M.I.A.: Mommy In Affluence

Oh M.I.A…. How we loved you at The Mutiny when you first came out, hustlin’ like a brown around town. Only five years later…. how far you’ve fallen. (h/t Ateqah)

This video was hilarious while being oddly depressing. It echoes with truths. The actress in it is Lindy Jamil Gomez, a Spanish-Lebanese comedian out of N.Y.C. I hope she’s prepared to get a sternly worded tweet from M.I.A.’s wrath. M.I.A., I still love you tho! I’ll keep buyin’ your music! Um, unless I can get it online for free….you know…!

This entry was posted in Film, Humor, Video by Taz. Bookmark the permalink.

About Taz

Taz is an activist, organizer and writer based in California. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), curates MutinousMindState.tumblr.com and blogs at TazzyStar.blogspot.com. Follow her at twitter.com/tazzystar

38 thoughts on “M.I.A.: Mommy In Affluence

  1. she was always a poser who cynically exploited and trivialized serious terrorism. like her invocation of the ltte. till she realized it would affect her business. and then she married a billionaire and fathered a kid. and is now faking it by yelling nonsense about mujahideen in her songs to bolster her street cred. disgusting.

  2. Whoa poser, tell us how you really feel! Actually, I apologize for trivializing your insightful commentary on an entertainer.

  3. i find her pretty irrelevant these days.

    her beatz are still sick but they’re twinged with the knowledge of her real-life silliness.

    i’d listen to her old beatz out of nostalgia but woudn’t exert the energy to check out her new stuff.

  4. I think the lyrics and the video of the spoof are more creative than the original.

  5. I love MIA. She’s the only musician that’s still relevant. She’s probably hacked into your gmail, since she’s got more records than the KGB.

    This spoof was cute. The actress – Jamil-Lopez – is smoking hot. I thought that she was a Punjabi Indian, myself.

    MIA speaks up for the poor people of Sri Lanka, Palestine, and the poor in general. I assumed that she was anti-capitalistic…until she married a crorepathy.

  6. MIA speaks up for the poor people of Sri Lanka, Palestine, and the poor in general.

    no. she coopts terrorist labels in a cynical (and successful) attempt at getting her anti establishment cred. supporting ltte showing catchy tiger imagery is not even remotely close to supporting the tamils.

  7. Of the 5 songs I know of MIA, none of them deal with the LTTE. The four songs that I know are: (1) Galang (2) Paper Planes (3) Bird Flu (4) Jimmy Aaja. (5) The anti-red-head song.

    So what if she supports the LTTE. How is that different than if Natalie Portman supporting Israel? Or if Jackie Chan supporting the displacement of Tibetans? All I know is that MIA is a bad ass, and I’d love to put a flower-garland around her neck. And make idlies and sambar for her all year long. And drive her and our 4 kids on my Hero Honda motorcycle.

    But it is quite ironic, but I am not repulsed by this, in that she’s marrying a BILLIONAIRE, and I thought that she was a Leftist Tamilista. I mean, he surpasses capitalism-mania/Bourgeoisie-mania due to his billionaire pedigree. I suppose that she’s a bona fide hustler who’ll take his money.

  8. boston_mahesh, Are you serious or a caricature made to make us desis look dumb? Where is the evidence that MIA’s husband is a billionaire? What if her father-in-law gives the money to charity, or to people who look a hell of a lot more like him???

  9. Where is the evidence that MIA’s husband is a billionaire?

    this is what you picked on to identify boston mahesh as a caricature???

  10. Ha ha ha…That Gomez chick looks like the Bruticus character from the original Transformers animated series episode entitled Starscream’s Brigade!

  11. this vid isn’t funny the chicks a bit of a dog MIA rocks & is very talented & relevant end of story

  12. Thus video is actually hilarious – nice one! Good bit of satire, nicely written and, as mentioned, full of truths!

    MIA – you blew it homegirl – peace OUT

  13. IMO, MIA is a very talented young lady. I am 55 years old and I find her music and her song lyrics very appealing and fresh. I don’t think there any desis out there ,who can come close to her innovative music. I don’t care about her political views or whether she is married to a billionaire. Some of the comments above are just pathetic and pure jealously.

  14. THAT is real art! Love to Lindy!!

    I figured out long ago that leftists are closet aristocrats at heart, so I can’t slam Maya too hard. But I don’t have to take her at all seriously, either. She’s an entertainer, bully for her.

  15. Sharmila:

    You must have contracted bird flu. Go and buy a burner pre-paid wireless and deliver like a UPS truck. But drive on the right side, kid.

  16. funny… it’s actually a good thing that MIA’s being parodied – means she’s made it big… despite the haters

  17. i haven’t been this disillusioned since the time i saw dolly parton buying 2 nerf basketballs.

