If your kids are huge PSY fans and you just can’t get the words of his “Gangnam Style” hit out of your head, we are here to warn you — the K-pop singing sensation is back with another LSS hit, called “Daddy.”
In just 10 hours after its release on 30 November, “Daddy” got over a million views, with critics saying it may even outdo the success of “Gangnam Style.”
But mums and dads, if your kids are pestering you to let them watch the music video of “Daddy,” you might want to think twice about it.
Why?
Let’s dissect the initial parts of the video, scene by scene, to find out…
The video obviously, is meant to grab the attention of its viewers, and as such it features plenty of PSY’s trademark dance moves and other, sometimes strange, effects. Nothing wrong here.
Nothing wrong with these trademark dance moves at all…(Image: YouTube screengrab)
The lyrics are meaningless but harmless: “Where’d you get that body from?” asks fellow K-pop star CL who also appears in the video. “I got it from my daddy,” answers PSY, and that pretty much sums up the whole song. So nothing wrong there, either.
But parental alarm bells may start going off once you view initial parts of the video.
These feature very young girls — probably not older than eight years old and wearing short, ruffled schoolgirl skirts — getting well and truly infatuated with a strange child-PSY (his adult face now superimposed on a young boy’s body).
Is this really how young schoolgirls dress? (Image: YouTube screengrab)
The girls swoon as he walks by, and jump up and down in delight as he engages in pelvis-thrusting dance moves on a stage in front of them.
The strange child-PSY thrusting his pelvis at adoring schoolgirls. (Image: YouTube screengrab)
Next, they wait impatiently in a queue as he suggestively drips sauce on their burgers.
Little girls lining up for a squirt of sauce on their burgers. (Image: YouTube screengrab)
The child-PSY doesn’t leave other females alone either. He also flirts with the teacher, poking his tongue out and wagging it at her suggestively, “arousing” her so much that she has to leave the room.
Child-PSY poking his tongue out suggestively at the teacher. (Images: YouTube screengrabs)
Do popular artists have a social responsibility?
Allowing a child to watch a music video or not — including “Daddy” — is a parent’s prerogative. Some parents may think “it’s just a music video” and leave it at that.
But scratch a little deeper below the surface of the initial parts of the “Daddy” video and it’s disturbing to see the overt sexualisation of young girls that takes place.
The sexualisation of young girls by the entertainment, advertising and media industries has resulted in a huge social problem all around the world.
It gravely harms young girls’ sense of self-image and disrupts their healthy development. At the extreme end, it may result in heinous sexual offences — such as sexual molestation, trafficking and rape — being committed against little girls.
Heavyweights in industries that may contribute to this sexualisation of young girls have the ability to stop it from taking place. It’s safe to say that they even have a social responsibility to do so.
In this light, what kind of messages are the “Daddy” video sending out to millions of viewers?
If a young girl were to watch it, the message she gets is that it’s okay to become enamoured with an older man and be seduced by him through sexually provocative behaviour.
If a young boy were to watch it, the message he gets is that it’s okay to eve-tease women, in the manner the teacher is eve-teased in the video.
And if a child sexual molester were to watch the first part of this this video, we don’t need to elaborate on the message he gets — it’s quite strong and clear.
Pretty scary, right?
Parents, would you let your children watch PSY’s “Daddy” music video? Take this poll and make your opinion heard:
[polldaddy poll=”9207156″]