I’m feeling a bit like “Last Week Tonight” as I write this. For those unfamiliar with the John Oliver led HBO Show, John covers news that occurred over the last week at the end of what HBO decided was the end of the week, in his case being when the show aired on Sundays. In place of John Oliver & HBO’s budget on a Sunday evening you now get me, on a tablet 40,000 feet above a fly over state on a Friday evening. I had three major talking points mulling around my brain today as I set out to begin this blog; one of them regarded J.K. Rowling & the release of Hogwarts Legacy, which I felt was a bit too polarizing even within the zeitgeist of the groups that I tend to meddle around in, the second & third both pertained to the Grammys. The first of which was around Harry Styles Album of the Year win & the discourse happening there, the second was where we find ourselves today.
As aforementioned, I feel a bit like John Oliver today because in a lot of circles, this is old news. I suppose to some degree it’s also old news simply because of the played out, droll, fetishized victimhood around it. In the sense of news cycles this story is old because it happened almost five days ago, hence the “Last Week Tonight” reference.
So what are we talking about today? What is our ‘not-so-current’ event in which we are currently focusing on? Well, that would be the exhausting narrative being perpetuated around the Sam Smith/Kim Petras performance of “Unholy” from Sunday evening’s events.
If you are among the multitude that do not partake of the Grammys I would invite you to watch the performance in the link below. Remember to come back here when you’re done so that we can discuss it though!
All caught up? Great, let’s chat.
It may come as no surprise to a lot of you that this performance is being demonized for being, well, “demonic.” “Satanic.” “Devil Worship.” Blah, di, blah, di blah. It also may be already abundantly clear how I feel about this rhetoric. Within the evangelical world & their partner site, Facebook, links & sermons & the dish & the spoon are all being passed around about Sam & Kim’s on stage “devil worship.” Not only that but I have had many friends in the music industry whose evangelical parents have reached out to them with their disgust demanding justification from people who weren’t even involved who may just be bunched in because they, like Sam & Kim, are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Y’all, it’s exhausting. Let’s break this down shall we?
First & foremost, the song is called “Unholy.” It is literally in the title & while the song may not be about submitting to Beelzebub, it is about a man being unfaithful to his wife. The imagery from the performance, which we all should have taken the time to watch by know, is that of creepy “Ring-esque” spirits clad in red dancing around Sam while they are adorned in a large red coat & a red top hat complete with devil horns. Additionally, Kim’s part is done from the confines of a jail cell on the main stage. It’s far from inspired y’all.
The performance is fine, truly. They both sound good, it’s mixed well, it’s visually appealing but it’s nothing new. It’s not groundbreaking in the least. Aside from maybe the creepy dancers there is nothing about this performance that screams “devil worshiping coven” to me. Could I maybe understand some of the flack this is getting if, let’s say, they sacrificed a goat on stage & drew a pentagram with its blood? Sure. Could I even understand it if it depicted a reversed crucifixion or something? Maybe. But we are no where near that. I think the outrage has less to do with the imagery in the performance than it does with the performers themselves.
Let’s talk about those performers. Kim Petras is a trans woman who actually became the first trans woman to ever win a Grammy in the category in which she won. Sam Smith on the other hand is an outspoken, gay, non-binary individual who openly embraces body positivity & feeling sexy in their own skin. There’s nothing that rattles the evangelical world more than the combination of which these performers are & represent. As I mentioned above this type of performance isn’t new, nor is the backlash it has received specifically where queer artists are concerned.
It feels that throughout my life there has been artist after artist who is forced to take the ire of the evangelical many. From Lady Gaga to Lil Nas X, most of these individuals also happen to fall somewhere on the queer spectrum. I don’t think that’s coincidence. You see many artists, around the world, perform what the group in question would consider uplifting Lucifer but it seems only the artists who are themselves queer or have a mostly queer fan base experience the brunt of the fury.
The ironic thing about these type of performances is that they’re often doing exactly what the artists have heard for years & years from those who oppose their “lifestyle” or art, they’re going to Hell, but when they actually call attention to this condemnation all of the sudden they’ve gone too far. It’s exhausting.
Where am I going with all of this? Well, I suppose this is all in a way so summarize the fact that artists who operated in the LGBTQIA+ space are tired of the BS. You don’t get to have it both ways; you don’t get to damn someone & then get upset when they claim the insults that’ve been hurled at them for years because embracing it allows them to take control of the narrative. If you are one of the evangelicals who are scolding these performances behind your keyboards or behind the walls of your prejudice I would advise you to pause, take a look at those around you, & understand that you are doing the exact opposite of what is commanded of you by Jesus. I’d also advise you to maybe go out & get to know some people who are actually queer, see them as the people they are, & get to know their struggles & see the part you’ve played in perpetuity.
I’m going to leave you with one more thing. I shared this particular bit of pastoral wisdom on my Instagram the other day & I’ll need to go in & see who the pastor was post flight but he essentially said “God didn’t send Jesus to earth to persecute people, what makes you think he sent you?”
As always, much love to you all,
-C