IB English HL Written Task 1 Online Article

1. Dhanish Bachheta
1
IB English Language and Literature A HL
Written Task 1
Candidate Name: Dhanish Bachheta
Candidate Number: ****** – ****
Session: May 2015
School: International School of Hyderabad
Word Count: 985

2. Dhanish Bachheta
2
Written Task 1
Rationale
News is read online increasingly nowadays; this is due to the evolution of the digital medium. After
comparing news articles of the same story from different papers, I was astonished to find that the
language used from online sources was more scandalous and salacious than in printed sources:
sensationalism is used more freely in online articles than printed.
It seems that due to electronic format of news, a modern generation of younger journalists are able
to write, on any specific subject because there is no lack of space on a website in comparison to a
newspaper.
I chose Part 2 of Media and Mass Communication, with emphasis on the topic: sensationalism. The
Assessment Objective of Selection and use of appropriate presentation and language skills was used
with focus on expressing ideas clearly and fluently.
The entertainment genre was chosen as it gave opportunity to play a journalist. I wrote a response,
a d hile prete di g to e a olu ist, I fou d the realit i opi io . I a ted to tr a d de-
sensatio alise se satio al e s; I wrote a personal review of a song. This song had been the
subject of a racist controversy due to its use of stereotypically Japanese elements and had been
sensationalised to exaggeration. I mimicked the critics and criticised their opinions because I had not
found any articles doing something similar; only criticising the artist of the song. The animosity
online gave me the impression that this hatred was invented by the use of sensationalism. I wanted
move away from such a spiteful way of writing in journalism; I attempted to create an article that did
the truth justice.
The audience would be any sceptics and supporters of the song I picked, to illustrate to them my
own personal opinion, and expose the absurdity of the controversy surrounding it.
Word Count: 300

3. Dhanish Bachheta
3
Hello Pity: Why I don’t hate Avril Lavigne’s
infamous Hello Kitty
The start of arked the release of La ig e s epo ous th
studio album. The self-titled record imparted her traditional
repertoire of tee age pop ro k orderi g pu k a the s su h as
Here s To Ne er Gro i g Up . There as also a i pressi e
allad k o as Let Me Go hi h dre o pariso s to her #
Hit Co pli ated .
The success of the album was diminutive in comparison to her
previous platinum playlists. Mrs Kroeger, after marriage to the
despised Nickelback frontman who also features on and wrote
u h of the re ord i ludi g the pa if i gl passio ate Let Me
Go , de ided to release a pro otio al si gle for her fa ourite
fans – the Japanese. In addition, she filmed a video alongside it;
this 64-million-time-viewed video has made news, but not the
kind she was expecting.
Claims that she is a racist and disrespectful to the Japanese
culture have surfaced. These allegations came solely in response
to the video; the song got little attention when her album was
released. It was rated by Billboard in a review by Jason Lipshutz:
'Hello Kitt ' is the eakest song on Avril Lavigne's fifth studio
al u .
The question for this listener is: Why do people hate Avril Lavigne
so much for doing this? If Taylor Swift made the same audio-visual
she would probably get a Grammy.
The song was really not that bad, it drew comparisons to the
fa ous Harajuku Girls so g Japa ese Ka aii ulture
enthusiast Gwen Stefani. In terms of lyrics, they are honestly not
so i e ti e, su h as K-k-k-kawaii, Hello Kitty hello Kitty, Hello
Kitt , ou're so prett . The l ri s ere ritten by Chad Kroeger
and this writer feels that much of the hate directed towards this
ideo is a proje tio of disappro al of Cha ril their ship
name).

