Lily Allen's "Hard Out Here"

This Tuesday, Lily Allen released her new single “Hard Out Here.” It’s her first release in three years, so it’s been long awaited. The music video is a satire on pop culture, and more specifically, on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” If you are not familiar with his song or music video, I’d recommend watching that first.

When "Blurred Lines" first came out, there was a lot of talk about whether or not the song was sexist and degrading to women. In response, Thicke said it wasn't since he acted respected women and that instead, it was just ironic. Lily Allen is known for singing songs that make a statement about society by telling it how it is. So it only seemed fitting that her first new song in years is a clear satire on the pop culture of today. Her music video directly mocks "Blurred Lines." Please note that the video contains explicit content.

The style of the music video clearly mimics "Blurred Lines" through lighting and color choices and even with certain choreography. I think one of the more genius stabs at Thicke's video is her rendition of the balloons. The lyrics also point towards Thicke's song, with her line "Have you thought about your butt? Who's gonna tear it in two?" being a play off of a line from T.I.'s verse: "I'll give you something big enough to tear your *** in two." And while there are other references in the video to other current pop culture media, like Miley Cyrus' twerking, it is obvious that Robin Thicke was the focus of her parody to show how objectifying women is in our culture.

Despite her attempts at portraying the struggle of female artists in a society that constantly is demeaning towards women, Lily Allen received a lot of criticism for her video. Many complained it was racist. While she satirically sang about the objectification of women, some believe she later in the video raises herself to be a superior figure while black female dancers twerk and pop bottles of champagne around her.

After receiving the negative feedback, Lily Allen released a twitter statement to rebuttal the racist claims: "1. If anyone thinks for a second that I requested specific ethnicities for the video, they're wrong. 2. If anyone thinks that after asking the girls to audition, I was going to send any of them away because of the colour of their skin, they're wrong. 3. The message is clear. Whilst I don't want to offend anyone. I do strive to provoke thought and conversation. The video is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all. 4. If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens; I actually rehearsed for two weeks trying to perfect my twerk, but failed miserably. If I was a little braver, I would have been wearing a bikini too, but I do not and I have chronic cellulite, which nobody wants to see. What I'm trying to say is that me being covered up has nothing to do with me wanting to disassociate myself from the girls, it has more to do with my own insecurities and I just wanted to feel as comfortable as possible on the shoot day. 5. I'm not going to apologise because I think that would imply that I'm guilty of something, but I promise you this, in no way do I feel superior to anyone, except paedophiles, rapists murderers etc., and I would not only be surprised but deeply saddened if I thought anyone came away from that video feeling taken advantage of,or compromised in any way. 6. Ask the ladies yourselves @shalaeuroasia @monique_Lawz @ceodancers @TempleArtist@SelizaShowtime @melycrisp."


As a huge Lily Allen fan, I completely stand by her video and don't think it is racist. In fact, her twitter response to those critics proves the very nature of her being. Celebrities don't tweet about their "chronic cellulite." On the contrary, if a media source wrote about a female celebrity having cellulite, that would be a big deal. Meanwhile, Lily Allen just puts it out there, because she doesn't really care.  In my opinion, it was pretty disappointing to see the media focus on the color of the dancers' skin as opposed to the message Lily Allen is trying to send. Like she said, the song should be provoking people to think and that is what the media should be writing about. Even so, I think it definitely acts as a female empowering single. Lily Allen always brings awesome satirical songs, so we should've seen this coming.

Family Guy

One of my favorite shows ever is Family Guy. Now I know that this show definitely isn't for everybody but I absolutely love it. It's the kind of show that I can watch at any time and always enjoy it. It's funny, enjoyable and easy to watch.

The show is about the Griffin family. You have Peter, who is the father of the family. He is the big oaf that's usually getting the family into some sort of crazy situation. There's Lois, his wife who is usually the voice of reason and understanding. Meg who is the daughter, is the typical teenage girl that the family happens to hate. Chris who is the son, who is basically just a teenage boy that has some funny moments. Brian who is also sometimes the voice of reason, but he's also the most political of the family. Then of course there's Stewie, the evil one year old with plans of world domination who also happens to absolutely despise his mother. There is also a huge array of side characters that all add to the humor of the show.

As I said before, the show isn't for everybody however. Many people will find it offensive, distasteful or just plain stupid. The show definitely isn't a satire like in the vain of South Park. It's more of a shut your brain off and laugh for half an hour type of show. Now don't get me wrong, there are some heartfelt moments and there are episodes that touch on touchy subjects such as abortion and religion and honestly I feel like they do those episodes pretty well. But for the most part, it's just a lot of fun.

Seth McFarlene is a man who has gotten very lucky in the television world. This show has been cancelled not once, but twice and brought back each time. He now has three syndicated shows, all of which are still releasing new episodes to this day and he just released a feature length film that did pretty well in the box office. He is a man that owes a lot to the fans and I think he does a pretty good job of showing it

Although the show has changed pretty dramatically in its over ten year run time, I still continue to love it. The newer episodes are definitely not as "smart" or "witty" as the older ones but I still think they do a pretty good job. It's a show that I think everyone should watch at least once, you never know, you just might like it.

Here is a little compilation of moments from the show. If you find these funny, chances are you'll enjoy the show.

Movie Quotes and other things

I was in my friends room last night and he was trying to find a place to hang his new poster. His friend got it for him because he figured that he could name what quote every movie was from. He was right. An entire list of the supposed "100 Best Film Quotes of all Time" (according to who? I have no idea, but they were pretty quality quotes) and my friend went through and name every movie besides for 2. That's ninety-eight quotes and none of the quotes were from this decade. Now that's impressive (in my opinion).

That got me thinking. I personally think we have had a bunch of great movies within the decade with some great quotes. Why are they never listed on those posters? Then I started to think about the movies that I quote and hear quoted daily.

There is one that stands out in my mind.

Mean Girls.

Mean Girls premiered in 2004 and is directed by Mark Waters. Waters was a producer of (500) Days of Summer (great movie in my opinion) and he also directed movies such as Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), Just like Heaven (2004), and of course Freaky Friday (2003) which also stars Lindsay Lohan (pre initial fall from grace). The screenplay was written by the hilarious and multitalented Tina Fey.

I'm not here to argue that Mean Girls is the best movie in the world (I'm not here to argue at all), but think about it- How many of you reading this have seen the movie Mean Girls? I'm assuming about 90% of you have.

Do you recognize "On Wednesdays we wear pink." "Four for you Glen Coco! You go Glen Coco!" "Get in loser. We're going shopping." "That's so fetch!" "The limit does not exist." "She doesn't even go here"? I hope you at least recognize one of those lines and I don't look crazy. But I know that even if you don't admit it- part of you knows you know at least one of those quotes. Mean Girls has been a very influential movie of our generation (positive or negative- your call).

Now that I've talked about Mean Girls, I have a few questions for anyone who has continued to read this post. What are some of your favorite movie quotes? What movies have been influential on our generation?