Music

Avril Lavigne's racist "Hello Kitty" video was well-received in Japan

by Mark Teo

What was the worst thing you saw last week? We’re betting it was Avril Lavigne’s quote-unquote tribute to Japanese culture, “Hello Kitty,” which some called racist. (The worst headline we saw? “And you thought marrying the guy from Nickelback was the worst thing Avril Lavigne ever did.”) It drew cries of cultural appropriation, and in an afternoon’s time was compared to everything from Gwen Stefani’s “Harajuku Girls,” Sky Ferreira’s “I Blame Myself,” andthat stupid band Wayne Coyne likes that dresses up in ironic headdresses.

Those in Avril’s camp maintained that her detractors got it all wrong: Sure, culture isn’t a costume, they argued, but Avril lovesJapanese culture. The video, said her supporters, wasn’t even meant for North American audiences—it was meant as a cheeky thank you to her significant Japanese fan base. And besides, “Hello Kitty”—now at 15 million views and counting—was taken too seriously, said Avril herself.

Here’s what she tweeted directly after the incident.

Many of “Hello Kitty”‘s fans claimed that the outrage was white guilt at its whitest and guiltiest—Avril’s Japanese fans, they pointed out, weren’t as angry as North Americans. In fact Billboard reports that the video might have even been viewed positively.

“Searches in the Japanese Twittersphere and blogsphere show that most of the reactions were favourable,” Tokyo social media expertNobuyuki Hayashi told Billboard.”The people who are blaming the artist for racism are non-Japanese … but most Japanese people are not taking it that seriously.”

Next, Billboard asked Hiro Ugaya, a Tokyo-based media commentator, for his opinion. He concluded that Avril’s video was reductive, but largely forgave its existence.”I assume that images of cultures outside of one’s own in mass media are always different from the reality…. When you’re trying to reach the majority of consumers, images tend to be lowest common dominator.”

Ugaya might be right—and any culture, reduced to its lowest common denominator, will appear silly. Still, even if Japanese Avril fans forgive “Hello Kitty,” it doesn’t make the video forgivable. Because it’s still a Canadian playing dress-up with a culture: As we wrote last week, the video still reinforces racist stereotypes, exoticizes people, and yes, subconsciously invalidates an entire culture.“Loving a culture,” as Avril tweeted, is fine. But it’s very possible to love a culture and objectify it all the same.

Avril’s Japanese fans might not care—and that’s fine. Appropriation minus outrage is still appropriation, andfor that reason, “Hello Kitty” will never be permissible.