M.I.A. - Born Free (Analysis)

M.I.A's 2010 release "Born Free" features one of the most controversial music videos of 2010, although in the current political context, the praise attributed to Childish Gambino's "This is America" would likely also be applied to Born Free as well, however the controversy at the time, led to the video being removed from YouTube in the US and UK. Despite this, it received positive critical reception due to its representation of political turmoil and oppression and was nominated for “Best Dance Video” at the 2010 UK Music Video Awards.

The video parallels the Tamil Genocide during the Sri Lankan Civil War with M.I.A being a Tamil refugee who experienced the full effect of the Civil War, such as her primary school being shot at by soldiers and being destroyed in a government raid. It was inspired by footage of Tamil men being killed by the Sri Lankan army filmed on mobile phones. The video juxtaposes the general conception of genocide and corrupt governments, by having white gingers as the group representing the oppressed. This is done in order to convey to white, western audiences who may be detached from issues like this what it is like in countries such as Sri Lanka for an oppressed group.

The video begins with soldiers in an American city (the music video was shot in California) driving in a black truck. The scene uses lots of mise en scene to signify this is a police state as well as violence. The black riot guard uniforms, the shotguns and the somewhat long takes signify the calm before the storm. When the music kicks in with heavy emphasis on loud, and impactful drums, the pace of editing dramatically increases. The editing and angles used in this scene reflect pseudo-documentary style war films, with its handheld style and dramatic fast pace. The scene features the soldiers raiding a block of flats punching and beating an overweight woman round the head, ignoring a non-white older man smoking crack, breaking up and beating an overweight couple having sex, and forcing a red headed young man into a detainee transport vehicle which is full of other red haired men. The incremental use of slow motion in this scene along with the brutal movements that often coincide with the drums has the effect of increasing the brutal imagery of the action.

The shot of the bus driving past a mural featuring red headed soldiers, holding guns above their heads with the caption “our day will come” is a reference to the IRA, and the shot of the red headed people throwing rocks and glass bottles at the armoured transport is a reference to the Second Intifada in the Palestine - Israel conflict. The direct references to real-life groups may be controversial, but also shows parallels in terms of the music video and recent conflicts between civilians in paramilitary groups and oppressive governments.

Shots of buses driving into the desert, paired with shots of the prisoners looking out the windows connotes isolation and lack of freedom. The shot through the bars in the window is a powerful shot which conveys the feeling of being trapped. The music halts as they are driven through a chain link fence, the camera remains outside the area, connoting the prisoner’s entrapment. Shots of guard dogs barking, soldiers in full uniform and reaction close ups of the prisoners in fear reflect this. The guards then brutally pull and lead the prisoners outside of the bus and into the desert in a row. The use of audio from the video rather than just the song may show that the message of the video is equally or more important. A young child is shot in the head with the camera following the movement of the gun in a close up shot, before going into slow motion. The importance of this shot is made paramount by the editing choices, the child being shot shows the indiscriminate nature the oppressive forces treat the oppressed during events similar to the ones shown. The death of the child adds to the shock value of the scene dramatically as children are associated with innocence. The child actor who was shot in this scene described the video as "showing violence to end violence." Which is shown in this shot in particular as the brutal nature of it may convince the western population was is happening in other parts of the world and want to take a stand.

The video ends with a scene of the other red headed prisoners being forced to run away across an active minefield and we even see some being blown up. The scene juxtaposes shots of fast paced editing and fast movements with slow motion, in order to create a dramatic duality between the violence as well as an eerie sense of peace. Many of the shots are from inside the soldier’s vehicles which gives the impression that narratively throughout the video we have been following the soldier’s perspective – starting with the raid on the apartment. This perspective from the guards is powerful as it puts the audience in their shoes, and it shows the unforgivable nature of their actions.  The video ends with a close up shot of a guard from the side looking distressed – this may show that many individuals acting on behalf of corrupt government authorities are not at fault, but it is the system and those in power who are to blame, although this juxtaposes the harshness of the soldiers towards the prisoners shown throughout the video.

Overall, this video is very powerful in its protest messaging. The song is somewhat typical of a traditional protest song with its rock elements and loud, and distorted sound – while the video was originally criticised for its heavy-handed, unsubtle messaging, the

brutality of the subject does lend itself to a brutal video. The extended metaphor of the white red headed people as an oppressed group in society is effective in its messaging that oppressing people by their physical features is a fundamentally ridiculous concept. MIA is being honest in her messaging and is not virtue signalling, as an immigrant from Sri Lanka which has seen a harsh civil war recently, as well as her as an artist not shying away from her political opinions in the past.