Rihanna: Now and Then
In the media there are many figures that influence today’s youth. Many of the stars today set up an image of themselves, many evolving as their career advances. Some of them may change for the better, such as Ashton Kutcher. He used to play goofy roles like as Michael Kelso in That 70’s Show and in the movies Dude, Where’s My Car? and Just Married. As he grew older, however, he began getting more serious. He’s played in more serious movies such as Knight and Day, and even works for Nikon where his character is usually well dressed and more sophisticated. As he’s aged, he’s matured and it is shown clearly in the type of roles he is casted in today. One star who, in my opinion, has changed for the worst is definitely Rihanna.
Rihanna is a star that is very popular in the pop music scene. She has changed a lot since coming out with her first album, A Girl Like Me in 2006, and a lot of her current music. When she first came out, she was about eighteen years old. Her music was very mellow and poppy, singing about dancing and being unfaithful and feeling guilty about it. Her album after that, Music Of The Sun, is very similar to the first one. Released a year later, Rihanna is still the same little pop star as she started out to be. In 2008, she released the album Good Girl Gone Bad. It contains hits such as Umbrella, Please Don’t Stop The Music, Shut Up and Drive, and Disturbia. Some of the songs contain her innocent vibe she had, but this is when she became more edgy. In her video Shut Up and Drive she is wearing more skimpy clothing in comparison for the video for Pon De Replay. That album was okay because in a way it was her breaking out of her shell, but it just gets worst.
In her later albums she sings about sex, sex, and more sex. This is fine but when you have devoted young followers who have been with her since day one, its kind of disappointing to see where her music has come to. More importantly she has so many young female followers who are growing up watching her and are striving to be like her. This can be a very dangerous thing being that now her lyrics consist of things like:
“I like the way you touch me there
I like the way you pull my hair
Babe, if I don’t feel it I ain’t faking, no, no
I like when you tell me ‘kiss you there’
I like when you tell me ‘move it there’
So giddy-up; time to get it up: you say you a rude boy: show me
what you got now
Come here right now
Take it, take it, baby, baby, take it, take it, love me, love me…”
AND
“’Cause I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don’t care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me…”
What kind of role model is this for our children? Yes her music is catchy but she is NOT someone I would want my children looking up to. And on top of that she gets violently beaten up by her boyfriend, goes on all of these shows talking about how her life was ruined by her abuse and blah blah blah… Then 3 years later she decides to get back together with him. How disappointing to little girls that looked up to her in the past and saw her as such a strong person for being able to walk away from her abuser, only for them to see now that she is right back into the same relationship she swore off of. When you are in the public eye you can no longer do things for yourself. You have to be concerned about your image, and what that image might do to your fans. Little girls might look at her situation and think that its okay to remain in an abusive relationship because someone they look up to, like herself, managed to be in one and be happy. Now I do believe in true love, soul mates and all that crap, but my life is a lot more important than sex from someone who beats me up when he gets upset. She is a beautiful woman and I really think she should realize that millions of little girls are watching her and looking up to her. So she doesn’t have the opportunity to be reckless in her lifestyle because lots of kids are watching and will live up to the standard that she sets.
merissacraft 