IF YOU WANT TO OFFEND
DEVOUT MUSLIMS, DRAW PHOTOS OF MOHAMMED.
IF YOU WANT TO OFFEND
CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA, HAVE A THEME TO MET GALA THAT CENTERS
AROUND CATHOLICISM.
BREE PAYTON, WHO WRITES FOR THE
FEDERALIST HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A TIZZY ABOUT THE MET GALA BECAUSE
IT WAS RELIGIOUSLY THEMED.
IN FACT, THE THEME WAS:
LOOK, I AM NOT UPSET ABOUT WHAT SHE WROTE.
I'M AMUSED BY IT,
ESPECIALLY THE FORMAT IN WHICH SHE WROTE THIS PIECE BECAUSE SHE
LISTS ALL OF THE OFFENDERS AND THEN SHE EXPLAINS WHY WHAT THERE
IS WEARING IS OFFENSIVE.
I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A FEW
EXAMPLES.
FIRST THERE IS RIHANNA.
SHE WRITES:
LET'S LOOK AT A PICTURE OF THE SEXY VERSION OF THE POPE.
THAT IS A SEXIER VERSION OF THE CURRENT POPE.
HE'S NOT QUITE THAT SEXY.
HERE'S WHAT PEYTON WRITES ABOUT WHY THIS IS OFFENSIVE.
SHE SAYS:
LOOK, I AM NOT RELIGIOUS.
I WAS OFFENDED BY THE MET FOR OTHER REASONS WHICH WE WILL
GET INTO AND A SECOND BUT I GET IT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE
US A CATHOLIC HISTORY, WE ALL KNOW IN THE POPE IS AHEAD
OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
OH REALLY?
SO BASICALLY, SHE DOES NOT LIKE THEM USING ART TO DEPICT
CATHOLICS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT.
THEY HAVE BEEN USING ART IN
RELIGION FOR CENTURIES UPON CENTURIES.
HAVE YOU EVER GONE TO A MUSEUM?
BUT THAT ART HAS MINIMIZED RELIGION TO PAINTINGS.
NOW WHEN I THINK OF CATHOLICISM, I THINK OF PAINTINGS.
YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT TO KNOW?
SUPER RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, WHICH I WAS RAISED BY SUPER
RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, WHY ARE YOU KEEPING UP WITH THE MET GALA?
WHY ARE YOU RESEARCHING WHAT RIHANNA WORE?
IT WOULDN'T EVEN BE ON MY RADAR BECAUSE I WASN'T ALLOWED TO BE
LIKE THIS, BUT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS FUNNY WAS I LOVE TO HEAR
PEOPLE BE SO OUTRAGED WHEN YOU DISRESPECT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
I WANT TO READ AN ARTICLE THAT SHE WROTE ABOUT TRYING TO GET
SOME OF THOSE PRIESTS WHO MOLESTED CHILDREN BEHIND BARS
AND I WANT TO SEE THE TYPE OF OUTRAGE BEHIND THAT.
[BUFFERING]
AND THEN THERE
IS LANA DEL REY.
HERE IS WHAT PEYTON HAD TO SAY
ABOUT WHY THIS IS OFFENSIVE.
THERE IS SEXUAL ARTWORK OF THIS BUT THE PROBLEM IS SOMEONE IN
YOUR CONTEMPORARY IS WEARING AN OUTFIT LIKE THAT OR IS JUST
KEEPING TRADITION ALIVE.
THEY WANT THING ALSO THINGS OSSIFIED INTO A VERY NARROW
AND LITERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIME FRAME.
THIS IS WHAT IS IT IS REALLY ABOUT.
THERE IS A LOT OF
DISDAIN FOR PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD BECAUSE THEY IDENTIFY AS
LIBERAL.
THEY HAVE THIS THEMED MET GALA.
I DON'T THINK THAT
THEY DID THIS WITH THE INTENTION OF INSULTING ANYONE AND THIS IS
A FORM OF ARTS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU FEEL OR THINK ABOUT
FASHION, THIS IS A FORM OF ARTS, EXPRESSION.
I DON'T THINK
ANYONE HAD THE INTENTION OF CRITICIZING RELIGION OR MAKING A
MOCKERY OUT OF IT AND LOOK, THE POINT THAT I WANT TO QUICKLY
MAKE IS I THINK IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT DEVOUT MUSLIMS GET AS
OFFENDED AS THEY DO WHEN THEIR DEPICTIONS OF THE PROPHET
MOHAMMED.
