Hypocrites? Us? Never!!!! (Nelly - Videos)

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	Nelly - Videos
Date:	01/04/03 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The song are good..., usually

Disadvantages: Too often mediocre, Predictable, Flesh for fleshes sake

Is it just me or does this country have a bit of a double standards problem when it comes to sex, nudity and strong language? Is it justified so long as it's art, where art is defined as anything not popular?

I'm sure we've all noticed gaps in records, especially those by young Marshall Mathers. I'm sure no one is in any doubt what Ms Lopez really sings when she asks her to play her m************g song. If you really aren't sure then go to Portugal (or just about anywhere except the UK) and listen out for it. There you get the full version.

Likewise with videos. Take, for instance, Nelly?s recent collaboration with the estimable Justin Timberlake. You must have seen it. It features Mr Numero Uno of soft porn, Hugh Heffner.

The story line is this; Messrs Nelly and Timberlake are gardeners. Whilst arguing about exactly what they have been asked to do, their runaway mower ploughs through the hedge into the neighbour's garden. And whose garden is this? None other than Mr Playboy himself together with a bevy of his buxom playmates, all doing what playmates do.

As videos go, it's OK. I have to say that I find Nelly's efforts very predictable. The songs, however, are pretty good, especially his recent collaborations. They one he did with the exceptional Kelly Rowland (the REAL talent out of Destiny's Child), shows that he is capable of putting together a good video to accompany a good song. However, it really is the exception rather than the rule.

So, perhaps you, like me, thought that it was perhaps a little tame compared with what appears in HH's "quality periodical". And you would be right. The version we see in the UK differs in many respects from that shown, for instance, here in Holland, where I happen to be tonight.

So here I am flicking through the TV channels and what do I find? The Box and MTV, but Dutch versions of the very same programs you a
lso
see on UK TV. But VERY different videos!!!!!!


Now, I admit I do like Nelly and I am also a huge fan of young Justin. But I have to ask, why did they find it necessary to make different versions of the video for different countries? The one they show here contains MUCH more flesh, including a couple of full frontals!

OK, they aren't the only ones. Many other videos shown over here are similarly "unrestrained". Now this is probably because the Dutch have absolutely no hang-ups about sex. This probably also accounts for the minimal under-age pregnancy rate. If the kids grow up with sex in perspective it's far less likely to cause them to come to grief. In the UK we sweep it under the carpet (unless it's Art) with the inevitable consequences.

So, will uncensored videos help? Probably not. It's a culture thing. And we're cultured aren't we? NOT!

Summary: