Demonic or Determined?

I do not believe that Nicki Minaj is possessed. I believe her actions at the 2012 Grammys were supposed to make a statement; however, I am unsure as to what that statement might be. Singers nowadays are becoming more and more extreme in their performances in order to attract media attention. I believe all of Nicki’s actions were with the intention of gathering attention for her upcoming album, not intentionally shaming the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, I believe that the Catholic Church’s reputation for being involved innumerous aspects of people’s daily lives leads to the Church being criticized by the media and public.

I personally was not offended by Nicki’s performance at the Grammys. While she did make several digs at the Catholic Church, it was done in a way that was poorly executed and reflected badly on her, not the Church. However, I can see where people would be upset about her performance. While mock exorcism was not vulgar, I found the singing of “Come All Ye Faithful” very distasteful. I understand Nicki wanting to make a statement, but to mock a song that numerous children hear growing up, a song often associated with Christmas, was unnecessary.

I also agree with Bill Donohue in his assessment of the choir boys praying and the women prostrating themselves on the prayer table. This scene was simply poor taste. It served no purpose to enhance her performance, in fact, in only added confusion to an already lackluster showing. I normally enjoy watching Nicki perform on stage, I feel that she has a lot of talent and her quirky ideas for stage performance are often novel and interesting. However, Nicki stuck out on this performance.

As for Donohue claims about other religions not receiving the criticism that Church receives, I have to agree with him. However, I do believe that most of the time, the Church brings the criticism onto itself. While the Jewish and Islam communities are vocal about their ideas, the Catholic Church is much more open to telling other of their ideas. Furthermore, since many Americans view Church ideas as being archaic and not up-to-date with the times, their comments are often ridiculed. While I do not believe any institution should be mocked because they have strong believes, when you’re the only fish in the sea, people are bound to come after you.