MTV Picks UK Shock Mop Brand for VMAs
Brit Comic Russell Brand Hosts MTV Video Music Awards In Hollywood
Sep 9, 2008
The reaction to Russell Brand's provocative tirades as host of the VMAs in Los Angeles has been startlingly varied. Most surprising of all has been the generally warm reaction from the press in the US. Local politics was the target of his most vociferous comments and, in particular, the person of the President. Expecting a conservative backlash from the Yanks, and most probably as a result of a British awkwardness over our latest celebrity export, UK media response has been couched and negative.
Career-boosting Bravado From Brand
For those that missed the show and wave of comment, Brand bounced onto the stage with the express intention of pushing his back-combed bonce right into the face of the audience. The nervous response from the assembled musicos reflected the fact that they probably just did not know what to make of him. Attacking President Bush as a “retarded cowboy” and imploring Americans to vote-in Obama to counter the “...racists..”, he bravely pressed on in the face of occasional quiet discomfort. He also took a pop at the sanctity of teenage virginity - or at least the declaration of it to the world in the form of the 'purity ring' - by taking verbal aim at the Jonas Brothers.
Send Brand Back Or Bring Brand Back ?
UK press comment seems to reflect the Brit pundits' apparent embarrassment. The Online version of the London Times, in an article by their Media Correspondent Patrick Foster, suggested that the US was “...not sold on Russell Brand's brand of humour”. Matthew Moore in the Telegraph left room for doubt in a more balanced appraisal of the comedian and the reaction.
A quick trawl of online comment in the US puts the UK journos' view in its place. The inevitable rants from patriots mightily offended by Brand having a pop at the President are outnumbered by positive blogs and articles. Locals are polarised by patriotic disgust versus the welcoming of Brand's breath of fresh air. Lauded by Rolling Stone and the LA Times (“Thank the punk rock saints...”), his stint as host appears to be the only newsworthy review drowning the noise level of Britney Spears' appearance at the VMAs. Even the Boston Herald online comment was relatively neutral, paraphrasing his “I'm famous...” comment but otherwise devoting its attention to Spears and the other acts.
Love Me, "I'm Famous In The United Kingdom"
Accepting that Brand is an acquired taste and survives on being outrageous, anyone who throws politics and the merits of sex at an American crowd used to less subtle self-aggrandisement is quite brave. Yes, of course its all calculated with himself in mind; but it cannot be harmful for the occasional bonkers Brit to challenge the conservative superiority that pervades in the States. Most media play it safe. Commentators dress themselves up as radical but, constrained by political-correctness, rarely challenge the morality of others who parade their virtue in anticipation of sainthood. So Russell Brand is not a counter-evangelist but a career-creating cheeky chappie. He certainly stirred it up, eclipsing Britney by some way as the top internet search on the day of the Awards, according to Google Trends. Fair play. But what about the music ?
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