Earlier this week, I saw the video Justice’s “Stress” and when it was over, I actually felt sick.
The clip begins with shots of tower blocks in an unnamed Parisian suburb. Suddenly we are confronted with a hoard of young black and Arab boys wearing hoodies, and dark leather jackets with the Justice cross. As the music begins to pump, the gang verbally and physically intimidates everyone in sight. Upon arriving in downtown Paris, they really begin to unleash their terror. They assault street performers and tourists, and completely destroy a bar. They even manage to take on the notoriously unforgiving Parisian police, and win. As if that wasn’t enough, a few of the boys carjack an old Citroen XM station wagon, drive it to an industrial park and blow it up with a Molotov cocktail, inadvertently setting the sound guy on fire.
And for their final act, the hooligans spit on the cameraman and beat him to the ground.
Now there are two reasons why I found this video to be so disturbing.
Firstly, it is incredibly racist. All of the members of the gang are either Black or Arab, and most of their victims are white. This video presents young banlieusards as depraved sociopaths who are hell-bent on destroying everything in sight. In the wake of the 2005 suburban riots and the continuing racial strife in French society, this is extremely inflammatory. When I lived and worked in Parisian suburb of Evry, I met a lot of French people who were terrified of non-whites, whether or not they were violent. I’m sure if they watched this video and they’d remark, “You see! This is exactly what will happen if we continue letting these animals invade our country.” I wouldn’t be surprised if some hip young member of the National Front presented “Stress” as a piece of propaganda for the next round of local elections.
The second reason why I found this video to be so horrifying is that it carries no message. There is no “Think about it” twist ending à la Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up.” And the boys are not misguided like the characters in “La Haine” or Alex DeLarge in “A Clockwork Orange.” In fact, we are never given a hint that there is an underlying message. “Stress” is nothing more than a gratuitous display of violence for the sake of violence.
According to a recent article in the Guardian, French censors found “Stress” to be so offensive that they banned it from the airwaves. Justice, in turn, decided to post the video on YouTube, where it quickly became a hit with viewers. And while there has been a fair amount of debate on blogs and message boards, it certainly does not excuse the creation of such a violent and obscene music video. Even if they were trying to stimulate dialogue, I wonder why Gaspard Augé, Xavier de Rosnay and director Romain Gavras had to go to such great lengths to do so.
Wow.
If the objective was to stir a discussion, then they got it all right. Well calculated. And very bold. Respect.
P.S. I don’t think it’s racist, I think it’s pretty realistic. Does it risk to propagate prejudices? Probably. But at least it is not hypocritical.
May 9, 2008 at 11:05 amGood post btw. Kudos.
May 9, 2008 at 11:06 amI think it does have a message - the kids aren’t alright, i.e. they’re stressed. I don’t understand why because the gangs are black and arab, the video is racist and inflammatory. I think the lack of dialogue or other cues to create a narrative highlights the randomness and senselessness of the violence. And the justice crosses on their jackets suggest that these could be anyone. If someone uses this as propaganda, that’s not Justice’s fault - that’s racism.
May 9, 2008 at 11:32 ami don’t see how this is racist at all. ? it is a bitter depiction, however.
i think that looking into everything too deeply to see if there could possibly be a shred of racism perpetuates racism itself and might even *be* racist. some things just are what they are. i highly doubt the producer was trying to send a racist message.
leave crying ‘foul’ to the nba refs whenever someone brushes against lebron james.
thanks for the review.
May 9, 2008 at 12:05 pmThe video is racist because the director and the artists are white and they are presenting images of minorities engaging in the kind of behavior that is in accordance with the stereotype that a good number of people in France believe.
I’m not saying that Justice or their director have a responsibility to anyone. But coming from the part of France that they do, they should know better.
Besides, have you ever been stopped and asked for papers to prove your country of origin?
May 9, 2008 at 12:20 pmyes. in ecuador. it was fun.
would this have been a believable video (and yes, it is harsh and made me a little sick as well) if the kids in the video were white with emo haircuts? i think not. it would have been up for best comedy short. i’m not saying it’s right; i’m just trying to look at it objectively. maybe these guys are assholes, but they probably casted it according to what they thought would be believable.
i appreciate your views, by the way, and i see your point. i just think that maybe you’re looking into it too deeply. then again, maybe you aren’t and these guys made this video as racist propaganda. we may never know.
