The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards displayed disgrace and grace. Kayne West illustrated “disgrace” and Beyonce embodied “grace.”
After Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video, Kanye West grabbed the mic from her during her acceptance speech. He humiliated her and made her feel like she didn’t belong there, like she was not welcome, and like she should be silent. Judgment disgraces you. Watch Taylor Swift shrink in dejection.
But Beyonce redeemed it. After it was announced that she won the top award of the evening—Video of the Year—Beyonce gave up her opportunity to give an acceptance speech so Taylor Swift could give the one she tried to give before the punk of disgrace ruined her great moment.
People have commented that what Beyonce did was classy. It was way more than that. Acknowledging Taylor Swift in her acceptance speech would have been “classy.” What she did was grace in action. She gave up her moment of glory so another could have her spotlight.
That’s what grace does.
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7 responses to “MTV Awards and Grace”
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I have to say, South Park totally pegged Kanye.
I've read a bunch of things online today that have suggested the entire thing was scripted by MTV to get people to watch, Tweet, text, blog, etc. about the VMAs which have been struggling lately. Some were saying it was like the Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presly kiss from a few years back.
Anyhow, Beyonce was very gracious and her performance was crazy good. Her hubby's (Jay-Z) was cool too.
Justin, I love this post (almost as much as I love the Single Ladies video)! I wonder if all the hype about it being staged is evidence of human beings' aversion to the unbelieveable-ness of grace?
Thanks to both Justin and Sean. If it hadn't been for you both I would have never known that these MTV awards had just happened, that a sensational fracas occured in the middle, and even better that the next day a controversy was raging as to whether all or much of it had been scripted. The stuff I learn on MB!
Sean's news about the possible scripted nature of what went down was so fascinating to me that I looked around online and did indeed find some compelling arguments for the view of the skeptics.
Most interesting to me was how a long internet debate (entitled "Was the Kanye West-Taylor Swift Moment Staged?") ENDED. Basically the person defending the claim that what we saw was true finally said at the end:
"…Isn't it just a better world if you can just turn off your mind and just believe that last night a little blonde southern girl got the moment of her life ruined for her by a drunken hip-hop artist but then was saved by the Good Witch Beyoncé? Isn't that a happier place for us all to live?"
Which I thought was incredibly striking and a moment of touching self-awareness: I NEED TO BELIEVE THIS, DAMMIT! (Plus I loved the perfect capturing of all the archetypes, especially the Good Witch Beyonce.)
My own view is that, quite apart from whether the events were scripted or not, the hugely theatrical and public world of Celebrities (i.e. the gods of today) is probably not the best place to find real and certain instances of grace and sacrificial love. There are just too many confounding factors of self-interest when your "act of love" is being televised to millions of people/worshippers and you and your career are so intensely tied up in hype and PR. Jesus himself encourages us to treat with a great dose of skepticism all "good works" performed in such a way that the Worker secures maximum publicity for the deed.
Aside from that, if I remember the video clip right, before inviting Taylor out to resume her speech, Beyonce managed to draw everyone's attention to the fact that she herself had won many awards at an early age. Not a perfect model of someone trying to empty themselves of all glory.
The recent anniversary of 9/11, with its firemen and priests and rescue workers, who worked without publicity and many of whom died in anonymity, are perhaps better examples of self-sacrificial love than sensational displays at an awards show, displays that without a doubt have only bettered the image and careers and record sales of Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and and Bad Boy KW.
Nice StampDawg:)
I'm glad y'all wrote on this. For all the indecency of the MTV VMAs, this was a superbly decent moment.
I thought it was funny though when ABC covered the lack of public civility lately (Kanye, Serena Williams at the US Open, Rep. Wilson to Pres. Obama) the last comment was something like "the only thing people like more than being rude is booing people for being rude." Curious…
Oh, and did anyone catch Madonna's eulogy of Michael Jackson?! Replace MJ with JC and it was amazing, yet always void of the hope of the resurrection. But even as it was, it amazing to see Madonna remind of MJ's humanity – his fallenness and giftedness – his need for grace we would say.
Having just watched this from the margins of knowledge about Mtv over the last twenty years (they still show videos??) what I am struck by is the thought that grace runs down-hill….which means that the ultimate recipient is Kanye himself.