Literalists stay mad
Lil Nas X released his new single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” on March 26 along with its music video. It’s already shot up to nearly 60 million views on YouTube and has sparked controversy with its erotic imagery — most uniquely, his descent to hell while pole dancing and his subsequent lapdance for the devil.
Furthering the backlash, Lil Nas X collaborated with a creative agency called MSCHF to create the “Satan shoe.” These 666 pairs of exclusive shoes were an obvious publicity stunt: the air bubble in the sole was advertised to have a drop of human blood, the design featured a pentagram, and embroidered on the shoe is “Luke 10:18,” a bible verse about the fall of Satan from heaven.
For me, it makes less sense to be upset about the Satan shoe than the music video. With its price tag of over $1,000, these shoes are obviously a novelty cash grab to ride the bandwagon of controversy and profit off of it. (Smart move, Lil Nas X.) To indulge in the humour of the situation, the rapper faux apologized on YouTube for the release of the shoes in a Rick Roll of sorts where his apology abruptly cuts to the satanic lapdance from his music video.
And rest assured, there were prominent people who were genuinely upset over the shoes and believed they were corrupt tools of the devil. South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, commented that “Our kids are being told that this kind of product is, not only okay, it’s ‘exclusive.’ But do you know what’s more exclusive? Their God-given eternal soul.” To which Lil Nas X replied that she was a governor tweeting about some shoes — with the added advice that she focus on her job. And, just so we’re all aware, the Church of Satan has distanced themselves from the Satan shoe. Furthermore, they recognize them as art pieces.
The fact remains that if you know anything about Lil Nas X, it’s that he embraces and embodies camp. Camp (a term you may recognize from the 2019 Met Gala) means fashion that’s theatrical and exaggerated, bordering on goofy, but which takes itself seriously and is well-executed. It’s easily seen in his eccentric, dramatic wardrobe full of wild shapes, colours, and patterns. These shoes are at the same level of camp we’ve come to expect from Lil Nas X and that further shows itself in his music video. However, Christians taking a literalist approach to “Montero” has become a running theme as we’ll soon see.
To open up the discussion on Christians being upset with “Montero” because of its imagery of Satan, a tweet by a viewer says it all: “Lil Nas X is really exposing how many Christians think of Satan not in spiritual terms as a force of temptation and punishment for earthly wrongdoing, but in Diablo II terms as a second god who has magic powers and will take over as main God if he gathers enough Worship Points.” Maybe I’m wrong, but Lil Nas X depicting himself cavorting lewdly with the devil doesn’t scream propaganda or a genuine Satanic agenda to me. There’s a clear difference in “Montero” between actually endorsing devil worship and taking symbols of good and evil (the same symbols often used against the LGBTQ+ community) and using them to craft a story about your experience. Most viewers picked up on the nuances of the music video, but unfortunately not everyone did.
“Montero” is a work of art. Lil Nas X capitalizes on the erotic (and even homoerotic) subtext in Christian stories and makes them his own. The rapper is a visionary who uses on-screen metaphors to shine an authentic and unapologetic light on being Black and gay, loving someone in the closet, and wanting a public relationship when you’re queer. His lapdance for Satan at the end is him reclaiming his own narrative: he’s literally shown going to Hell, just like some Christian preachers say will happen if you’re gay. To back this up, he tweeted: “i spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the shit y’all preached would happen to me because i was gay. so i hope u [sic] are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.”
The Satanic panic response to “Montero” by Lil Nas X is overblown and shows how little effort some people put into examining the music video on any level beyond the literal. Lil Nas X continues to capitalize on the controversy with tweets and his Satan shoes, and I say good for him. “Montero” is art, plain and simple, and it’s obviously been effective at inciting emotions in those who engage with it —, some with more pain than pleasure.
Lil Nas X Graphic. (Elyssa English /The Cascade)
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.
