Do Something Uses Reenactment Of Rihanna Case For PSA On Teen Dating Abuse
23 March 2009, 12:03 PM. By Alex Alvarez
Do Something is urging you to do something about teenage domestic abuse (specifically: don bracelets) by using a reenactment of the Rihanna / Chris Brown fight in a new PSA.
The PSA features a very authoritative narrator of the sort used to describe pedophilia cases on Dateline, reading through the detectives’ notes on what occurred between Rihanna and Chris Brown the night he attacked her in his rented Lamborghini. As he reads, a young, white couple acts out the events.
At the end of the PSA, viewers are urged to wear three (free) bracelets - one blue, two black - to act as a visual representation of the statistic that 1 in 3 teens are abused in a relationship. The bracelets are available at DoSomething.org.
Here’s the ad:
What do you all think? After a photo of Rihanna’s facial bruising was leaked, many seemed split over whether the decision made by many outlets (including Guanabee) to post the photo was entirely exploitive, or whether it might serve to highlight the realities of domestic abuse. We know at least one less-than-enchanted commenter thought our hope that something might come out of the photo’s release disingenuous. We have a feeling this ad might inspire a similar discussion.
Our two cents? We think the ad struck a good balance between using an easily recognizable, high profile instance of teen dating abuse to draw attention to their cause, while also providing a distance between the actions that occurred and the famous names involved.
Do let us know what you think, though.
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omg! seeing it like that REALLY drives the point home how f-ing horrible this was! this dude needs to go to jail and rihanna needs to get some counseling if she really went back to him!
I find it interesting that they used two White actors to illustrate the real life story of two Black people. I sense the “A Time To Kill” factor.
I think that Do Something violated what little privacy Rihanna had left - this is no better than TMZ releasing the pictures. (And yes, I would feel better if the video had an introduction from Rihanna herself explaining that she endorses it and believes its important for her story to be told.)
There are a number of better, wiser ways to discuss the issue and still have a major impact. This video may shock some awareness into people, but it will also encourage more people to blame Rihanna for allegedly going back to Chris Brown and could actually scare some people from coming forward.