VANCOUVER — The controversy over a new video by Sri Lankan-British rap star M.I.A. continues to erupt over the Internet a day after Born Free was banned from YouTube.
The nine-minute video, directed by Romain-Gavras, depicts the violent round-up of redheads by U.S. troop, and features brutality, nudity, obscenity and summary execution.
At one point a prisoner is shot through the head by a soldier at a concentration camp.
The video appears to make a statement about the injustice meted out to minorities by government imprimatur.
Typical of the comments about the Born Free video, which still can be found on video sites other than YouTube, is this one by _MissAlexandra_: "Woaahhhhh - anyone seen #MIA's new #BornFree #music #video?... I was speechless. Watch at your own risk..."
Tweeted alidrox: "MIA's video is actually shocking... what was she thinking?!"
Others found the piece made a valid statement. Wrote Indigosays: MIA "born free video" just did it for me, WOW I'm officially moved and surprised".
MTV reality TV personage Spencer Pratt was offended because the soldiers rounding up the redheads sported American flags on their uniforms: "The music artist MIA should be kicked out of America today for using the US flag on her Nazi like hit squad in her new music video!"
But kylemcinnes had a different reaction: "Banned from YouTube: MIA 'Born Free', directed by Romain-Gavras. Might just be the best music video of 2010."
MTV ShowsM.I.A. (real name: Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) was born in England to Tamil parents. Rebellious Tamils in Sri Lanka have been beaten down by government forces controlled by the majority Sinhalese ethnic group. The Tamil fighting force, Tamil Eelam, was deemed a terrorist organization by most Western governments, including Canada and the U.S.
In 1975, when M.I.A. was six months old, her family returned to Sri Lanka, where her father worked to create an independent Tamil state, and went into hiding from the army.
A decade later M.I.A. returned to England. She has one child, born in 2009.
She is an accomplished singer, songwriter and visual artist whose work contains a decidedly political bent. Last year Time magazine called her one of the top 100 most influential people in the world.
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