Review: Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
by Shelly Schoeneshoefer

Steve Loveridge, USA/UK

A wild flashing neon-colored collage of images vibrating off the screen opens a well-rounded portrayal of the activist/artist and rapper star M.I.A. This spiral jyril girl has whipped up a name for herself as she creates a documentary that not only explores her entrance into the music/art world but also highlights the underlining activism she has for her family’s country of origin, Sri Lanka. While shedding her birth name Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, she has coined the appropriate stage name M.I.A. (missing in action) to express her ongoing campaign that has now ventured past the borders of her country but is now trying have a global view of the refugee problem.

It is not a surprise that, being of Tamil descent, which is a culture with many religious traditions, and being raised in England has had an impact on her art and music career. With her creative talents, she integrated multiculturalism with a Banksy-Andy Warhol style along with her off-beat electronic rapper text that has pushed her high on the hit charts. Her sound is unique, her art form is unique and she has become a major pop/rap star that has earned her an Academy Award and Grammy nomination for her work. The beginning of her documentary plots out a strong outline of her accomplishments, influences and experiences but as the documentary continues, we begin to lose sight of who M.I.A. really is. Perhaps her life becomes more complicated with the pressures from the daily press, being married, having a child or perhaps making so much money that her closet begins to explode into an array of expensive, neon ethnic clothes while flying from one country to the next.

Nevertheless, she continues on her creative path and has an unfortunate habit of shooting herself in the foot by pulling off stupid stunts like flipping the bird at the audience when performing at the Super bowl under Madonna’s supervision. She has a reputation of being unpredictable, acting out in ways that undermine her good will and goals that she is trying to achieve. It’s a shame that her film, which began with such a clear vision and tone of whom she is, what she wants and where she plans to go, would end with the feeling that she had become overwhelmed with too many ideas and has got lost on her way to the editing projector, which nearly makes the film lose sight of its message. What image does remain strong is that she is like a canon of creative energy who is already preparing for her next visual/sound attack and that is something that we can truly admire about this artist.Steve Loveridge, USA/UK

A wild flashing neon-colored collage of images vibrating off the screen opens a well-rounded portrayal of the activist/artist and rapper star M.I.A. This spiral jyril girl has whipped up a name for herself as she creates a documentary that not only explores her entrance into the music/art world but also highlights the underlining activism she has for her family’s country of origin, Sri Lanka. While shedding her birth name Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, she has coined the appropriate stage name M.I.A. (missing in action) to express her ongoing campaign that has now ventured past the borders of her country but is now trying have a global view of the refugee problem.

It is not a surprise that, being of Tamil descent, which is a culture with many religious traditions, and being raised in England has had an impact on her art and music career. With her creative talents, she integrated multiculturalism with a Banksy-Andy Warhol style along with her off-beat electronic rapper text that has pushed her high on the hit charts. Her sound is unique, her art form is unique and she has become a major pop/rap star that has earned her an Academy Award and Grammy nomination for her work. The beginning of her documentary plots out a strong outline of her accomplishments, influences and experiences but as the documentary continues, we begin to lose sight of who M.I.A. really is. Perhaps her life becomes more complicated with the pressures from the daily press, being married, having a child or perhaps making so much money that her closet begins to explode into an array of expensive, neon ethnic clothes while flying from one country to the next.

Nevertheless, she continues on her creative path and has an unfortunate habit of shooting herself in the foot by pulling off stupid stunts like flipping the bird at the audience when performing at the Super bowl under Madonna’s supervision. She has a reputation of being unpredictable, acting out in ways that undermine her good will and goals that she is trying to achieve. It’s a shame that her film, which began with such a clear vision and tone of whom she is, what she wants and where she plans to go, would end with the feeling that she had become overwhelmed with too many ideas and has got lost on her way to the editing projector, which nearly makes the film lose sight of its message. What image does remain strong is that she is like a canon of creative energy who is already preparing for her next visual/sound attack and that is something that we can truly admire about this artist.