After the tragedies at Sandy Hook Elementary, violence in entertainment was under the microscope once more. In the midst of the shock and grief, we searched for answers about how something so horrible could happen, how anyone could possibly gun down 20 first-graders and 6 of their teachers? And the celebration of violence in popular culture was largely blamed.
But the blame is really a two-way street. Yes, violence will always be for sale. But the level of demand is up to the consumers. If violence, hatred and anger were not such popular forms of entertainment, perhaps their ability to manifest in real life tragedies would not be all too real. Anger is a very popular theme in American culture today. A prime example of this is the singer Chris Brown, not to mention Kanye West (whose militant god-complex and violent rampages could be the subject of another book altogether). As of September 2013 Brown has over 32 million likes on Facebook, 13 million followers on Twitter, and a Klout score of 91 – in other words, he is an insanely popular entertainer. Brown is also an unapologetic rage rhino.
As is widely known, Brown unleashed a horrific attack against his then-girlfriend and fellow entertainer Rihanna just hours before they were both scheduled to perform at the 2009 Grammys.” According to the police report charging Brown with felony assault, Brown and Rihanna got into an argument during which Rihanna became enraged and “slammed both of her fists against the dashboard. Brown then pulled the car over and tried to push Rihanna out. When this failed, Brown slammed Rihanna’s head against the passenger window, punched her in the eye, then went back to driving, steering with one hand and continuing to strike Rihanna with the other. During the attacks Rihanna tried to text her assistant for help, but Brown threw her phone out the window. She then made a grab for his phone but he grabbed her head, put her in a headlock and bit her ear. When Rihanna tried to escape Brown escalated the attacks, continuing to punch her and even applied pressure to her carotid artery, making Rihanna unable to breathe and begin to lose consciousness. Ultimately, under the terms of a plea deal Brown was sentenced on August 25, 2009 to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, six months of community service, and subject to a five-year restraining order on Brown, requiring him to remain 50 yards away from Rihanna, with the exception of 10 yards at public events.
Brown and Rihanna reportedly reunited only weeks after the attacks, holing up in one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mansions on Miami Beach’s Star Island. Sources claimed that “They're together again. They care for each other,” and that Rihanna “doesn't care about her image. She is so in love with that boy that it doesn't matter.” With the couple’s reunion, any hopes of Rihanna’s standing up against domestic violence, not just for herself, but on behalf of other victims went out the window. Despite the example Rihanna set as a public figure, suggesting that it’s okay for women to remain in abusive relationships, others were quick to condemn her negative example.
For example, Oprah Winfrey tried to provide that support to other abuse victims that Rihanna did not. During her show on March 6, 2009, Oprah turned to the camera as if to address Rihanna herself and emphasized, “If a man hits you once, He Will Hit You Again. He Will Hit You Again.” On March 12, 2009, Oprah dedicated an entire episode on her show to domestic violence. Oprah was applauded by many for stepping up to the plate and offering victims of domestic violence the support which Rihanna had such an opportunity to give, but spurned.
But as Oprah uttered her stark warnings, not even she knew or would be able to reckon with the true extent of the star power wielded by both Chris Brown and Rihanna, which did not diminish in the wake of the attack but only skyrocketed more with every passing year. This influence and popularity of the two singers has exploded to the point that Oprah ultimately reversed herself. On August 19, 2012, Oprah held one of her patented tell-all interviews with Rihanna. During this interview, Rihanna continued to profess her love for Chris Brown, saying “We've been working on our friendship again. Now we are very very close friends, we built a trust again..We love each other and we probably always will and that is not anything that we are going to try to change. That is not something you can shut off if you are ever in love.”
Oprah appeared to be swayed by Rihanna’s argument. When, shortly after the interview Rihanna and Chris Brown went public with their rekindled romance, Oprah admitted, “I think that if she is prepared to deal with that and is prepared to help him help himself then so be it..I have no judgment about it..If that's how you choose to lead your life, that's really okay.” Oprah went on to say that Rihanna had essentially perpetuated the abusive relationship that her parents had had, and that Rihanna had learned the lesson she needed to from that.
