David Bowie‘s new album, The Next Day, has gotten great acclaim and given him a huge career boost. Everyone seems to love it and he’s been cranking out the music videos. One starred Tilda Swinton. This latest one, for the track “The Next Day”, features Marion Cotillard and Gary Oldman and lots of Jesus imagery that is pissing off some Catholics. The video was apparently so intense and offense that it was briefly taken off of YouTube. It’s back up now with this warning:
This video has been age-restricted based on our Community Guidelines
LOL seriously? It’s like Madonna‘s “Like A Prayer” music video scandal all over again, except that was in 1989 and on MTV. I mean really, come on, YouTube.
Anyway. The Catholic League is mad at David Bowie. Lord Carey, Archbishop, thinks he’s immature for making this video. From The Telegraph:
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey poured scorn on an attempts by David Bowie to attract controversy by posing as Jesus in his new video – questioning whether he would have been so willing to offend Muslims.
He urged Christians to “rise above” the “juvenile” promotion for the single The Next Day, adding: “I doubt that Bowie would have the courage to use Islamic imagery – I very much doubt it.”
Other Christian commentators dismissed the move as “desperate” adding that, rather than leaving them shocked, it confirmed that Christianity is still important.
The video was temporarily pulled from YouTube, seemingly because of its controversial content.
But the website quickly moved to reinstate it, insisting it had been taken down in error – although adding an adult only rating.
There’s nothing in this video that you haven’t seen in The Da Vinci Code. There’s a pale priest flogging himself. Okay and also Gary Oldman plays a priest and punches a guy in the face. That definitely wasn’t in The Da Vinci Code.
I think Marion Cotillard is playing a prostitue and Bowie is some sort of Jesus. Other images include dismembered eyeballs being served on a plate, bishops appearing to pay for sex, a topless spooky woman with gold nipples, Cotillard + Stigmata, and David Bowie being whipped by a group of people. It’s really just another Thursday night at Iggy Pop’s house.
At the end of the video Bowie breaks the 4th wall when he says pleasantly, “Thank you, Gary, Thank you, Marion. Thank you everybody.”
See more stills from the video in the gallery.
What does George Carey have to do with the Catholic League?
David was just expressing an opinion and he did it with flair. If the Christian’s of this world are offended, then maybe they shouldn’t look. He didn’t make it for THEM. And yes, I’m a big fan of his AND the new video.
.. all hail the BowieGod.
AND HE’S DUMB , TO BOOT .. EVEN THOUGHT BOWIE IS ONLY HALF WHITE …. JESIUS CHRIST LIVED IN THE SEMETIC WORLD OF SOUTHERN ASIA —THERE ARE NO WHITE PEOPLE THERE !!!! TRUST JOYV .
THE JEWS ARE ALWAYS PLAYING THESE GAMES WITH YOU …
TRUTH : THE ROMANS WERE WHITE AND BLONDE
JESUS AND THE JEWS WERE AND ARE BROWN=SKINNED , SHOEPOLISH BLACK-HAIRED GREASEBALL FOLKS AS THEY ARE TODAY . BANG !!!
I haven’t seen the video yet, so I can’t make any judgment calls for now. I generally don’t take offense to these things as religion has been expressed through art for centuries and such works have been both praised and reviled — it’s all about perspective.
That said, I think Lord Carey is right about one thing: most artists don’t have the courage to use Islam as the subject of their art. Artists like to make a statement, but only if the backlash is certain to be minimal
When are Christians going to learn to just shut up and get out of everyone business? They have this idea that everyone has to believe in their fairy tale, and if you don’t believe you don’t even qualify as a person. Religious zealots ARE NOT above anyone else
George Carey is Anglican (Protestant), not Catholic.