May 9, 2008 at 12:35 pmi just want to add that you should be bothered more by most black, american rap artists’ videos than this one. talk about putting a sterotype on people through video. whoa. whoa geez. they have done far more damage.
May 9, 2008 at 12:40 pmWOW. Talk about racism & stereotyping.
My favorite part is that all of the ‘hoodlums’ as we’d call them are wearing JUSTICE jackets indicating that they are on the Justice army or some bullshit. Is that what they’re fighting for? Is that where the civil unrest in the banlieues lies? Jeez, if electro was the answer we could have solved this problem a LONG time ago! It’s that rap music they’re listening to! It’s poison!
Way to take a serious situation and turn it into six-minute-long contrived bullshit.
May 9, 2008 at 12:45 pmPS
I kind of expected some folk to reply “HOw is this racist. This isn’t racist.” It’s racist because most kids who grow up in those neighborhoods are not trouble. Most children of black and Arab descent in France, Germany, Spain or Britain are not looking to run wild in the streets and destroy everything. This video presents only black and Arabs doing the damage, and the images were put together by a group of men of European descent. This video is racist like “Birth of a Nation” is racist. Except instead of being a bunch of daft pickaninnys , dark skinned people are presented as vicious pack animals.
Granted there has been violence amongst minorities in past. But most of these riots fueled by the economic deprivation and institutional racism of the former colonial powers in Western Europe. This does not justifiy the riots of 2005 or 1995 or in the early 1980s. But it certainly does explain it. There’s no explanation for the violence in this clip.
May 9, 2008 at 12:49 pmPatrick - that still doesn’t make the video “racist.” If I film a black guy robbing a store, is it racist? No. It’s a black guy robbing a store. If I film a white guy cheating on his taxes is that racist?
Are my two stereotypes racist?
Filming something that happens is NOT racist. That’s ridiculous. Is it propaganda? Is it inflammatory? Is it irresponsible?
Could be, but it isn’t racist.
Using the video to state that “all minorities are terrorizing thugs” IS, on the other hand, racist, rather than simply stating “the minorities in this video are terrorizing thugs.”
Because they are, and that’s not racist. And no, I don’t buy this bullshit “stressed” crap. Being stressed, downtrodden, poor, whatever doesn’t give you carte blanche to ruin other peoples’ lives.
May 9, 2008 at 12:51 pmI think it’s pretty insulting to Parisian minorities to imply that they’re all Justice fans.
May 9, 2008 at 1:04 pmFor a better video about life in the banlieues, please see IAM’s “Petit Frere” below:
May 9, 2008 at 1:10 pmOops, here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=l2rEdM5×4DU
May 9, 2008 at 1:10 pmEddie: good point about rap videos.
I watched the video again, and still don’t think it’s racist. The kids aren’t just black or Maghrebinians - one or two of them look very French to me, so they got the demographic mix in the banlieu just about right.
What’s interesting is that the black guys in the beginning and Maghrebinians in the bus scene seem to be twins (or are my eyes just tired?). They are all dressed the same. They are definetly playing with stereo-types, that’s for sure. But I don’t think the message here is that all minorities expose the same behavior. Many minorities in the video are actually victims.
And I agree with Abby, I think the idea is to put you into the mind set of the agressors. If it made you sick, if it disturbed you, then I guess they did a pretty good job in getting this point across.
May 9, 2008 at 1:27 pmso that shows us what “life in the banlieues” is really like??
jeez, that was so informational. bravo, melissa.
what is wrong with people…
Did anyone see that interview with Justice saying their music has no message? I liked that.
May 9, 2008 at 1:33 pm*Why is it so hard for people to acknowledge that racism still exists?
*Why is it so hard for people to acknowledge that there’s racism in France (pay closer attention next time you’re on the RER going towards Charles de Gaulle airport. it ain’t pretty, kids).
*Why is it so hard for people to acknowledge that while colonialism ended before most of us were born, it still has a tremendous effect on the relationship between minorities and whites in Western Europe?
*Why is the French left-wing still in love with May 1968?
“Many minorities in the video are actually victims”
good point yourself, NP
May 9, 2008 at 1:37 pmNo one is denying racism exists, Patrick, but that doesn’t mean a video showing people acting like thugs is racist.
May 9, 2008 at 1:42 pmI think the violence is presented as a creature of white anxiety/fantasy and not as a reflection of or comment on actual antisocial behavior.
