Wednesday 4 September 2013

Kiwi Blurred Lines parody taken off YouTube - Sarah Robson

Accessed 4th September 2013http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/blurred-lines-parody-taken-off-youtube/story-e6frfn09-1226709719767 

Kiwi Blurred Lines parody taken off YouTube

Auckland Univeristy law students have made a feminist parody of Robin Thicke's hit single Blurred Lines.
by: Sarah Robson
From: AAP
 September 03, 2013 12:13PM

A FEMINIST parody of Robin Thicke's worldwide hit single Blurred Lines has been taken off YouTube, leaving the University of Auckland law students who created it mystified.
The comedy video - dubbed Defined Lines - was created for the annual Law Revue and netted more than 300,000 views on YouTube before it was taken down on Monday morning because it was flagged by users as containing inappropriate content.
One of the students behind the parody, Olivia Lubbock, told AAP the video was meant to be a bit of fun, but with a positive message.
"The message really is just that we think that women should be treated equally, and as part of that, we're trying to address the culture of objectifying women in music videos," she said.
The original Blurred Lines video features topless women, while critics have slammed the song's lyrics, which allude to the "blurred lines" between consensual and non-consensual sex.
The Auckland students' parody has Ms Lubbock, Zoe Ellwood and Adelaide Dunn performing their own version of the song with three young men dressed in just their underwear.
The lyrics, written by Ms Dunn, include: "What you see on TV, doesn't speak equality, it's straight up misogyny."
"It's just funny that the response has been so negative when you flip it around and objectify males," Ms Lubbock said.
"Personally, I do not think that that video was any worse than anything that is already on [YouTube]."
Ms Lubbock said they have appealed YouTube's decision to remove the video and they are waiting for a response.
"We've had so much support from friends and people we don't even know saying this is completely ridiculous, it should be put back up."

Ms Ellwood came up with the idea for the parody earlier this year after reading about some of the criticisms of the misogynistic lyrics in Thicke's original song, Ms Lubbock said.