DURAN DURAN - GIRLS ON FILM

Publicació: 13 de juliol de 1981

Llistes: EUA: - Regne Unit: #5

"Girls on Film" va ser el tercer senzill de la banda publicat del seu àlbum homònim de debut. La cançó és una crítica a l'explotació de les dones en la indústria dels mitjans i de l'entreteniment. La lletra destaca com les dones es redueixen a objectes sexuals i s'espera que renunciïn a la seva dignitat per aconseguir l'èxit. La cançó serveix com a recordatori que les dones mereixen ser tractades amb respecte i dignitat, en lloc de ser convertides en objectes per a la mirada masculina.

Aquesta cançó es va escriure fa més de 40 anys, però es podria haver escrit perfectament avui. No sabria dir si això és bo o dolent, ja que és cert que avui els drets de les dones han millorat molt, però estem parlant d'una reivindicació de fa quatre dècades, i encara queda camí per per fer per a assolir la igualtat definitiva. Per sort la societat està canviant i esperem que en un futur proper no s'hagin de fer més reclamacions d'aquest tipus.

El primer èxit de la banda al Regne Unit no va venir sense polèmica, ja què aquesta cançó és més coneguda pel seu vídeo. És impossible parlar de "Girls on Film" i no parlar també d'aquest videoclip. Molts al seu moment van dir que el video era pornogràfic, altres pensavem que era només eròtic. El que hi veiem són dones mig nues lluitant en el fang. Més tard les veiem abocant xampany sobre els seus pits i també veiem una noia nua que es frega el mugró amb un glaçó. Em va semblar en aquell moment, i encara avui em sembla una polèmica totalment exagerada. Eròtic? Sí! Pornogràfic? Absolutament no al meu parer.

Encara que es tracta d'una cançó sobre el costat més fosc del car món del glamour, és totalment incoherent que mentre la cançó en cert sentit parli de la defensa dels drets de les dones, al videoclip les models s'utilitzen pràcticament com a objectes sexuals. També és evident que pensant en els drets de les dones, avui seria molt complicat fer un vídeo d'aquest tipus. Tampoc en relació al nudisme ja que en aquest sentit estem pitjor avui que fa 40 anys, sobretot en el cas de la nuesa femenina, que s'ha convertit en un tema tabú.

En una entrevista, Simon Le Bon va manifestar que la controvèrsia sobre el vídeo va eclipsar el missatge de la cançó sobre l’explotació de les models al món de la moda. El vídeo va ser dirigit per Lol Creme i Kevin Godley, que van ser els líders del grup 10cc i també van gravar com a Godley & Creme.

En una entrevista recent, el director Kevin Godley va explicar les seves impressions sobre l'enregistrament del vídeo i la polèmica que va aixecar. "Suposo que va fer que la gent parlés més sobre nosaltres que no pas de la banda", diu Godley sobre "Girls on Film".

"La idea original, suposo, era una visió irònica de l'explotació, perquè d'això tractava la cançó", explica Godley. "Estàvem intentant ser fidels, a la nostra manera, al que tractava la cançó i ser irònics al respecte. Però sobretot a Amèrica, la ironia no és una cosa molt popular, així que potser tot el que van veure eren dones nues. Crec que es va concebre originalment per ser una mica més intel·ligent que això".

