When Rhonda asked me to switch blog days this week, I didn’t think much of it as I had planned to share some words on Live Aid since the anniversary falls this weekend. However, her post yesterday was so good that I wanted to pick up the thread. If you still fancy some words on Live Aid, you can read my post from last year at Hard Rock’s now-extinct music blog RPM on the women who rocked Live Aid. But today, I want to add a male perspective to how the band’s use of models in videos impacted us then and now.
If I had to point to two moments as a child when I felt the first stirrings of puberty, it would be the early Duran Duran videos and the cover of Madonna’s Like A Virgin album. And that is what both were designed to do. The patriarchal laws of commerce have always relied on using sex to sell. When you’re about to become a teenager, those forces are hard to resist. As you get older, you (hopefully) realize how dangerous and stupid this can be (if you don’t, re-read Rhonda’s blog from yesterday, I’ll wait). So, why does Duran Duran continue to use models? At this point, it won’t sell any more records and we are all a bit wiser.
The three in question: Electric Barbarella, Falling Down, and Girl Panic are all visually reminiscent of the band’s earlier work. There is a loose storyline and beautiful models. However, the band isn’t exploiting this so much as they are poking fun at themselves (and men in general). The most problematic for me will always be Falling Down because it seems to be a jaded commentary on how so many female celebrities end up in rehab when just as many, if not more, male celebrities are the ones who need the most help – something Duran Duran experienced themselves.
Like Rhonda, I don’t blame Duran Duran (really, their management) for casting beautiful women in videos to move product in the 80s. That is the sad reality of the business and one we are still struggling to move away from. As artists like Fiona Apple, Billie Eilish, Lorde and Lana Del Rey continue to release incredible music, perhaps real change will eventually reach the mainstream industry but that seems unlikely. However, we can continue to push for that change in the purchasing decisions we make.
Rhonda asked why it was important for the band to show their female audience that they were desired by other women. Well, apart from the male ego, that provides market validation and feeds itself. Sell yourself as desired and if the singles are hits, you become desired. It worked on us male fans as well. We saw these guys having adventures in Sri Lanka while being chased by beautiful women. Of course we wanted that!
Ironically, the common phrase thrown at male Duran Duran fans was “gay” because of the colorful outfits and make-up the band wore. So, as a kid just learning to process all of this, being “gay” seemed to lead to traveling the world with beautiful women. Straight or gay, it seemed like a pretty cool lifestyle. Don’t discount bands like Duran Duran helping shape a generation of male music fans who are far more open to different lifestyles. Had the band not helped shape me into an understanding and tolerant man willing to acknowledge the dangers of the patriarchy he benefits from, I doubt I would have ended up marrying a London girl beautiful enough to be in a Duran Duran video. So, yeah, I’ll defend the electric Barbarellas but I might not defend the machismo guitar player who left the party…..
