TABLE OF CONTENTS Video Summary & Related Content 3 Video Review 4 Before Viewing 5 While Viewing 6 Talk Prompts 8 After Viewing 11 The Story 13 Activity #1: Analyzing World Issues in M.I.A.’s Music 23 Activity #2: Silenced Political Bands Campaign 24 Sources 26 CREDITS News in Review is produced by Visit www.curio.ca/newsinreview for an archive of all CBC NEWS and curio.ca previous News In Review seasons. As a companion resource, go to www.cbc.ca/news for additional GUIDE articles. Writer: Chris Coates Editor: Sean Dolan CBC authorizes reproduction of material contained VIDEO in this guide for educational purposes. Please Host: Michael Serapio identify source. Senior Producer: Jordanna Lake News In Review is distributed by: Packaging Producer: Marie-Hélène Savard curio.ca | CBC Media Solutions Associate Producer: Francine Laprotte Supervising Manager: Laraine Bone © 2019 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation MAYA/MATHANGI/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star Video duration – 9:06 Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam — known simply now as M.I.A. — is an acclaimed Sri Lankan-Tamil rapper pop star from England. Always controversial, she is an outspoken activist, who uses her fame as a platform to express her political views, particularly about the Tamil crisis in Sri Lanka. Film director Stephen Loveridge put together a documentary of the artist’s life which includes a slew of footage shot by Maya herself over the past 22 years. It follows her from her early years in Sri Lanka, growing up in London and her rise to fame. The National’s host Adrienne Arsenault takes a look at the life of this controversial music artist at the release of her documentary in North America. RELATED CONTENT • Canada Reads 2018: Sharon Bala on The Boat People • Interrupt This Program series (on art as a form of protest around the world) • News in Review, October 2010 – The Tamil Boat People Controversy • News in Review, December 1995 – Sri Lanka: Cornering the Tigers? curio.ca/newsinreview / 3 VIDEO REVIEW curio.ca/newsinreview / 4 BEFORE VIEWING As a class or in small groups, consider the following questions: 1. What is the purpose of art — whether we are talking about a painter, a writer or a musician? What role should artists play in society? 2. U.S. writer and liberal political activist Norman Mailer famously said, “The final purpose of art is to intensify, even, if necessary, to exacerbate the moral consciousness of people.” To what extent do you agree with Mailer’s position? How can art influence society’s perception of right and wrong? 3. Is it acceptable for popular music to be overtly political? Brainstorm some examples of popular artists whose music and lyrics comment on important world issues. Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 5 WHILE VIEWING 1. When did Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.) break onto the music scene? a) 2018 b) 2004 c) 2010 d) 2012 2. M.I.A.’s father was one of the founders of the early Tamil resistance movement, leading up to the 25-year Sri Lankan Civil War. TRUE or FALSE 3. What inspired Arulpragasam to adopt the stage name ‘M.I.A.’? a) She felt the Sri Lankan government was neglecting its responsibilities for its citizens. b) Her family suggested it. c) She received news that her cousin had gone “missing-in-action” in the Sri Lankan Civil War. d) It’s an acronym for “Maya in Action.” 4. There is an ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka . TRUE or FALSE Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 6 5. In Steven Loveridge’s documentary Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., why doesn’t she visit her childhood home in Jaffna, Sri Lanka?? a) The Israeli army had taken control of the city. b) It was too costly and inconvenient. c) She was too afraid. d) The government was bombing the area daily. 6. Why was M.I.A.’s video for the song Born Free temporarily banned on YouTube? a) It contains scenes of graphic executions in Sri Lanka. b) It portrays the persecution of Tamils through discrimination against redheaded Americans. c) Arulpragasam faces the camera and gives “the middle finger.” d) She challenges Brexit, the United Kingdom’s initiative to exit the European Union. 7. How does M.I.A. respond to criticism that her creativity is too political? a) She doesn’t care because her art reflects experiences. b) She has started working on an album of love songs. c) Her manager promised fans that she would “tone it down.” d) She has been discouraged from continuing to make music. Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 7 TALK PROMPTS curio.ca/newsinreview / 8 TALK PROMPT #1 Consider pausing the video and giving students the opportunity to talk to an elbow partner for a few minutes or use these questions as part of a class discussion. Pause the video after the clip of M.I.A. giving the middle finger at Super Bowl LVXI, @ 1:52 1. What do you think motivated M.I.A. to use this gesture at such a high profile event? 2. What do you think her message might have been? 3. Should she be punished for her actions? Why or why not? Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 9 TALK PROMPT #2 Pause the video after the clip of M.I.A. explaining her migration to England, @ 03:57 1. What challenges would Mathangi have faced as a 10-year-old Tamil in London? 2. What sort of impact do you think this experience had on her? TALK PROMPT #3 Let the video play through until the end: 1. M.I.A. says she is often criticized for the subject matter in her music. In your view, does her frequent reference to the immigrant experience affect her creativity or the quality of her music? 2. Should she be exploring more universal themes as a popular artist? Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 10 AFTER VIEWING 1. To what extent has the information in the video changed your perception of the role of the artist in society and the intersection of politics and popular music? Explain your reasoning. 2. Do artists and celebrities have a moral duty to use their position to raise public awareness on social issues? Why or why not? Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 11 If Drake ‘started [from] the bottom,’ I started in the abyss – M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) THE STORY Minds On In your group, conduct TOPICS research under your This activity will provide you Group 1 – Key Figures assigned topic and record with some background Group 2 – Causes your findings in the Google knowledge regarding the Sri doc. Group 3 – Timeline of events Lankan Civil War. Your teacher will: Share your findings with the Group 4 – Photos & captions Group 5 – Consequences • Divide the class into groups class in a presentation of (political, economic, social, of four or five approximately five to seven minutes. cultural) • Assign each group a topic Group 6 – International • Create a shared Google doc response & activism the class can access (or wall chart) featuring the chart on the following page. Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 13 SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR 1. Key figures 2. Causes 3. Timeline of events 4. Photos & captions 5. Consequences 6. International response & activism Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 14 M.I.A.: Alt-pop agitator sought asylum She had defied the odds to over a decade become an emerging visual earlier. Suddenly, artist and filmmaker the day she felt compelled she graduated art school in to return to Sri 2000. Then, Mathangi “Maya” Lanka in search of Arulpragasam got a phone call Janna. What began that changed her life. Her as a quest to find favourite cousin, Janna, had her lost cousin explosive voices in mainstream gone ‘M.I.A.’ (missing-in- became an origin story — the music today. action) in Sri Lanka’s ongoing coming of age of M.I.A., three- Mathangi’s loss of innocence civil war. Overcome by guilt time Grammy nominee and about her relative privilege, leading alt-pop agitator, M.I.A. comes by her politics Maya felt a sudden strong whose spirited protest and honestly. She was less than a connection to the homeland avant-garde earworms have year old when her father, Arul from which her family had made her one of the most Pragasam, moved their family Maya/Mathangi/M.I.A. – The Making of a Political Pop Star curio.ca/newsinreview / 15 from London to Jaffna, where and helped found the Eelam father, who was introduced to ethnic minority Tamil Hindus Revolutionary Organisation of her as her uncle to keep his were being persecuted and Students (EROS). location a secret. “If Drake murdered by the Buddhist ‘started [from] the bottom’, I Arular’s activism contributed Sinhalese majority to a volatile childhood for started in the abyss,” she says government. Arul joined the of her youth. As the ethnic war Mathangi — one marked by fight for an independent Tamil escalated, the Arulpragasam gunfire drills at school, hiding state in northern Sri Lanka, from the government, and family moved back-and-forth adopting the war name Arular, in derelict housing between Sri infrequent contact with her Lanka and India before settling M.I.A.’s father, Arul Pragasam, was a political activist and one of as refugees in London in 1985.