Dolan under fire for music video
Depiction of violent bullying criticized
A French New Wave music video directed by a young Canadian filmmaker is reaping controversy for its unbridled depiction of violence involving a young boy.
Beaten bloody and soaked with urine, the teenager is hauled to his feet and splayed out on a cross in a schoolyard. Fellow students in blindfolds stand passively as a group of unmasked bullies fire guns and riddle the crucified boy’s body with bullets. The grotesque scene forms the climax of the video for “College Boy,” a single from the latest album by popular French band Indochine. Directed by Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan, the video has been met with shock and criticism, especially in France, where this week members of a government agency discussed whether to ban it for viewers younger than 16.
Responding to accusations of gratuitous violence, Dolan has defended his vision for the video. “Is there really another way today in 2013 to make an impression on people so they will know if they do hurt other people they will feel the pain and the violence and how far will we go? We live in a society that allows this sort of extreme violence,” the 24-year-old told CBC News. He also railed against the prospect of censorship, telling French newspaper Le Figaro the debate is a fanciful way for the French telecom watchdog to justify its authority. Speaking in Le Parisien, Indochine singer Nicola Sirkis said the band “isn’t looking for a scandal,” and added that the group gave Dolan full creative control for the video. “For me, it’s the same approach as when road safety makes a shock clip to raise awareness of road accidents,” Sirkis told the newspaper. “It’s more educational than anything else.” The video for “College Boy” is shot in black and white, and opens with Montreal actor Antoine Pilon getting balls of paper thrown at him in what appears to be a high-school classroom. He moves to his locker, which is trashed, and is eventually accosted by a group of boys, who throw him down a set of stairs, beat and urinate on him. Following the boy’s schoolyard crucifixion, blindfolded police show up, but turn their guns on the victim when the perpetrators feign innocence. Joy Johnson, scientific director of the Institute for Gender and Health, said she has mixed feelings about the video. “We do know that obviously bullying is an issue, and I think it’s wonderful that groups like Indochine want to raise awareness,” said Johnson. “But I’m not really sure the message needed all that graphic violence.
“Exposure to violent images can be upsetting emotionally, and can actually unintentionally provide messages that condone violence as well. I don’t think that’s the intention, but those are the concerns,” she said.
Theresa Campbell, president of Safer Schools Together, an advocacy organization in B.C., said her main issue was over the “blatant” depiction of gun violence in the video.
“These types of videos and video games are increasing our young people’s tolerance to deviant behaviour,” she said.
“We do have to look at these forms of violent media that we’re putting in front of our children.”
Campbell added she doesn’t buy the talk of education from Dolan and Sirkis, arguing the video blurs the line between typical schoolyard bullying — name calling, peer teasing in class, for example — and homicidal attacks.
“The reality is it goes right into blatant violence and assault, so you’ve kind of lost the line there in terms of the relationship to bullying behaviours,” she said. “We want kids to know the difference.”