Isn’t that what they might say, anyway?
I mean, seriously, do you really want a “think about it twist” shoved down your throat. It would make me more sick to end this video with some fable-like moralistic “this is what you should realize by watching this video” wrap up. I think the ambiguity and over-the-top nihilism of the run-around crew provides more than enough fodder for intellectual debate. Yes, I did notice that they were minorities, and yes I realize the heightened tension between ethnic groups in certain areas of France, but this video (in my mind) by no means seeks to implicate broad cleavages of ethnic minorities.
Is there a political aspect to the video? Sure. Is there a moral aspect? Of course. But I think it’s success resides in its ability to allow the viewer to think critically/be affected/be reflective. Does the fact that not all Arab/Black youth in France feel disenfranchised enough to riot mean this is video is somehow racist to suggest that some might? If anything it’s an empathetic treatment, and certainly applicable to areas in America, particularly the District of Columbia.
May 9, 2008 at 3:18 pmCan we make this discussion about IAM instead?
They are so f**king great:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bFxUc_jb4X4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bqBJ-XyIGno
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SW2YDZSOYI8
P.S. I felt sick because none of the people who were witnessing these acts had the intestinal fortitude to kick the holy living shit out of these punk bitches.
May 9, 2008 at 4:34 pmwhite privilege and white influence in the music industry can be blamed for these types of videos.
also, an artist needs to realize that even if they say their music has no message, it will be perceived and interpreted by the audience- that is what art is. this director should have considered the implications of making such a video where minorities are seen as terrorists. whether or not you think it’s racist, it is misguided and senseless.
May 9, 2008 at 5:56 pmLaura - why isn’t that these punk bitches are seen as terrorists (which they are) without it implicating everyone else who happens to be the same color as they are?
May 9, 2008 at 7:03 pmracist comment: “white privilege and white influence in the music industry can be blamed for these types of videos”
should all of these types of videos be blamed entirely on one group?
what about minority artists portraying *themselves* as thugs? shall we generalize on that one (say, blame white influence in the music industry)? isn’t it better to judge on a case-by-case basis than to blame a large group as if they all have identical motives? isn’t that what *not* being racist is?
May 9, 2008 at 7:46 pmHas anyone seen the Fall Out Boy “Beat It” video? Now, talk about offensive!!!
May 9, 2008 at 10:11 pmThe message? I’m not sure, but as a minority, I know what kind of feelings motivated these images.
Minorities, (especially blacks) are tired of a society where whites get privileged and others get shit. People tend to get angry when they are treated like this.
So if you live in a society created by “whites”, how can you even the playing field?
One way: cause terror upon them and their society. Fuck that shit up. Make the them pay the cost of white privilege. Terrorize the group of people responsible for your suffering- bring their city to its knees.
So, the message in the video? To show animosity toward the dominate culture, and rejection of it. (Remember when they threw the radio out the window after it played that popular song) (I forget the name but its a French artist). To convey the feeling of rage against a system dominated by whites.
So white people, remember, when your on the streets, late at night, and you get; (robbed, jumped, mugged, harassed, etc., this is what white privilege costs you. Whether your guilty or not- you still reap the benefits and pay the consequences.
Note: I do not condone senseless violence against anyone, but the way these kids feel is real and the kids really aren’t alright.
May 9, 2008 at 11:45 pm*you’re
May 9, 2008 at 11:48 pmThere seems to be two possibilities:
1) this video aims to exploit a racist society by presenting the French public with their own prejudices
2) this video aims to represent violence as a metaphor of frustration w/ France’s racist attitudes towards minorities
I tend to think that its the latter, though the answer is somewhat ambiguous. The fact that the camera-man is punished at the end suggests a sort of self-complicity, as if the filmmakers acknowledge their white privilege and how problematic their creation is.
Anger within an alienating society is real. We can choose to condemn it, ignore it, or recognize it. I actually think this video is quite radical, in that it chooses to not condescend and couch that anger in ignorance, while at the same time acknowledging the problematic issues of representation.
May 10, 2008 at 1:24 amthis video isn’t racist, you want to know why?
because it actually depicts the truth.
Most thugs in french suburbs are black or arab. sorry guys , that’s a fact
Romain Gavras is well aware of that, and chose the right people.
