At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, we found out two things were dead: the old Taylor Swift and the once reputable awards show itself.
Since its 1984 debut, the VMAs have been infamous for its career-cementing performances and conversation-starting moments — think the 2003 three-way kiss between Britney Spears, Madonna and Christina Aguilera — but in recent years, the show has become a battleground for B and C-list celebrities to engage in petty drama and out-of-date jokes.
In order to once again assert its relevancy, the VMAs had to bring its A-game this year, a feat show producers did not come close to accomplishing.
The three-hour show felt two times longer, and the writing was often cringe-worthy, painfully unfunny and tasteless. Katy Perry’s attempt at being a host fell flat, and much of the sentimentality and social justice felt inauthentic and forced.
Best Moments:
1. Audience reaction shots
Live award shows often make use of audience reaction shots in the midst of performances or speeches, especially when the audience is comprised of some of the most well-known celebrities in the world. These shots generally don’t add much to the shows, but the close-ups on the celebrities at this year’s VMAs were spot-on. Jack Antonoff apathetically eating a banana during Katy Perry’s opening monologue mirrored how I felt, and I related to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s un-amused facial expressions throughout the whole show.
2. Paris Jackson going off script
Before presenting the award for Best Pop Video, Paris Jackson delivered a staunch denouncement of the current rise of Nazi hate groups and white supremacy in the country. She called on the audience and viewers to “stand up, united, as one” and to “resist.” She insisted that the public “show these Nazi, white supremacist jerks…that [our] nation…has zero tolerance for their violence, their hatred and their discrimination.” Jackson’s off-script, as evidenced by her Instagram post, announcement proved to be a legitimate dedication to activism and showed us that her Donald Trump impersonation isn’t too bad.
3. Miley Cyrus’s generation-spanning performance
Prior to this year, Miley Cyrus’s VMA performances have been out-of-control spectacles: 2013’s distasteful foam finger incident with Robin Thicke and 2015’s psychedelic drag show. Following a major image rebranding, Cyrus’s performance of new single “Younger Now” felt like a blip of light in the midst of an otherwise dark show. Cyrus took command of the stage with her retro pin-up cowgirl look, a poised presence and strong vocals. The inclusion of elderly folks and children reinforced the song’s message about growing older and welcoming change, and it also served as a visual representation of life’s stages.
4. Kendrick Lamar’s opening performance
Opening the VMAs always comes with a certain level of hype surrounding it, and Kendrick Lamar lived up to it with his explosive medley of “DNA” and “Humble.” The beginning of Lamar’s performance reinforced his outstanding natural ability, locking down his spot as the best rapper alive, and the second half proved he can also successfully create an entertaining spectacle that includes a katana-wielding ninja on fire and stuntmen climbing up a burning rope ladder. Lamar winning the show’s biggest award, Video of the Year, was also a highlight of the night, proving that maybe, sometimes, the general public can do the right thing.
5. A descendant of Robert E. Lee and Heather Heyer’s mother joining forces to denounce racism
When it was time to present the award for Best Fight Against the System, Reverend Robert Wright Lee IV, a descendant of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, stepped up to the mic. In a moving speech, Lee spoke out against racism and urged viewers to find inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement to fight racial injustice. He also introduced Susan Bro, mother of the late Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville when a white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of counter protesters. She delivered a heartfelt dedication to Heather and announced the launch of the Heather Heyer Foundation. In a night that often felt phony and unaware, this was the most authentic moment of hope, change and real action.
Most unnecessary moments:
1. Cutting Julia Michaels’ and Kyle’s performances short
Newcomers Julia Michaels and Kyle, both with relatively well-known hits, were given a platform to perform at this year’s VMAs, but were cut off in order to save time. In the middle of their performances, MTV cut to a commercial break, and the song being performed was never heard again. Michaels, in her performance of Top-40 hit, “Issues,” sounded better than most other vocalists of the night, and Kyle’s rendition of popular rap song “iSpy” was more fun and current than anything performed. I would’ve much rather seen both of their performances finished than watch another generic Demi Lovato or Shawn Mendes performance. For all the stress the VMAs put on new artists, it doesn’t seem like they value their talents to the level they deserve.
2. Fifth Harmony kicking ex-fifth member off stage
In what has to be the pettiest moment of the night, Fifth Harmony opened up their performance atop a Plexiglas box with a mysterious fifth member who abruptly fell back leaving only the four women standing, symbolizing the recent departure of ex-Fifth Harmony member, Camila Cabello. If this was done in a subtler manner, maybe this wouldn’t have been so off-putting, but its obviousness and tackiness paint Fifth Harmony in a negative light and creates unnecessary hype surrounding what was supposed to be a straightforward performance. Maybe it was just a publicity stunt, but even if so, Fifth Harmony needs to mature a little.
3. Ed Sheeran and Lil Uzi Vert’s collaboration
On paper, you would assume that this would never work. In reality, it fails more miserably than you could possibly imagine. Both artists looked uncomfortable, and the sound of their voices together was cacophonous. I could have gone my whole life without hearing Ed Sheeran muddle through “XO TOUR Llif3.” I predict that this will go down in notoriety for being one of the worst collaborations on the VMA stage.
4. The premiere of Taylor Swift’s new music video
Taylor Swift is currently in the middle of a massive image shift, going darker and more daring than ever before. However, Swift still possesses the same problematic characteristics she always has, undercutting her attempted reinvention. “Look What You Made Me Do” is a continuation of Swift continuously playing the victim, rehashing a high-profile celebrity feud that she so famously said she’d like to be excluded from. By constantly dwelling on it and playing a never-ending blame game, Swift is not taking responsibility, exhibiting classic behavior of a white feminist. The video for the track is full of snake imagery, gay men and people of color as stylistic ornaments and ghosts of “old Taylor’s” past all randomly thrown together in a non-cohesive whole. Her immaturity is again on display, as the video premiere was on the same day her “enemy,” Katy Perry, hosted her first VMAs.
5. Katy Perry as host
It’s 2017, and Katy Perry is no longer relevant enough for MTV to give her an extravagant entrance like the one she received at this years VMAs, descending from the ceiling in a spacesuit. From the very beginning of her depressing and misguided opening monologue, it was obvious to see that Perry was ill-fitted for the task, making awkward, poorly received jokes about fidget spinners. Perry’s worst bit was, by far, her reaction to Pink’s performance, in which she emulated popular millennial terminology like, “shooketh,” “I’m dead” and “wig snatched.” It was painful to sit through; Perry is obviously out of touch and out of ideas. Something that had the ability to save her career instead just tremendously sped up its downfall.
