Was Katy Perry's performance of "Unconditionally" at the American Music Awards Racist?
The pop star's opening number, which was a Japanese-themed concept, is receiving some harsh criticism for reportedly disrespecting the Japanese culture.
The singer, who dressed up as a geisha, is being called a racist for "sexualizing a traditional Japanese female figure, who is paid to serve as a hostess and excels in the art of entertainment," The Huffington Post reported.
The performance included a Shinto shrine, back-up dancers, cherry blossoms, taiko drummers and set props that resemble the Japanese culture.
Cosmopolitan.com was the first to comment on the 29-year-old's performance by asking "Was Katy Perry's AMAs performance racist?" Vulture.com's writer Jesse David Fox compared Perry's perfomrance to other "racially tut-tutted" performances.
"Selena Gomez's Hindu-referencing Billboard Awards performance and, of course, Miley Cyrus's VMAs performance," he wrote. "Was Perry's Great Wave of Japanese signifiers offensive, simply stereotypical or harmlessly deferential in an inert Katy Perry maximalist way?"
The singer promised to take viewers on a trip around the world, even giving her fans a hint by posting a picture of a microphone painted with cherry blossoms
"A clue to the theme of my AMA performance this evening!" she wrote. "I will be OPENING the show & take you on a trip!!!"