From a purely artistic and technical standpoint, I found the video quite clever. The late reveal of the sound guy, the editing, the sound/picture issues when the camera man is attacked, and the one scene that made me smile even as I was horrified and disgusted, when they kick the shit out of the radio for playing D.A.N.C.E. I felt this moment in the video was crucial. It took us out of the reality for a minute and reminded us that this wasn’t real. Was that scene a comment on how Justice themselves feel about that song now, or was it just a throwaway gag, or was it to show the further ignorance of these hooligans that they were disliking a song made by guys whom jackets they were wearing, or was it to remind the average listener that this is the same group that wrote a better song than stress?
May 10, 2008 at 9:36 amJason - I call bullshit. That’s an excuse. There are plenty (millions) of minorities who grow up in “white” society who aren’t thug punk bitches. There are plenty of white people who grow up in “white” society who are poor as fucking dirt who don’t act like thug bitches when the “man” treats them like shit (ever see a town where the industry ups and leaves and there’s nothing left?) as well as plenty of white people in white society who do act like thug punk bitches in need of an ass whooping.
Which is what those kids in the video (and anyone who can’t act in decent society needs) a fucking beat down, or just outright shot.
Those kids somehow getting a pass for acting like that because they grow up in a frustrating world is insulting as fuck to all the people who grow up in the same circumstances who don’t act like that.
May 10, 2008 at 9:51 amOh, to say nothing of minorities who prey upon minorities…
May 10, 2008 at 9:52 ami got rolled in a bad section of paris. It’s a powerless feeling. that’s what this vid did for me, brought back that helpless feeling of being confronted with real violence.
i think the director makes a point to show that these kids are attacking every aspect of the society, Arab kids get robbed, stoners get their instruments broken, everything is attacked.
so i don’t know if this is rascist or not, but i will say this; it is very very representative the way french film has been going. check out Irreversible.
May 10, 2008 at 11:56 amI would laugh at the Cretan that claimed a music video to prove their own prejudice views.
May 10, 2008 at 11:57 amBUT, this isn’t a dipiction of the truth, it’s rare that violence seeks you out. and I actually do think it’s closer to “clockwork orange” than anything else.
May 10, 2008 at 11:57 amArt is meant to evoke emotion. I think they were successful in that. Because this video makes people uncomfortable, there is a lot of hate for it. People don’t like to be made to feel uncomfortable. It is what it is. If you think it’s crap that’s fine. But I don’t think so.
May 10, 2008 at 12:19 pmOh, and if this video was a feature in the Koyaanisqatsi trilogy (It would have been appropriate in Naqoyqatsi: Life as war), I don’t think anybody would be saying anything about it, besides how artistic it is.
—- BTW these comments are really messed up, things are getting deleted
May 10, 2008 at 12:20 pmI am surprised that so many [not this string per se] scoff at the idea that an electronic music group can address the subject of urban violence. Why should an electro group be relegated to address only certain issues - i.e. D.A.N.C.E.ing?
Take a look at a video of one of the most popular French rap outfits Mafia K’1 Fry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX8J7GrzvKM
&
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/rim-k/video/x3cmo0_rim-k-lespoir-des-favelas
&
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/rim-k/video/x3as7s_rim-k-favelas-bonus_music
Mafia K’1 Fry is representing reality and Justice is unjustly characterizing banlieue youth? Can those who present themselves as disenfranchised minorities represent themselves and characterize others however they please while white, middle class artists must auto-censor? Hip-hop artists can ‘keep it real’ and others can just keep their mouths shut? Banlieuesards can rep themselves as violent and menacing as they wanna be - http://www.dailymotion.com/country:fr/video/x5dpr7_clip-parloir-fantome-rimk-ft-sefyu_music - while others can just fermer leurs gueules? Justice doesn’t have a ‘ghetto pass’?!
A categorical claim that the ‘Stress’ video is racist is simplistic and implies that only certain genres in certain contexts can engage in certain types of social commentary.
I have been on walks through Paris - and smaller French cities - and witnessed gratuitous violence similar to that depicted in the Stress video. In many ways, the streets of urban France are more aggressive and confrontational than in the US. I have seen a gang of Romanian children attack a woman in the Parisian metro. I used to live in an apartment on a main thoroughfare of the city of Lille where I regularly observed aggression and vandalism in the streets below from my window - often the doing of banlieue youth. I have seen children walking a pet monkey on a leash and taking him back into their tenement building. Urban France can be a jungle [a loaded word without doubt] and the violence and sentiments of isolation and resentment bred in the banlieues affects the country as a whole.
