Florence And The Machine 'No Light, No Light' Video Embroiled In Racism Storm
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Written by Elliott Batte
Florence and the Machine have become embroiled in controversy after a website deemed their ‘No Light, No Light’ video as racist, sparking a row with one of the site’s writers.
‘No Light, No Light’, which can be viewed here, features a creepy looking man dressed in complete black body paint apparently partaking in a ritual of Voodoo, with the figure cast off as a lesser character compared to Florence Welch, the band’s singer. While the video is certainly odd and different from your average music video, a website called Racialicious believes it represents a view of white supremacy.
“It’s actually slightly astounding how much racist imagery they managed to pack into just four minutes and 15 seconds,” the website’s upset writer said. “All sorts of defences and excuses are being pulled out of the hat to try and label this music video as anything other than what it is: racist. Glorifying the white female central character as representing goodness, all while vilifying the evil dark skinned heathen Other.”
It continues: “Discussions about whether or not Welch is personally responsible for this racist music video have cropped up. When you break it down and imagine the number of people who were behind the storyboarding, choreographing, casting and creative direction around this video, it is slightly astounding that not one person raised concerns about how problematic this video is.”
The episode has drawn loads of responses from fans, critics and neutrals who all have their own opinion on the situation. But what do Stereoboard users think; is the video racist? The video is embedded below – watch and let us know what your opinion is in the comments section.
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