https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/model-emily-ratajkowski-accuses-singer-robin-thicke-groping-her-blurred-n1280728
The song Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke was released in 2013. The song includes lines such as “I hate these blurred lines, I know you want it” which clearly addresses consent or in this case, the lack of it. In the music video, Robin Thicke is shown interacting with the main female model Emily Ratajkowski. On-screen they may seem like they are on the same page, but behind the screen, it was a different story.
Ratajkowski recently came out and accused Thicke of groping her on the set of the Blurred Lines music video. This accusation is also being backed by the Director of the video, Diane Martel. Unfortunately, this news is not as surprising as it should be. A song like Blurred Lines romanticizes the uncertainty of having consent but “going for it” anyway. The message behind the song is appalling but so was the response to the song when it was released. The article about this story published by NBC writes, “The song was a huge commercial success and received two Grammy nominations” (Planas & Dasrath, 2021). The fact that a song glorifying sexual assault was able to garner as much success as it was exemplifies the normalization of violence against women.
Robin Thicke’s alleged actions specifically are also not something that should catch people by surprise. In 2017 Thicke’s ex-wife, Paula Patton accused the singer of domestic violence. This displays a pattern of assault and disrespect towards women. People like Thicke, whether they are of celebrity status or not, shouldn’t be awarded success after committing blatant acts of cruelty. Also, the weight of messages within the media should not be understated as they do have significant effects on society.
Planas, A., & Dasrath, D. (2021, October 5). Model Emily Ratajkowski accuses singer Robin Thicke of groping her on ‘blurred lines’ set. NBCNews.com. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/model-emily-ratajkowski-accuses-singer-robin-thicke-groping-her-blurred-n1280728.