Hercules & Love Affair's new video for “My Offence” dives face-first into the c-word in a documentary-music video hybrid that will offend, challenge and intrigue viewers.
The video's YouTube page explains:
[The video] explores Andy Butler's relationship to taboo words and the use of “c*nt" amongst NYC's gay community to relay flattery, empowerment and strength – in short a fierce display of femininity. After 13 years of living as a “Queen that lived in New York” Butler saw his own usage of the word engrained into his vocabulary. A move to German speaking Vienna prompted him to reflect on how subversive it really was, and sparked an exploration of it in a song…
Part music video, part documentary, prominent voices from New York's art, music, literary and nightlife scenes including Kalup Linzy, Honey Dijon, Juliana Huxtable and Contessa Stuto discuss their relationship to the word over the dark, cathartic undertones of Butler's bold electronic production…
Director Matt Lambert said, “I spoke to some of the people who appear in the video for over an hour. Each of them had a different answer and different relationship to the word ‘c*nt' as well as the appropriation and reclamation of profane language as a means of pushing culture forward. Language, especially when dealing with issues surrounding identity, defines people's realities whether they choose to embrace or ignore language.”
The video also has some incredibly fishy drag, some killer ballroom Voguing and some sweaty ladies strutting and working in true C U Next Tuesday style.
Naturally, attempts to reclaim the c-word (especially after The Onion applied it to nine-year-old, black, Oscar-winning actress Quvenzhané Wallis) have been met with mixed feelings. A powerful word, indeed.
Watch the video (warning: language) AFTER THE JUMP…