Is Justice simply attempting to reinforce negative stereotypes? I seriously doubt it. Do they wish to perpetuate the oppression of France’s disenfranchised youth? I don’t think so. Do they want to get people talking? Of course. Are they exploiting the situation to their own advantage? Maybe - but the role of an artist is to provide commentary. In any case, they now have to face the storm of controversy that they have provoked.
May 11, 2008 at 2:15 pmWe didn’t even write or direct this clip, there is no other meaning than the point we just wanted to show how much we hate black and arab parisian kids, they annoy and bash my brother all day long when we was a kids. whya they always hava hurt people ey? no fair. i lova you jesus. +
May 12, 2008 at 2:22 amI can’t belive those black kids did that to all those people, now we have pictures of there face lets just show police. They can’t get away with it, that is so bad, im never going to be friends with a black or arab person! i hate you! France is a horrible place i never want to go icase they get me too on the train or when im buying maccas or sumting.
May 12, 2008 at 2:26 ami think the video would have been contriversial no matter what race was used as the “goodie” or “badies”. Its a good video and i dont think its likely to do anything except get people talking about violence. And talking about it is better than not talking about it.
May 12, 2008 at 4:15 amThis clip was filmed in Clichy sous Bois the poorest municpality in Paris area. It is like the northern RER B that travel in the poorest area of Paris.
If you take the southern RER B you will see middle class suburbs.
If you travel in the southwern RER C or in the southewestern lines of the Saint Lazare network you will see mainly wealthy suburbs.
The suburbs represent 80% of Paris population, Do you really think that 80% of the population is poor and live in ghetto. Infact the suburbs (Suburbs is not the good term since many are more urban than most European and North American inner city) are really mixed.
The richest municpalities of Paris are also suburbs.
The part in Paris is in Montmartres in the 18th arrondissement, Even if we don’t have stat, I am pretty sure that the majority of inhabitants of the 18th are non white.
In an other way agree that Montmartre is the bobo yupies district inside the working class 18th arrondissement.
Media love show the poor minorities in the ghetto but what about the majority who are in middle class, they also face racism.
Asian (Illegal imigrant are not include). who are very numberous in Paris feel unrepresented in media and politics why because they are well integrated and they don’t riot.
What about the very well integrated blacks and arab (also the majority) that also fell unrepresented in media because they are in middle class.
For being represneted in Tv, they watch american series with black middle class famillies.
To be honest the thing like this video show a little part of the reality : the depraved youth in poor banlieues but don’t imagine that it is the reality for every non white youth in France.
I am a black french and I am also afraid by those scums.
@Michael: I can’t decide if you’re just trolling, if you don’t know much about French demographics, or if you have a very strictly constructed definition of racism.
@eddie: How much of a difference is there between Van Halen videos and the rap videos that you’re labeling racist? Both of them are negatively aspirational and are probably more classist than racist. What about videos from more conscious hip-hop artists? I can’t think of many rap videos made by white artists that are depicting lower class minorities as violently out of control.
@N: Sure, art can evoke emotions, but that doesn’t spare it from being racist, classist, etc. Racist art doesn’t get a pass because it’s art.
May 12, 2008 at 8:37 amDave - I haven’t seen anyone show why this video is racist. Are the kids in blackface or something?
Are they not behaving as they normally would? Are they not running around being criminal thugs? Of course they are.
So how is it racist? Does this video mean everyone who looks like them is a criminal thug? Of course not. To even insinuate that this makes people think that everyone “brown” acts like that is absolute retardation.
By calling this video racist you are telling people everywhere that by watching it they will believe all brown people are like that and you are telling all brown people that they are like that.
It is a video of thug bitches acting like thug bitches. That’s all it is.
May 12, 2008 at 9:22 amSeriously now, the only racism is brought in by the viewer on this one. Justice is cleverly turning the tables on the viewer and revealing their own racism. The fact that the first thing you notice is the color of their skin shows as much. I didn’t even realize they were ALL black/Arab until reading this and watching the video a second time.
Violence is violence. Everything else attached to the video is viewer baggage and interpretation because as you said, no clear message is being sent by Justice.
And I mean come on, they are wearing Justice logos emblazoned on their jackets. You could easily interpret the thugs as being Justice-supported in their righteous violence due to years of racial oppression, injustice, frustration etc etc etc.
