Katy Perry Causes Hipster Schizophrenia

Entertaining item over at Gawker: Katy Perry filmed a takeoff of her song “Hot ‘N Cold” for Sesame Street, with Elmo, and the dress she wore is considered too cleavagey for PBS, so the clip won’t air.

But what’s fun about that post is not the segment (which, if you ask me, is no big deal; the dress comes off like a princess costume, not a slinky awards-show thing). No, it’s the  commentariat at Gawker, trying to parse what is the appropriately cool and detached stance on this. Because they found at least three ways to sneer at it:

• Why the hell is wholesome Sesame Street consorting with the most plasticky pop star around? Please.

• Why the hell is she wearing that boobalicious dress on Sesame Street? Oh please.

• Why the hell is this a problem? Get over your prudery. It’s just a dress, and she’s even covered up on top with a little mesh something-or-other. Please.

Not to mention a few jabs at her fashion sense, which (frankly) is where I came down on the whole matter. The dress isn’t dangerous or inappropriate, but it’s almost comically tacky. Oh, and the clever dude who posted “This clip was brought to you by the letters ‘T’ and ‘A.'” An easy joke, but a good one.

Published by Christopher

Christopher Bonanos is a senior editor at New York magazine, where he works on arts and urban-affairs coverage (and a few other things). He and his wife live smack in the middle of midtown Manhattan, where their son was born in March 2009. Both parents are very happy, and very tired.

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4 Comments

  1. She ought to film another segment in a burka. Bet they wouldn’t air that either. “Free to be you and me” indeed.

  2. @StormSweeper Yes! BFD! In summertime the kids see a lotta ladies in the neighborhood–old, young, fat, skinny, toothed, toothless–wearing less than that.

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