Godley s'apressa a dir que mai va pensar que "Girls on Film" fos un vídeo explotador, subratllant que les models, altament professionals, estaven totalment preparades i no els importava mostrar els seus cossos. Fins i tot es sentien bé fent-ho. A més, quan es parla de l'òptica que el vídeo ha envellit malament per una escena amb una model rossa i blanca amb un vestit de vaquera fetitxe que munta un home negre vestit de cavall, insisteix que el ballarí negre era només el millor candidat de diversos homes que van fer una audició per al polèmic paper equí. Aquesta escena va provocar que el vídeo s’edités de manera gairebé irreconeixible per a obtenir la qualificació PG-13 obligada per poder visualitzar-se a MTV un cop la xarxa de cable va començar a enlairar-se a Amèrica. La majoria de les altres escenes impactants, per descomptat, tampoc van passar el tall, cosa que va ser frustrant per als directors. "Crec que probablement se'ns va ordenar treure qualsevol cosa que s'assemblés a un mugró. Vam fer el millor que vam poder sense comprometre la idea original", diu Godley. "Crec que vam trigar una quantitat considerable de temps, probablement més del que va trigar a fer el vídeo original! Va ser complicat, perquè havíem de centrar-nos en que el que era secundari passes a ser el motor principal del vídeo. Va sortir bé, però no és una gran peça fílmica en comparació amb la versió original, perquè s'allunya de tot el propòsit per al qual es va fer la pel·lícula. Va ser com un gra al cul fer els retalls".

Però per molt escandalós que va ser el vídeo de "Girls on Film" l'any 1981, Godley admet: "Sincerament, no crec que avui es pogués fer. El sistema ha canviat i no és tan gratuït i fàcil com abans. Crec que possiblement tothom tindria massa por de fer-ho per la reacció a les xarxes socials. Perquè, tot i que no és tan atrevit, crec que es consideraria inadequat". Teoriza que si dirigís "Girls on Film" el 2023, "tractaria més sobre coses suggerides, que no veus, en lloc de mostra-les obertament. Però fins i tot així crec que no ens en sortiríem. "Siguem sincers, era emblemàtic a l'època, més que qualsevol altra cosa, avui és diferent".

La tornada va ser escrita originalment per un antic membre de Duran Duran, Andy Wickett, que (potser sense adonar-se de l'èxit que tindria la banda) va rebre una compensacio única de 600 £ perquè el grup pogués evitar qualsevol repercussió legal al publicar la cançó.

Aquesta cançó d'èxit ha captivat tant aficionats a la música com a crítics amb el seu ritme enganxós i el seu so funky. "Girls On Film" mostra la fusió única de la banda d'influències de rock, funk i pop. La línia de baix groovy i els memorables riffs de guitarra es complementen amb la veu sensual de Simon Le Bon. Un detall interessant de "Girls On Film" és que originalment estava pensada com una cançó de cara B, però va acabar agafant força quan es va incloure a l'àlbum i es va publicar com a tercer senzill. El que fa que aquesta cançó destaqui és la seva capacitat per capturar l'essència de l'escena pop de principis dels anys 80 mentre es manté atemporal en el seu atractiu. Continua sent una de les favorites dels fans avui dia i sovint es cita com un dels èxits emblemàtics de Duran Duran.

DURAN DURAN - GIRLS ON FILM 

Released: July 13, 1981

Charted:  US: -   UK: #5

“Girls on Film" is the third single by the band released by their eponymous debut album. The song is a critique of the exploitation and objectification of women in the media and entertainment industry. The lyrics highlight how women are reduced to sexual objects and are expected to give up their dignity to achieve success. The song serves as a reminder that women deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, rather than being made into objects for the male gaze.

This song was written over 40 years ago but it could have been written perfectly today. I couldn't say if this is a good thing or a bad thing since it is true that today women's rights have improved a lot, but we are talking about a claim that has been made for four decades, and there is still a way to go to reach definitive equality. Luckily society is changing and we hope that in the near future no more claims of this type will have to be made.

The band’s breakthrough hit in the UK didn’t come without controversy. This song is best known for its video, which was the first extended video ever made and was quite racy. It is impossible to talk about “Girls on Film” and not also talk about this video clip. Many at the time called the video pornographic, others thought it was just erotic. What we see in it are half-naked women mud wrestling. Later we see them pouring champagne over their breasts, and we also see a naked girl rubbing her nipple with an ice cube. It seemed to me at the time, and still seems to me today to be a totally exaggerated controversy. Erotic? Yes! Pornographic? Absolutely not in my opinion. 

