After the release of their latest album Gloria, Sam Smith released a music video to their song I’m Not Here to Make Friends and the media has reared its ugly head to tear them down. Why? Because reporters and twitter keyboard smashers say its “inappropriate” *sigh*. They have faced much abuse from the public, both online and in person. Transphobiccomments have filled the replies on Twitter and TikTok, while Smith revealed in a recent interview with Zane Lowe that someone spat at them in the street.
After witnessing the outrage online, I decided to watch the video for myself. What I was faced with was nothing but queer joy, liberation, and ever important positive representation. The video starts off with Sam Smith in a stunning pink ballgown, arriving onto the scene in a golden helicopter. They are then aided down a red carpet by two dancers like the absolute monarch they are. They then spend the entirety of the video surrounded by a gorgeous troop of diverse dancers. As the video carries on, Smith is also dressed in a black feathered dress and, the outfit that horrified transphobes everywhere – an underbust corset paired with nipple tassels. I think my favourite outfit of them all, was the copper sparkly suit, when they are swinging on the chandelier. It ends with them wearing an Elizabethan inspired suit with incredible black platform boots, lounging on the bonnet of a car. This video encapsulates the beautiful queer representation that’s so often missing from mainstream media. It was filmed in one of King Henry XIII palaces which (despite the fact he is a horrific historical figure) is a beautiful setting and is an ideal background for a chic, enticing vibe that Smith was trying to and absolutely did achieve. The lighting is kept low and adds to the sensual vibe, while the costumes and set design are luxurious.
Once the video had ended, it made me think, “What was so scandalous about this?”. This is EXACTLY what many music artists have been doing for decades. Its wild to consider that expressing sexuality is always okay if you are straight/cis/thin, but as soon as you are anything but, you are subjected to torrents of hate. It’s also interesting to considerthat if Sam was slim and conventionally attractive, compared to the likes of Harry Styles, whether or not they would have been subjected to so much negativity. Harry Styles, Matty Healy and so many others go on stage and wears revealing clothing, tight jumpsuits, and dances provocatively and everyone goes crazy, but as soon as a queer, plus sized person occupies that same space – journalists and the public go wild and start screaming about how it is unfit or inappropriate for children (who are not the target audience in the first place). It’s never been about the children, but about them finding some reason to disguise their transphobia\fat-phobia.
This leads me to another recent point of contention – drag artists are facing much hate and discrimination for the art they produce. It’s continually being construed immediately as sexual, when drag has never been about sex. It’s an art form, expressed through many outlets and in an ever-expanding variety of ways. It’s a common staple of the queer community and welcomes people from all walks of life, having its history most profoundly established among the trans community. For me personally, drag has been a fun world to dip my toes into, and I spend my time watching RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, simply because it brings me joy. It covers many of my interests: fashion, makeup, music and comedy. Queer media hasbeen becoming more and more mainstream in recent years. Following the news from America where Florida has passed their “Don’t Say Gay” bill that restricts drag performance in public spaces and deemed them ‘unsafe for children’, I also wanted to look at how drag queens are treated/sexualised in the media. Right wing politicians have expressed their distaste at the idea of performers in drag readings at children’s libraries and the media is continually painting them to be dangerous for children, which is not and has never been the case.
Drag has long been a form of entertainment all over the world, with RuPaul Charles increasingly expanding his drag Race competitions globally being a great example.In summary, queer people are not and never been inappropriate. We exist. We exist loudly and in every form. That shouldn’t be contentious.