OF COURSE THERE HAVE BEEN CASES OF PEOPLE TAKING
THINGS TOO FAR WHEN THEY'VE GOTTEN OFFENDED BUT YOU CAN'T
CRITICIZE THE CULTURAL ISSUES THERE WHEN YOU YOURSELF GET
OFFENDED BY SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
BY THE WAY, WHEN I AM INCREDIBLY
SECURE ABOUT SOMETHING, SOMEONE'S CRITICISM, EVEN IF
SOMEONE OUTRIGHT CRITICIZES THAT PART OF ME, IT
DOESN'T GET UNDER MY SKIN BECAUSE I'M CONFIDENT IN IT.
FOR INSTANCE, WHEN PEOPLE SAY THINGS LIKE YOU ARE DOWN.
OKAY,
YOU THINK I AM DUMB.
I KNOW I'M NOT SO I'M NOT GOING TO GET
OFFENDED BY THIS KIND OF COMMENTS BUT WHEN IT COMES TO
RELIGION FOR SOME REASON PEOPLE DON'T TO BE VERY SECURE IN
THEIR OWN FATE.
I KNOW WHY AND YOU KNOW WHY.
THEY DON'T ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT.
FOR EXAMPLE, I AM IGNACIO.
I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THE
RELIGIONS SO IF YOU WORE AN OUTFIT THAT DISAGREED WITH ME, I
WOULD LAUGH AND LAUGH.
I DON'T GIVE A CARE WHAT YOU ARE
WEARING.
WHY WOULD THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH MY BELIEFS.
MY BELIEFS ARE BASED ON LOGIC AND REASON.
THEY ARE TOTALLY
DETACHED FROM THE FASHION OF THE DAY.
WHAT A PREPOSTEROUS THING
TO THINK.
THAT IS BECAUSE YOU DON'T ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT AND
YOU ARE A SPECIAL LITTLE SNOWFLAKE WHO WANTS TO BE A
VICTIM BECAUSE IN FACT YOUR RELIGION IS CENTERED AROUND THIS
VICTIM KNOWLEDGE HE.
THEY SUFFERED, LADY OF SORROWS AND WE
WERE SAVED BY YOUR BLOOD.
WHAT A WEIRD IDEA.
IF YOU ARE NOT
BRAINWASHED INTO RELIGION, IT SOUNDS INSANE.
SHE SUFFERED AND
HER SON WAS DRENCHED IN BLOOD AND THAT WAS GREAT FOR THE REST
OF US BECAUSE WE WERE SAVED BY A. WHAT?
YOU WERE AN OUTFIT THAT I DIDN'T LIKE SO THAT AFFECTS MY
RELIGION.
ALSO ALL OF IT SOUNDS CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS BUT NOW
I'M GOING TO SHOCK THE WORLD.
I THINK THEY MAKE ONE GOOD POINT.
AND I KNOW WHY, SHE SAID, AS THEY HAD SAID IF THEY HAD
SIMILAR OUTFITS ABOUT ISLAM OR JUDAISM IT WOULDN'T FLY AND THAT
IS TRUE.
IF THEY WENT IN AND JUST OF HIS ORTHODOX JEWS PEOPLE WOULD
BE LIKE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
NOW THE REASON WHY THEY WOULDN'T IS BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY IS THE
DOMINANT RELIGION IN AMERICA AND THEY HAVE POWER WHEREAS THE
OTHER RELIGIONS DON'T AND THEY ARE MINORITIES SO HISTORICALLY
THEY HAVE BEEN PICKED ON CEDAR ONCE PICK ON THEM AND IT IS
EASIER AND MAKES MORE SENSE TO FOCUS ON THE DOMINANT
RELIGION BUT STILL, THAT IS A FAIR POINT.
I WOULD DISAGREE WITH THAT.
I WOULD SAY THAT THAT WAS THE
CHARGE SHE WAS USING AND I'VE SO MANY INSTANCES OF THE WAYS THAT
EITHER WHITE WOMEN HAVE APPROPRIATED WEARING THAT
HEADSCARVES FOR WHATEVER POLITICAL REASON BUT YEAH,
I WOULD PUSH BACK ON THAT POINT A LITTLE BIT.