  18. I think MIA makes good music, but

    She is kind of asking for it, by always talking about the underdog and then marrying the son of a billionaire. He might be the nicest guy in the world, but it is like a black r&b singer singing about African queens and how sweet brown sugar is and then marrying the white daughter of the head of the GOP.

  19. I don’t think this video is funny at all. M.I.A. is an amazing musician so what if she is rich? M.I.A. is the most famous South Asian celebrity in North America at the moment. So because M.I.A. is wealthy she has no right to talk about politics? The writer for NY Times and this sad parody is a joke! I love M.I.A. because unlike a lot of female rappers and singers she doesn’t use her sexuality to sell records. M.I.A. is an outspoken young woman and society is so misogynist against women that are outspoken. M.I.A. is a political artist and she should be praised for speaking out about the violence against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

  20. 1: she married a billionaire and fathered a kid

    she fathered a kid ? That’s quite a trick.

  21. MIA had two good songs.

    Her politics are confused and obnoxious.

    She grew up poor and can be excused for marrying a billionaire’s son.

    Her husband has a gigantic skull. That can’t be easy.

    She brings stuff like this parody upon herself by having zero sense of humor.

  22. I am disgusted by this video and post. It is sinister and mean. Even if she is rich now and her tweets sound bratty, we don’t know her personal life.

  23. also, i once saw boston_mahesh wearing a bucky dent t-shirt at a van halen concert while sitting next to joe strummer

  24. 27 · Manju on July 31, 2010 1:55 AM · Direct link also, i once saw boston_mahesh wearing a bucky dent t-shirt at a van halen concert while sitting next to joe strummer

    Did you appreciate my slim-fit, low-cut lungi?

  25. lol i love this parody. finally they show her true colors of what a fake she really is. The new york times article also shed some light on her “pesudo rebellionism”. lol i read she took offence to Oprah giving her a cold shoulder at some party. i hope she fades back into obscurity with her wack music.

  26. “So what if she supports the LTTE. How is that different than if Natalie Portman supporting Israel? Or if Jackie Chan supporting the displacement of Tibetans”

    The difference is that MIA uses the LTTE as part of her image.

    She must have been fuming when the LTTE (and Tamil extremism) got its ass handed to it.

  27. No you are wrong M.I.A. has said in numerous interviews she does not support terrorism. M.I.A.’s father was part of a peaceful Tamil group called Eros. M.I.A. is not just a pop star she is a political activist and she has been very outspoken about the discrimination the Tamil people experience in Sri Lanka. I think the NY Times article and this parody makes no sense. M.I.A. is using her fame for good she is using her celebrity status to provide a public platform to the genoide against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. I think M.I.A. has a lot of guts and courage for speaking out against discrimination.

  28. Did you appreciate my slim-fit, low-cut lungi?

    Yes, I appreciated you going back to the velvet underground, back to the floor that you love, to a room with some lace and paper flowers, back to the desi that you was. And it all comes down to you. You know that it does. Lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice…and it lights up the night and you see your desi.

  29. M.I.A. is the most famous South Asian celebrity in North America at the moment.

    Oh, in that case, she must be flawless. She’s a celebrity and South Asian! She made everyone aware of the war in Sri Lanka by dancing at the MTV video (or movie?) awards! People who watched that came away with very clearly views on what needs to be done for peace…

  30. Ahhh the backlash! This pace oozes jealousy! How can she not be relevant, especially after the Born Free video?!

    And for her to have married a heir to fortune, she never romanticized poverty, she never indicated that she ‘loved’ being poor. She only sang about what it is like being a poor refugee. I don’t understand why people expect her to stay poor to stay relevant.

  31. No jealousy here – she’s a sellout to the music biz and her roots. She is extremely irrelevant now. Just because she has cosied up to people high up in the entertainement biz means we should care about her. Rubbish. If she wasn’t going out with this character who she is with right now, we would never have heard of her. She is merely a puppet of the establishment now.

  32. you heard of her because of her boyfriend? thats funny.. you are just saying random things to discredit her..

  33. Rubbish. If she wasn’t going out with this character who she is with right now, we would never have heard of her.

    On the contrary, those of us saavy enough to keep pace w/Justine Frischmann knew about MIA’s music from the get-go.

    I don’t understand why people expect her to stay poor to stay relevant.

    I doubt that’s the case…maybe for some clueless folks, but not for most. It’s the anticapitalist/pull up the people TALK vs. the utterly capitalist IMAGE that’s hilarious and self-negating. I think she can still stay very relevant as long as she talks from a privileged POV and/or moves on to producing or other media. The revolutionary image can no longer float w/o looking like Edina Monsoon.

  34. “those of us saavy enough to keep pace w/Justine Frischmann knew about MIA’s music from the get-go”

    Talk to anyone who knew here from this era and MIA is described as a blatant opportunist and ruthless social climber. Her music to me has always reflected this, but folks get too caught up in the hype to see it. Oh well. Rock rock on.