Video Of The Week: Queens Of The Stone Age

Dear Gwen Stefani Avril Lavigne: this is how you instill Japanese-culture clichés (though technically these are supposed to be Korean clichés, but ''the whole lot of them are Japanese'') in a video and not look like a racist asshole: you start by using men, because in our part of the world, it's fine to treat men / make men seem like shit because not only do they deserve it historically, but they still own a lot of the stuff we eat, buy, use, and die into and die of. And die from. And die with. In other words, we still live and die because of men, regardless of how many women CEOs will populate the landscape within 5 years. So, men: check.

Also, don't go pseudo-erotic/pedo. Ok, sure, some women still go for rich men in suits, but not when they behave drunken, spoiled idiots who can do what they want. We want that shit implied, not thrown at us, so when we're shown how dumb adults can be, it's usually a turn-off. But going with the ''barely legal'' schoolgirl angle is threading a very fine line between titillation and abomination. ''Jail bait'' was acceptable in the 1960s, it was funny in 1977, it was a guilty pleasure in the 1990s, but it's just immoral nowadays. I won't get into the debate of ''what if a 19-year old falls in love with a 15-year old'', I get that, but there are far too many examples nowadays of men in their 30s and 40s fucking marrying 12-year olds to just fuck off with a lot of that imagery, at least in popular art, unless as a means to expose it.

Also, I think even Halloween costume stores are tired of and fed up with the whole ''slutty this'' and ''pervy that'' crap, so ''horny schoolgirl'' is so passé. Then again, Avril, 2003 called... (and on the other hand, now married to a guy old enough to be your grandfather... no, wait, I'm glad love knows no boundaries - I apologize).

And there's something to be said about using the clichés that pertain to just one ethicity and those who fit with many - such as grown men drinking and being dicks, or just having lapses in judgement. You have that in England, Scotland, India, Brazil, Québec - they just don't all go to karaoke bars. Well, they might in Québec, but that's besides the point. And those karaoke bars are usually country-music themed, which just makes it weirder. And I digressed some more.

Also: violence always saves the day.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Queens Of The Stone Age's Smooth Sailing, directed by Hiro Murai: