Pop Star M.I.A. Unhappy About Article, Lashes Out On Twitter
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International pop star M.I.A. has taken to her Twitter account Thursday to wage a war of words against "New York Times Magazine" writer, Lynn Hirschberg.
M.I.A., whose real name is Maya Arulpragasam, posted the writer's personal office phone number on her Twitter account this morning. She seemed to urge her fans to call Hirschberg and find out the "truth" about the writer's "New York Times Magazine" profile of M.I.A.
M.I.A. has a right to be concerned. Hirschberg has a reputation for unflattering celebrity profiles. In 1992 she published a profile of Courtney Love in "Vanity Fair." The article portrayed Love as a drug abusing opportunist who controlled her quietly depressed husband, rock star Kurt Cobain. Among other revelations, Love admitted to using heroin while she was pregnant in the article.
The article's depiction of Love and Cobain's lifestyle created instant public backlash, and they even had their daughter taken away from them for a while after she was born. Many believe that the heroin abuse claims Love made in the article were a contributing factor in their daughter being removed from their custody.
So it does not bode well for M.I.A. that Hirschberg's article about her is being compared to her article about Love. The article offers stated and understated commentary about the pop star's public image, concluding that it is largely superficial. For an artist like M.I.A, whose image is everything, the article is particularly damning.
M.I.A., a Sri Lankan native who was raised in London, vocally supports the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group in the bloody Sri Lankan ethnic conflicts. She proclaims that many of her songs and videos are meant to bring awareness to the conflict and the plight of the people it is affecting.
Hirschberg questions M.I.A.'s political alignments, and implies she does not truly understand what she is supporting, as the Tigers are considered by many to be terrorists. She also quotes leaders at the Sri Lankan Democracy Forum, who claim M.I.A's statements are actually doing more harm to her people than good.
Hirschberg also comments on the disconnect between M.I.A's persona and her actual life. She notes the singer is engaged to the son of a billionaire and lives in a gated community in Brentwood, a place described by Hirschberg as "an isolated and bucolic section of the city with a minimal history of trauma and violent uprisings."
M.I.A. had claimed she would give birth to her son in a pool of water because she wanted to connect with women forced to give birth in concentration camps, but ended up giving birth in a private room in the famous Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Hirschberg also notes that while M.I.A. talks about how the public ignores poverty and genocide, she munches on truffle fries.
After M.I.A.'s tweet, Hirschberg told the "New York Observer" that she has received many calls from people mostly wanting to hook up with M.I.A., because the singer did not make it clear that it was the author's number. When asked to respond to M.I.A's tweets Hirschberg took the opportunity to make a final jab at the singer, saying, "It's a fairly unethical thing to do, but I don't think it's surprising. She's a provocateur, and provocateurs want to be provocative."
It will be interesting to see if the article affects how the general public perceives M.I.A. I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a fan but I do have one of her albums and enjoy her music. While this article leads me to greatly question the veracity of her public image, I was not buying her music for her image anyway. But we will soon see if I am in the majority. Her next album is due to be released this summer.
