Man Down

The Parent Television Council has called out Rihanna on her latest music video for Man Down, the newest single off her LOUD album. They say that the video that premiered yesterday on BET’s 106 and park condemns murder, as it shows Rihanna in an implied rape scene with a man whom she later guns down in an act of premeditated murder.

“‘Man Down’ is an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in primetime. Viacom’s standards and practices department has reached another new low,” said Paul Porter, co-founder of Industry Ears and a former voice of BET.

“Rihanna’s personal story and status as a celebrity superstar provided a golden opportunity for the singer to send an important message to female victims of rape and domestic violence. Instead of telling victims they should seek help, Rihanna released a music video that gives retaliation in the form of premeditated murder the imprimatur of acceptability. The message of the disturbing video could not be more off base,” said Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the Parents Television Council.

This isn’t Rihanna’s first run in with the Parent Television Council. She just recently got flack for her racy performance of ‘S&M’ with Britney Spears at the Billboard Music Awards, just a few weeks ago.

They are now calling on Viacom executives to immediately pull the video from programs that are targeted to youth and teenagers. Meanwhile, Rihanna defends her video via twitter and is continuously re-tweeting positive messages from her fans about how inspiring the video is, how it brings attention to a very serious issue and that it's her best video yet. To all her fans she replied, "Thank you for the amazing response on ManDownVideo I love you guys, and I love that u GOT IT!!!", indirectly referring to people she thinks didn't get it, like the Parental Television Council.

Check out the video and let us know what you think! Has Rihanna gone too far - is she spreading the wrong message, perhaps unintentionally? Or is this just same old entertainment media, no big deal? How do you feel about it, as parent? Do you approve of the message? We want to hear from you!