On Jan. 27, Sam Smith released their new song “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” as part of their new album “Gloria”. Since then, the video has received a lot of backlash that has been spread through social media.
Smith explained that their purpose for the album “Gloria,” as a whole, is for it to be a “celebration of joy.” The celebration of going from songs about breakups to an album that is about embracing happiness.
These themes are also seen through the lyrics of the song. The lyrics state “if you can’t love yourself. How in the hell are you going to love somebody else?” The Youtube video for “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” displays various scenes that include Smith and other LGBTQ+ members dancing in corsets and nipple tassels. When asked how dance plays a role in the portrayal of joy, Smith said in an interview “as a Queer person, to lean into the joy can feel quite radical sometimes… What was scary was the way that I move my body when I am joyful and the way that I danced.” After the video was released, the dancing created a controversial reaction in the audience.
The video, and more specifically the dancing scene, started receiving backlash from people on social media, especially Twitter. A verified actor and athlete tweeted “What the hell is this disturbing content? The UK government ban a man like Tate from schools who promotes hard work & fitness, yet nobody speaks up about this degenerate promoting this filth to the youth? They call this ‘art’. This should be banned & so should he be. #shaythan.” Other users were body shaming Smith for believing they look good wearing a corset. Other criticisms called Smith a groomer and mentally ill. Although the tweets are making it seem as if the problem is what is being promoted to future generations, there is another important consideration. That is the underlying hatred that these users have regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
All users that have previously left hate comments used dead pronouns on Smith, completely disregarding the fact that they use they/them pronouns. Some users also have a history of tweeting hate towards the LGBTQ+ community, denying any identity that steps outside the gender binary and any sexuality beyond heterosexual. Thus, an important factor as to why people have felt so much hatred towards Smith’s new music video is the inherent correlation with their sexuality and therefore, homophobia.
Fatphobia is another concept that influences the way haters view the video. Much of the hatred towards Smith’s new video stems from the fact that they don’t fit into the stereotype of thin beauty. They challenge the conceptions of femininity and masculinity through doing dance moves that are typically considered feminine. As a whole, they embrace their queerness.
When comparing artists that fit into the stereotype of beauty and also have sexual behavior in their videos, they have not gotten the same reaction. As it has been commented on Tiktok, Matt Walsh and others want the video to get demonetized and canceled. The problem is the fact that artists who fit into the standard of beauty don’t get the same backlash.
An example is Miley Cyrus in “Wrecking Ball.” She is naked on top of a ball and licking it, but she did not receive as much backlash or was demonetized for that video. But rather it is her second most recognized song. Other artists like Harry Styles, who fits into the stereotypical beauty standards, wears no shirts and steps out of the heteronormative ideals through clothing and he gets praised. Or when Madonna engages in sexual scenes in music videos and they are called “masterpieces.”
The backlash on Smith’s new video “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” and the disproportionate amount of hate towards people of Smith’s identity reflects society’s limitation on the concept of sexuality to white, cis-gendered, heteronormative, thin, straight people.