The band expected the video to be played in the newer nightclubs that had video screens or on pay TV channels like the Playboy Channel, but the recent appearance of MTV changed everything and a softer version of the video was made, which was even awarded at the 1984 Grammys with the best short form music video. 

Although it is a song about the darker side of the expensive world of glamour, it is totally incoherent that while the song in a certain sense talks about defending women's rights, in the video clip the models are practically used as sexual objects. It is also evident that thinking about women's rights, today it would be very difficult to make a video of this type. Nor in relation to nudism since in that sense we are worse today than 40 years ago, especially in the case of female nudity, which has become a taboo subject.

In an interview Simon Le Bon says that the controversy over the song's notoriously raunchy music video eclipsed the song's message of fashion model exploitation. The video was directed by Lol Creme and Kevin Godley, who were the leaders of the group 10cc and also recorded as Godley & Creme.

In a recent interview, director Kevin Godley explained his impressions about the recording of the video and the controversy it aroused. “It just got people talking about us, I guess, as much as the band,” Godley says of “Girls on Film.”

“The original idea, I guess, was an ironic take on exploitation, because that's what the song was about,” Godley explains. “We were trying to stay true, in our own way, to what the song was about and be ironic about it. But particularly in America, irony isn't a hugely popular thing, so maybe it just went over people's heads and all they saw was naked women. I think it was originally conceived to be a little bit more intelligent than it is.”

Godley is quick to say that he never thought “Girls on Film” was exploitative, stressing that the highly “professional” models “were totally up for it” and “didn't mind showing their bodies,” and that “even when they were showing their bodies off, there was a sense that they were doing it with some power and that it was intentional.” Also, when discussing the video’s optics that have aged most poorly — a scene featuring a white, blonde model in a fetish cowgirl costume riding a G-stringed Black man dressed as a horse — he insists that the Black dancer was merely the best candidate of several men who auditioned for the controversial equine role.

That eyebrow-raising scene actually made it into the almost unrecognizable, PG-13 edit that Godley & Creme were forced to do for MTV once the cable network started to take off in America. But most of the other shocking scenes of course didn’t make the cut, which was frustrating for the directors. “I think we were probably instructed to remove anything that resembled a nipple, anything like that. We did the best that we could without hopefully compromising the original idea,” says Godley. “I think it took a considerable amount of time — probably longer than it took to construct the original video! It was tricky, because we had to show things that we hadn't filmed a great deal of. I mean, it came out OK, but it's not a great sell. It's not a great piece of film in comparison to the Night Version, because it shies away from the whole purpose of what the film was made for. It was a pain in the ass to do it.”

But as scandalous as the “Girls on Film” video was way back in 1981, Godley admits, “I don't honestly think it would get made today. The system that operates today, it’s not as free and easy as it used to be. … I think everybody would possibly be too scared to do it, because they may get torn apart on social media. Because even though it's not that racy, it would be deemed inappropriate, I think.” He theorizes that if he were directing “Girls on Film” in 2023, “It would be more about the things that you didn't see — suggested, rather than being overt. But even then, I don’t think we’d get away with it. “Let's face it, it was emblematic of the time, more than anything else, today is different”.

The chorus was originally written by a former member of Duran Duran, Andy Wickett, who (perhaps not realising how successful the band would become) was paid a one-off fee of £600 so the group could avoid any legal repercussions by releasing it.

This hit song has captivated music fans and critics alike with its catchy beat and funky sound. "Girls On Film" showcases the band's unique fusion of rock, funk, and pop influences. The groovy bassline and memorable guitar riffs are complemented by Simon Le Bon's sensual vocals. An interesting detail about "Girls On Film" is that it was originally intended as a B-side song, but it ended up taking hold when it was included on the album and released as the third single. What makes this song stand out is its ability to capture the essence of the early '80s pop scene while remaining timeless in its appeal. It remains a fan favorite today and is often cited as one of Duran Duran's signature hits.