"@Voxdotcom… has no idea of what Japanese popular culture is like, does it? Somebody needs to start calling this Vox-shaming, or something."

Says Moe Lane, linking to my post "Avril Lavigne picked a bad week to go all racist" and something David said in the comments: "If examined closely Japanese popular culture would explode the brain of the average political correctness warrior in the USA."

"If Vox wants to criticize cultural appropriation [then] it should find writers who are a little less provincial and a little more experienced with the culture in question," says Moe Lane, embedding "a not entirely atypical example... chosen partially because the artist (Kyary Pamyu Pamyu) is both popular and known for her adoption of Western styles and themes – but mostly because it is, by our standards, highly insane," and I have watched this astounding video, which had me alternately laughing and saying "Oh, no!"



That was truly mindbending... a great escape from the dreary, daily American chidings about what is and is not appropriate.

ADDED: In the comments yesterday Mary Beth also pointed to the "PonPonPon" which she said was "pretty popular on the internet despite its racism." ("Skip to the 34 second mark to see what I mean.")

Avril Lavigne picked a bad week to go all racist.

She's in big trouble for this:



Do you not see what's so cliven about it? Well, then, you might want to submit to Vox, the website that explains everything to the point needed by an adequately intelligent but generally pretty busy person:

Stone-faced, expressionless Japanese sidekick dancer ladies? Check. Inexplicable sushi-eating and photo-taking scenes? Check. Centering the song on a weird, creepily sexual dubstep chorus that rhymes "Hello Kitty" with "you're so pretty?" Congratulations, Avril — you've hit some kind of Orientalist Japanese Stereotype trifecta....

It's always hard to pinpoint background cultural influences on art specifically, but it makes sense that cultural penetration would produce unintentionally offensive cultural appropriation....

"RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!!," Avril tweeted. "I love Japanese culture...." In her defense, this kind of makes sense. Japanese pop does have a pretty camp vein running through it, one that "Hello Kitty" apes.

"Hello Kitty" apes? I love those 3 words together, because I can picture "Hello Kitty" Apes... just like I can picture "King Kong" Kitties, but do not market a product called King Kong Kitties. That would be racist.

Racist or otherwise culturally insensitive depictions of non-Americans have been around as long as America has.

Ironically, that Vox sentence is culturally insensitive to America's native people, who must be the subjects of the oldest culturally insensitive depictions in this portion of the globe (which has been around long before America):



But perhaps all of this is beyond what needs to be explained to the adequately intelligent, yet awfully busy inhabitants of the internet.

ADDED: The Vox-shaming continues here. 

Avril Lavigne/Katy Perry.

What a contrast! Tonight on "American Idol." 2 guest judges, as the show did the first round auditions in L.A.

First half hour: Avril Lavigne bundled up in a hooded, fleecy jacket while the contestants and the other judges all visibly sweated. Kara DioGuardi was completely bare-armed and bare-shouldered, yet sweating. What was the temperature in there? I had to conclude they had the heat turned up for Avril Lavigne. What was her problem? She also didn't seem to fathom the project of judging the contestants. She idiotically doubted whether a guy who was a pastor could do the competition and still be true to his religion. Hey, judge the singing. Don't nose into their personal lives, or I'll nose into yours. Why were you so cold while everyone else was hot? And yes, her jacket had devil horns. Pure distraction. The important thing was that she was bundled up while the others were sweating. On camera. How did she get the power to make all of them look so bad? They couldn't have liked that.

Second half hour: Katy Perry! She's dazzling in a tight red dress with perfectly pink lipstick and rouge. And even in that getup, she doesn't seem phony at all. She's completely alert. How refreshing to see wide open eyes! And she chides Kara for falling for the soap opera aspects of a guy who grew up in foster care. This is about whether they can sing. Exactly. And when Kara tried to co-opt her into a "girl power" hug, Perry resisted. We're looking for real singing talent. Cool. Beautiful. Smart. Sharp. Great.

No contest: Katy Perry knocks out Avril Lavigne.

***

Remember when Avril shoved Kelly?