An anti-rape group has condemned Rihanna’s new video claiming it sends out the wrong message to women and is a “disgrace”.
The raunchy “We Found Love” music video depicts a turbulent relationship between the Barbados songstress and her co-star, Dudley O’Shaughnessy, who looks strikingly similar to her ex, Chris Brown.
theGrio: 15 most telling moments in Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’
The on-screen duo battles their way through a toxic mix of booze, drugs and abuse, which many are interpreting as a “snap-shot” of Ri-Ri’s own relationship with Brown.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘WE FOUND LOVE’ HERE
Rihanna on WhoSay
Criticism of the video comes from anti-rape activists who question the message it is sending out to female fans and are concerned about the video objectifying women.
Eileen Kelly of the Rape Crisis Center in the UK says she’s concerned about a scene in the video where Rihanna’s “boyfriend” tattoos the word “mine” on the singer’s backside.
“Rihanna’s new video is a disgrace. It sends the message that she is an object to be possessed by men, which is disturbingly what we see in real violence cases,” Kelly said in an interview with Britain’s popular tabloid newspaper, Daily Star.
The director of the video, Melina Matsoukas, defended her work saying although the video is about toxic love it is “not really all about domestic violence.”
“It’s not trying to glorify that type of relationship. The bad parts of it, that’s what you don’t want. In the end, her leaving, it represents her getting that out of her life,” says Matsoukas.
Rihanna is no stranger to video controversy when it comes to her music videos, courting criticism for her “S&M” and “Man Down” videos, for their respective explicit sexual and violent content.
In the UK, Government officials are scheduled to sit down with concerned parents, record industry bosses and internet firms in January to discuss whether pop videos, like movies, should have a ratings system. The rules could force record companies to shoot two versions of videos — a family-friendly one and a more explicit late-night version suitable for adult viewing.