4. Dhanish Bachheta
4
It sounds like dubstep-infused rock, which has proven quite popular
these da s, after Li ki Park s olla oratio ith fa ous, oi ide tall
Japa ese EDM Ele tro i Da e Musi DJ “te e Aoki i A Light That
Ne er Co es . There is ashi g-machine whirring and munching in
conjunction with heavy electric guitar shredding as part of the backing
track. There is a lot of crashing of drums and cymbals which have an
electrified-charged sound which can only be described as an alkaline
battery explosion converted into sound.
The general song lyrics are about having fun with her friends and her
est frie d, or perhaps lo er Let's pla truth or dare o ; e a roll
arou d i our u der ear i parti ular Kitt . The audie e is
u ertai due to so e pote tiall i appropriate d sphe isti l ri s.
But what happens in the video? If you have not seen it yet, you are
either fortunate or unfortunate. This particular one is an acquired taste
it see s. Musi ti es. o alled it a hellish, a d - oated ight are .
This is a short rundown of chronological events. Lavigne struts along a
street fla ked a ki g da ers, sa i g Ka aii , the Niho go ord for
ute, a d Mi ' a saikō arigatō ea i g You gu s ro k, tha ks , hi h
is love for her Japanese fans. Her hair is (presumably) dyed an off-white
cloudy colour, streaked with pastel tints. Furthermore, she proceeded to
sha e it o o e side tr i g to pull off the i fa ous “krille Hair .
Although the hairstyle does look awful, it is in co-operation with the
theme and an appreciative reference to the king of dubstep. Her backing
dancers are robotic and expressionless making very awkward
movements with their plum bob haircuts. They are clearly Nipponese. In
the l ri “o eo e hu k a up ake at e , she thro s a -tiered foam
cupcake at the camera while wearing large green Japanese schoolgirl
glasses and wearing a form of tutu with foam cupcakes sporadically
glued on it. Suspiciously, this is the only outfit which she wears and
draws comparisons to the confectionary cupcake dress from Katy (also a
Japa ese E thusiast Perr s otto -candy cloud California Dreams Tour.
She sings the song in a Japanese supermarket and later sweetshop with
heavy black eye makeup in sharp contrast to her pale complexion and
hair. There is a moment when she is in a sushi house and quite clearly
freaks out in receiving sake and sushi. It is a trippy scene with Lavigne
glitching mid-clap to give the impression she is so excited she will
explode. This follows with a scene outside in the urban streets of a
Japanese megacity, in which she waves, to whom is uncertain, like a
monarch with her android entourage who systematically mimic their
leader. The video ends with Avril using a Fujifilm Polaroid camera to take
an Instant, reminiscent of the old way to be hipster.

5. Dhanish Bachheta
5
The opinions of many journalists and those who have watched have
expressed extreme distaste. However, after reading the waves of
negative criticism it seems to be a gross overreaction to portray Avril in a
ad light. For e a ple, The Kids ‘ea t series has used very cynical
hildre ith o oto ous oi es to talk a out La ig e s so g. The
whole thing seemed scripted not honest, with one African-American
nine- ear old ei g asked if the ideo as ra ist, her respo se Yes.
There are o la k people i it . The r-word was used to scandalously
sensationalise Avril by vulturine media.
Ho e er if o e liste s to the so g ithout the ideo, it s a addi ti e
tu e a d her si gi g is t ad at all, parti ularl her a kgrou d o als
Ooh-woah-ooh-woah-ooh- oah are actually audiophilic. Maybe the
Ka aii part ould ha e ee left out due to its la elli g as li hé. But it
is a Dubstep track which requires loops and that glitch sound. The song
was directed at her Japanese fans and they quite clearly loved it after
sales of the song and music video climbed on iTunes Japan.
The video is hardly racist; it shows a sub-culture of Japan, Lavigne is not
trying to represent the Nipponese race. There is one lifestyle she is
depicting; she is acting like her own fan. It is a fun video, with an
exaggerated bubble-gum pop sound coupled with the bubble-gum pink
theme.
Leave this girl alone: she is no racist.

6. Dhanish Bachheta
6
The webpage format was taken from the Guardian (Boult, 2014)
The Hello Kitt – “i gle Art ork as fro the A ril La ig e We site (Hello Kitty - Single Artwork,
2014)
References
Avril Lavigne defends controversial 'Hello Kitty' video. (2014, April 24). Retrieved from
http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/2014/04/24/avril-lavigne-defends-controversial-hello-kitty-
video
Boult, A. (2014, April 24). Avril Lavigne's Hello Kitty, and other terrible music videos. The Guardian.
Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/apr/24/avril-lavignes-
hello-kitty-and-other-terrible-music-videos
Ehrlioh, B. , Ma . Do Kids Fi d A ril s Hello Kitt ‘a ist? MTV. Retrieved from
http://www.mtv.com/news/1823307/kids-react-hello-kitty/
Hello Kitty - Single Artwork. (2014). Retrieved from Avril Lavigne:
http://www.avrillavigne.com/it/supersize/66659
Lipshutz, J. (2014, April 22). Avril Lavigne 'Hello Kitty' Video Is An Embarrassment In Any Language.
Billboard. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-
shop/6062836/avril-lavigne-hello-kitty-video-is-an-embarrassment-in-any
Mandle, C. (2014, 23 April). 8 things you need to know about Avril Lavigne's totally bonkers new
music video. Retrieved from http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/avril-lavigne-
new-video-hello-3445833
Nessif, B. (2014, April 22). Avril Lavigne's "Hello Kitty" Music Video Will Leave You Sad and Confused.
E! . Retrieved from http://www.eonline.com/news/534522/avril-lavigne-s-hello-kitty-music-
video-will-leave-you-sad-and-confused
Roberts, “. , April . reaso s h people are a o ed A ril La ig e s Hello Kitt . Yahoo!
Celebrity. Retrieved from https://ca.yahoo.com/celebrity/bp/5-reasons-why-people-
annoyed-avril-lavigne-hello-151540498.html