May 12, 2008 at 9:59 amI’m with Cale 100% on this video being clever and compelling and find it layered with implication. The similarities to “A Clockwork Orange” ( uniforms, beating cane, ultra-violence) and “Cloverfield” like documentary style are crucial to the effect of the video actually shocking us, because blah blah desensitized culture blah blah, but why do we assume it’s real? Would it be too hard to stage all those acts of violence, or the docu-style filming? These days, anythings possible. Our suspension of disbelief is kinda being fucked with, isn’t it? Wait a sec, Lets pretend we’re in my old film study class so I can get all preachy on how “postmoden” this video is. Okay, gag away, but as Cale’s mentioned, the boys smashing the radio when they hear the justice song D.A.N.C.E is the self-referential climax of the video. The characters break the fourth wall, looking at the camera repeatedly throughout., maybe the overlying implication is this song is being used as the weapon?
Also, I’ve been the old lady who’s purse has gotten stolen by a group of kids, I’ve gotten beaten up and kicked around by a gang of bullies. I’ve also been in the group of thugz running around terrorizing people (I was a hellion back in my day). This video does a kick-ass job of capturing many levels of stress and multiple perspectives. Then, when you think it’s over, they turn on themselves or do they turn on YOU, the viewer? Brilliant.
I don’t see the video as being intentionally racist, but its effective because it, like laura said, “it will be perceived and interpreted by the audience”. There is SO much we can get take with us from this video.
dave -
“@eddie: How much of a difference is there between Van Halen videos and the rap videos that you’re labeling racist?”
i didn’t label the rap videos racist. many rap videos glorify thug life and violence. i said they were helping to stereotype. what are you talking about with van halen videos?? i never tried to defend or promote any one genre/race/whatever.
“What about videos from more conscious hip-hop artists?”
are the other ones sleeping? and i said *most* rap videos, not all.
“I can’t think of many rap videos made by white artists that are depicting lower class minorities as violently out of control.”
what does that even mean? point? maybe you were making mine.
of course racism and stereotyping exists and it sucks. hopefully people can give their views on why they think this video is or isn’t racist (i think not) without trying to counter-stereotype or to convince everyone racism exists. duh.
patrick - mission accomplished whether everyone agrees or not. great piece, my good man.
vincent - “To be honest the thing like this video show a little part of the reality : the depraved youth in poor banlieues but don’t imagine that it is the reality for every non white youth in France. I am a black french and I am also afraid by those scums.” yeah, what he said.
May 12, 2008 at 12:34 pmpatrick articles suck.
May 13, 2008 at 8:02 pmit is therefore, justice
May 15, 2008 at 9:09 am@Brian
hahaha!
May 20, 2008 at 9:15 amracist is assuming that all people who are black or arab act like this. accurate is depicting people who do things like this, as they are in real life. i’m not saying that nobody but black and arab people commit such acts, but i also think this pretty acurately represents what one such gang could look like. Racist? I think not.
Message. THEY HAVE CROSSES ON THEIR BACKS!!! Symbolism 101? I know that’s the album title, but come on… seriously. Dig a little deeper. Plus, the cross could also be seen as the symbol of the band who calls themselves Justice. Once again, rife with symbolism and potential interpretations.
And simply because a work does not have a cliched hollywood ending, does not mean it does not have a message. The message could be any number of things. It could secretly be criticizing you for assuming that because those kids appear a certain way that they are arab. It could be confronting racism in a way. It could be simply exploring a problem, to which they see no solution. It could be exposing how closed minded people can be about art. Or how open they can be. It could be so many things, but you don’t like it, and so you feel the need to trash it.
Wack.
You all are mad ignorant for thinking it’s just “arabs?” and blacks in the group. I don’t know how you justify they’re Arabian and there are white kids. Check the dude wearing the hat in the beginning when they’re walking through the puddles. White. No ones racist but your dumb ignorant ass.
May 28, 2008 at 10:45 pmthey are representing the french revolted youngsters.
They used to burn cars like that in whole of france when they got mad, 2 or 3 years ago. I guess some still do it all the time..
And about the arabs,they are a big part of the population in france. Usually also represented as the revolted youngsters…
I feel like they are homaging Aphex Twin’s video “Come to daddy”
http://pitchfork.tv/videos/aphex-twin-come-to-daddy
May 9, 2008 at 11:00 am