

The video for “I’m Not Here To Make Friends” opens with Sam Smith, wearing an oversized pink coat, arriving at a remote castle by helicopter.

Once inside, the singer is surrounded by a group of dancers and drag queen in a sequence of dance routines.

One scene in particular has given some people annoyance: it shows Smith in that corseted outfit with nipple tassels, posing suggestively as he is showered with jets of water.

when he came out, the video -as expected- took over YouTubereaching the first place on its list of trending videos.

Before long, Smith was also trending On twitter. Several of the messages called the video “vulgar” and not appropriate for young audiences.

YouTube restricted mode blocks the video. But fans argue that this video is nothing worse than those of other artists, many of them women, with suggestive content.

Songs like Anacondaby Nicki Minaj YE from Rihanna and even call on me by Eric Prydz benefit from it

Phobia?

Those who believe that Sam Smith is being targeted have a theory.

In 2019, identified as non-binary and asked to be described with the pronouns they/them (“they”).

His latest album, “Gloria”, is fully nourished by the LGTBI culture.

“If a female artist had made that same video, worn the same outfits, no one would have been upset”says the drag queen Pixie Polite.

“I think the outrage reeks of some kind of homophobia, queerphobia and transphobia.

Pixie says she also sees an element of fatphobia, since Smith doesn’t fit within the stereotypical standards of the ideal body.

Since coming out as non-binary, fans believe her new identity has had an impact on her music.

“Sam Smith’s early work was very popular with general audiences, because it did not celebrate his queerness the same way,” Pixie points out.

“I think It’s a time of maturation as an artist for Sam Smith.”.

shock factor

Kenny Ethan Jones, a trans rights advocate and writer in London, agrees that Sam Smith is entering a phase of “embracing his queerness”.

“It’s great to see Smith embrace himself,” says Kenny.

“I think Sam is essentially doing God’s work, just allowing everyone to be represented and feel good in their bodies.”

Music video producer Ashleigh Jadee believes that this effort to put bodies queer as the center of the video may be what caused the reaction.

Jadee thinks that shows us a version of sexuality that we don’t see very oftenwhich gives it a wow factor, since there’s nothing new about seeing straight men and women on screen.

For the production company, Smith’s video is not particularly racy.

“When I saw it, I was a bit like, ‘Is that all?’” he says.

“I can understand why some people might think it’s a bit-too wild. But I think that today, the videos are still quite sexualized.

It is not the first time that an artist reflects his LGTBI identity in his work.

25 years ago, George Michael was arrested by an undercover cop in Los Angeles.

He found the British singer performing a sex act in a public toilet and arrested him.

George Michael, who had not revealed his sexuality before the incident, returned with the music video for his song Outside (“Afuera”), which featured dancers simulating public sex and lots of leather.

and before that was Relax from Frankie goes to Hollywood, in 1983.

The band had to make two videos for the song, because the first one was set in a sadomasochism-themed nightclub and was reportedly banned from TV.

And the BBC refused to play the song after one of their main DJs at the time, Mike Read, called it “raunchy”.

“Marking the way”

“The tide of progress always has its ups and downs,” says Pixie.

“You’re always going to have a little bit of resistance before you can move forward again and I think the culture war that’s going on now, in reference to queer and trans people, that’s definitely resistance.”

“I think the slogan ‘we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it’ is as relevant today as it’s ever been,” says Pixie.

Kenny says he’s proud for Sam, who is confidently presenting his identity in his new video and album.

“It is unfortunate that the people who lead the way are the ones who receive the most hatebut essentially, we have to do it,” says Kenny.

“If we don’t keep pushing and get through this difficult era, we’re never going to make progress.” (YO)