Did Robin Thicke Deserve the Twitter Abuse He Got on #AskThicke?
Singer Robin Thicke is no stranger to controversy, but even he must have been amazed by the torrent of abuse that rained down on him when he agreed to take part in a Twitter question and answer session at VH1. Instead of the usual “So what inspired this album?” type of questions (which in this case were redundant anyways, as it’s clearly a blatant attempt to win back his wife), Twitter users took the opportunity to berate Thicke for his “Blurred Lines” tune, accusing him of misogyny, sexism, and supporting rape.
So did Thicke deserve this trolling? However, fair play to the man himself, who carried on with the QA despite such vitriol. More disturbingly, certain lyrics are explicitly sexually violent and appear to reinforce victim-blaming rape myths, for example about women giving ‘mixed signals’ through their dress or behavior, saying ‘no’ when they really mean ‘yes’ and so on.”
Thicke responded at the time, saying: ”I can’t even dignify that with a response; that’s ridiculous. I’ve been in love with the same woman since I’ve been a teenager. I don’t want to do anything inappropriate.” Which perhaps explains Thicke’s reluctance to accept anything at all was amiss. After all, if you meet and marry the same person that you’ve known since you were 16, are you perhaps as emotionally mature as you were when the relationship began? Does Thicke still view women through his 16-year-old eyes? Since “Blurred Lines’” success, Thicke’s marriage to Patton floundered and the couple separated in February of this year. Ever since then, Thicke has been on a relentless campaign to win back his wife, declaring his love for her and dedicating songs to her at every given opportunity. Just last week at the BET Awards, he took to the piano to sing a new song, “Forever Love,” and said “I’d like to dedicate this song to my wife, and say I miss you, and I’m sorry.” He was just as clear in his intentions at the Billboard Awards in May, saying, ”All right, you got to help me try to get her back now,” before debuting the bluntly titled “Get Her Back.” Doesn’t this all smack of some teenage boy-style of begging, refusing to see when you’re not wanted? At the time of his twerking escapades with Miley Cyrus at the 2013 VMAs, I found it astounding that Cyrus copped all the flak for wearing a nude latex bikini and grinding away on a man almost twice her age, while Thicke seemed to escape criticism. Where’s the father figure suggesting a nice duet without all the stimulation? This is a man who can’t seem to distinguish between good and bad taste. The “Blurred Lines” video itself was the sexiest piece I have probably ever seen: All the men dressed and drooling over women who, save a small flesh-colored G-string, were naked. Does Thicke think his attempts to woo back his wife will also woo back the public? When my son began singing the lyrics of “Blurred Lines” last summer, “I know you want it,” I was horrified. Not just because he was 7, but because: What is that teaching him? That a girl who says “no” means “yes”? Luckily he had no real grasp of the meaning of the song; he sang it over and over again simply because he enjoyed the tune, which, funnily enough, is exactly what I think Thicke was doing: just singing along, enjoying the tune. Or was it all just “blurred lines”?