Rihanna learned from the attack all right – she realized that she could use it to create a whole new persona which would be marketing gold. Before the attack, Rihanna’s image was very different. In the opening to Rihanna’s 2007 hit “Umbrella,” Jay-Z describes her as “little Ms. Sunshine.” Rihanna’s style choices used to be more girlish, whimsical and lighthearted. For example, for the BRIT Awards 2008 she wore a metallic strapless party dress, fancifully tied at the waist with a matching silver bow. For the 2008 BET Awards she wore a flounced lemon-yellow frock, with ruffles around the bodice and tiered down the expanse of her floor-length skirt. Rihanna appeared at the 2008 Z100 Jingle Ball wearing a black-and-white checkered cap-sleeve blouse and matching mini-skirt. At each of these events, her smiled seemed genuine, as though she were holding nothing back.
Fast-forward almost a year later to the 2009 American Music Awards, about nine months after the attack. Rihanna is wearing a transfixing black cocktail dress with oversized frills which billow out from her bodice and skirt, punctuated by rose-shaped cutouts. The reverse side of the fabric is pink, still revealing a feminine side, but Rihanna’s expression is transformed. There is an appearance of a smile, but it now seems much more set, distant, almost icy. Her eyes are framed in a deep pink eyeliner, almost giving them a bloodshot, teary appearance.
Rihanna capitalized on her darker image through a duet with Eminem on the 2010 single “Love The Way You Lie.” The lyrics and video depict a couple making liquor runs, passionately kissing then violently attacking each other, their house and bodies set aflame, the man offering the woman a stuffed animal in apology, and the couple continuing to get back in bed with each other after each round of violence. The video depicts violence being dealt by not only the man, but the woman as well – does this mean that Rihanna sees herself as partially to blame for being almost beaten to death by Brown?
Some people thought it was an empowerment for Rihanna, that she was standing up to her attack and to domestic violence in general with this song. But her lyrics only seem to suggest that she just wants more of the pain: “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn / Well that's alright because I like the way it hurts / Just gonna stand there and hear me cry / Well, that's alright because I love the way you lie / I love the way you lie.” Eminem’s lyrics go on to further describe the downward spiral of domestic violence but don’t renounce it – he, like Rihanna, only seems to want more:
Next time? There won't be no next time
I apologize, even though I know it's lies
I'm tired of the games, I just want her back, I know I'm a liar
If she ever tries to fuckin' leave again, I'ma tie her to the bed
And set this house on fire
According to a New York Times review of Rihanna’s Madison Square Garden installment of her “Last Girl on Earth” tour on August 12, 2010, Rihanna fully embraced themes of violence, among others. The show featured, among other things, trapeze artists hanging from giant rifles and at one point, Rihanna sitting on top of a pink tank’s gun turret. The reviewer noted that none of Rihanna’s tricks and props “cut very deeply, and not just because these themes are so incredibly banal, but because Rihanna keeps her affect on lockdown.”
What can we learn from Rihanna’s evolution from “Little Ms. Sunshine” to her militant megastar status today? For one thing, star power and money can trump all else, especially today. We often care more about celebrity and popularity than standing up for what’s morally right, and doing so consistently. When Oprah interviewed Rihanna in 2012, the singer was a much bigger star than she had been three years earlier. That star power together with Rihanna’s charm probably helped sway Oprah. Oprah also surely knew that it would be a more financially sound decision, especially with her newly launched and struggling network to align herself with Rihanna’s millions of fans.
Following the attacks there were many who said they would not buy another one of either Rihanna or Brown’s albums. How many of these people, like Oprah, have also reversed themselves? If we did not have such a vigorous appetite for violence, would Rihanna have become the megastar that she did?
Obviously, violence in entertainment is nothing new. But what is particularly interesting about Rihanna is that she is an entertainer who went from having a relatively squeaky-clean, family-friendly image to fully embracing the marketing goldmine of violence, to the point of glorifying the domestic violence which victimized her. Rihanna saw that the public was buying her images and messages of violence. So instead of putting the attack behind her and trying to rehabilitate herself, Rihanna keeps perpetuating the violence through her image and music, for all of us to see. And we continue to covet both her and the violence.
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