Is Katy Perry's new video actually a U.S. Marine Corps recruitment tool?

by John Lucas on March 30th, 2012 at 1:58 PM

In her new video, Katy Perry plays a woman who has just come out of a relationship with a philandering douchebag. That must have been quite a stretch for her.

That's where the resemblance to real life ends, though. The video for "Part of Me" finds Perry (or her character) making a spur-of-the-moment decision to join the Marines as a way of getting over the breakup. But first she hacks her hair off in a gas-station bathroom and straps her boobs down. Because, as everyone knows, the armed services have a strict "don't look, don't show" policy when it comes to lady lumps.

Not everyone is a fan of Perry's latest video. Leading the charge against it is feminist author Naomi Wolf, who took to her Facebook page to call it "a total piece of propaganda for the Marines."

"I really want to find out if she was paid by them for making it," Wolf wrote. "It is truly shameful... I would suggest a boycott of this singer whom I really liked—if you are as offended at this glorification of violence as I am."

Hollywood publicist Angie Meyer rushed to Perry's defence, calling Wolf's remarks a "slap in the face" to U.S. servicemen and -women. Meyer also called for a boycott of Wolf's work.

Whether or not the video was funded by the United States Department of Defense (which may or may not have as big a promotions department as Capitol Records), it was made with the participation of the Marine Corps. That fact suggests that, if you're prone to making rash, life-changing decisions in fits of rage, the USMC is only too happy to hand you an M4 Carbine and send you to work.

Comments

12 Comments

Dude

Mar 30, 2012 at 10:06pm

The Simpsons predicted this kind of marketing in the "Party Posse" episode

nutcracker

Mar 30, 2012 at 10:50pm

I can't imagine how many people who watched the video would be persuaded to join USMC only to find out life in military is not for them. Shame on Katy Perry, I am glad Russell Brand left her.

John S

Mar 31, 2012 at 7:43am

Yeah, the marine corp really wants to recruit their soldiers from the pool of Katy Perry fans. Do you even know who the marine corps are? They're a bunch of highly professional soldiers who get sent around the world to kill people. Katy Perry fans are 14 year old girls who think that touching boys is "icky".

If you truly think that marine corps commanders are sitting around thinking "You know what we really need to add to our fighting force? Teenage girls" then you need be fired and replaced with a better reporter.

ancient aliens

Mar 31, 2012 at 11:06am

It's not what she thought! Ancient aliens were experimenting on her bf and the other girl. Then instead of dropping them off at their respective locations from which they were nabbed, they got lazy and deposited them both back in the bedroom of the bf. At this point Katy Perry happens to come home and find her bf in said compromising position.

At least that's what the history channel tells me what happened.

On a serious note, I'll bet you $100 the marines put money towards this piece of propaganda.

Fuck!

Mar 31, 2012 at 4:18pm

I kept waiting for her to get blown up by a roadside bomb, or shoot up a car full of civilians, or mercy-kill a Taliban fighter, or come home with PTSD and shoot the top of her own head off after killing her mother and father, and what do I get? Fuck all. I guess that's it for truth in art.