Elders React to Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

♪ (ragtime music) ♪

(ambient jungle noises)

Ooh, isn't that pretty?

Oh no. You're not making me
watch this, are you?

Oh shoot.

- ♪ My anaconda don't... ♪
- Ooh. That's nice.

- ♪ My anaconda don't... ♪
- (chuckles)

My kinda rain forest.

- Oh.
- ♪ Don't want none ♪

♪ Unless you got buns, hon ♪

I must say, they know how to move it.

I don't understand how
people get derrieres like this.

I really don't.

♪ Now that's real, real, real ♪

♪ Gun in my purse, bitch,
I came dressed to kill ♪

♪ I'm on some dumb sh... ♪

- ♪ By the way, what he say? ♪
- Oh, men will really enjoy this.

♪ Come through and [bleep]
'em in my automobile ♪

- ♪ Like, dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun ♪
- ♪ My anaconda don't ♪

"My anaconda"? What?

Well, we know-- we know
we're not referring to a snake.

♪ ...got buns, hon ♪

I definitely would not be
watching this if I weren't here.

Booty, booty.

♪ Look at, look at, look at,
look at her butt ♪

♪ This dude named Michael... ♪

Ten years ago, they couldn't

show stuff like this on TV, you know?

♪ ...a tower, I ain't
talking about Eiffel's ♪

The clothes are getting
skimpier and skimpier.

♪ I let him hit it
'cause he slang cocaine ♪

♪ He toss my salad like his name Romaine ♪

♪ Little in the middle, but she got... ♪

I don't know how they can
get away with this stuff nowadays.

♪ ...don't want none unless you got buns ♪

Very suggestive.

- ♪ He love this fat ass ♪
- Oh wow.

- (Minaj laughs maniacally)
- (chuckles)

♪ Where my fat ass ♪

- ♪ Big bitches in the club? ♪
- Oh my goodness.

A gentleman has joined the film.

♪ ...bitches in the mother[bleep] club ♪

♪ [bleep] you if you
skinny bitches, what? