Through her remarkable career, Matangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., has always courted controversy. From her beef with writer Lynn Hirschberg to the NFL suing her for flipping the middle finger during her Super Bowl halftime performance, M.I.A. has never been afraid to make headlines. But the most damning criticism against her is the suggestion that she sympathizes with terrorists.
For over a decade, M.I.A. has been a crusader for the rights of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka and the legitimacy of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), a labeled terrorist organization. She has fought for these causes during the Sri Lankan Civil War and its aftermath. Her father was involved in the early days of the Tamil resistance against the injustices faced by the Sinhala majority in Sri Lanka. However, the LTTE’s guerrilla tactics and violence tarnished their cause, victimizing civilians and recruiting child soldiers.
Today, accusations of war crimes haunt the Sri Lankan government for their actions during the final chapter of the conflict. To shed light on M.I.A.’s story, a documentary called Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., directed by Stephen Loveridge, is being released. It features a wealth of footage shot by the artist herself and offers audiences a deeper understanding of her tumultuous journey.
The documentary explores M.I.A.’s life as a young refugee in London. As a nine-year-old, she fled Sri Lanka with her mother and siblings in 1985, just before the conflict escalated, seeking safety in the UK. While M.I.A.’s categorical support for LTTE has drawn criticism, it is essential to consider her experiences and the complexity of Sri Lanka’s civil war. The struggle faced by the Tamil-Hindu minority is largely unknown in the Western world, hindering a complete understanding of M.I.A.
In a recent interview with The Atlantic, M.I.A. expressed frustration at being dismissed as a fame-seeking pop star. She highlighted the plight of diasporic Tamil people who were silenced after the war, labeled terrorists, and forced to hide their pride in their identity and flag. M.I.A.’s status as a former refugee deeply shapes her identity politics and art. She has become a prominent figure in pop culture, championing racial equality, the immigrant experience, and feminism. Her ability to merge the avant-garde with mainstream sensibilities is unparalleled, creating both club hits and rebellious anthems.
Despite her disruptive tendencies, M.I.A.’s activism, showcased in her last album AIM (2016), gains renewed significance in today’s world, with a global refugee crisis and rising anti-immigrant sentiments. Her time at film school and interaction with the post-punk and Brit-indie scene, particularly through her close friendship with Justine Frischmann, made her feel like an outsider. Cultural fluency and speaking Tamil connected her to her homeland, but the lived experiences of imminent danger and persecution separated her from her family.
M.I.A. credits music for helping her embrace her Western identity while articulating the struggles of the Third World. Her adolescence, captured in the documentary, reveals a precocious teenager immersed in storytelling. Growing up in a London neighborhood filled with immigrants, she experienced racism from both Sri Lanka and Pakistan. M.I.A.’s emotional attachment to her father, despite his callousness towards their safety, is a complex aspect of her life explored in the film.
Controversy surrounds the aestheticization of violence in M.I.A.’s music, videos, and lyrics. However, she views it as art imitating life, following the footsteps of politically charged bands like The Clash and Public Enemy. Her ability to curate seemingly dissonant elements of sound creates a pulsating energy in her music, leaving a lasting impact.
The documentary, unintentionally, becomes a self-portrait of M.I.A. It addresses her detractors without the combative stance she often takes. Instead, vulnerability and strength intertwine as the narrative unravels the criticisms and controversies surrounding her. The documentary showcases her relentless passion to captivate audiences through her first single, “Galang.” The DIY video, created with minimal resources, features guerrilla-inspired stencil art depicting grenades, tanks, and the face of an LTTE female soldier.
By studying the artist through these glimpses of her life, viewers gain a sympathetic appreciation of the struggle to reconcile celebrity privilege and unwavering advocacy for the oppressed. M.I.A.’s commitment to resistance and her desire for representation are evident long before her rise to stardom. This documentary secures the premature legacy of a complex pop star, whose impact on pop culture goes beyond her controversial image.
To learn more about the artist and the issues she stands for, visit DHPL Travels.