Bloody Maroon 5 video condemned by anti-sexual assault group
Pop music has never been widely known for its feminism-friendly lyrics and video content. But the new video for Maroon 5’s “Animals” has gained the attention of RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) for its particularly disturbing imagery.
Pop music has never been widely known for its feminism-friendly lyrics and video content. But the new video for Maroon 5's "Animals" has gained the attention of RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) for its particularly disturbing imagery.
In "Animals," released on Sept. 29, Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine plays an obsessive butcher who stalks a woman (played by Levine's wife, supermodel Behati Prinsloo), snapping secret photos of her and hanging them in his meat locker. Levine follows Prinsloo, and at one point he even breaks into her home, takes pictures of her, and lies in her bed as she sleeps.
Levine fantasizes about Prinsloo in his meat locker, smearing himself with blood as reality intermingles with fantasy. In real life, Levine creepily approaches Prinsloo in a club, and she clearly shows a lack of interest. In Levine's imagination, he and Prinsloo get together while being doused with blood.
RAINN issued a statement publicly condemning the "dangerous depiction of a stalker's fantasy."
"No one should ever confuse the criminal act of stalking with romance," the statement says. "The trivialization of these serious crimes, like stalking, should have no place in the entertainment industry."
Levine told Access Hollywood last week the "really dark and weird and cool" video idea was his.
Problematic as the video is, the song's lyrics are no better.
"Baby, I'm preying on you tonight/Hunt you down eat you alive," Levine croons. "Maybe you think that you can hide/I can smell your scent from miles/Just like animals."
Lyrics like these adhere to a theme in pop lyrics comparing human sexual desire to uncontrollable primal instincts found in animals. Lyrics in Robin Thicke's hit "Blurred Lines," for example, are: "OK, now he was close/Tried to domesticate you/But you're an animal/Baby, it's in your nature."
Such lyrics deny a woman's opinions, choices and desires by overshadowing them with an animalistic inevitability insisted by men.
RAINN concluded its statement by offering help for victims and survivors of crimes like stalking. "Survivors everywhere can get help 24/7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE and online.rain.org," the statement said.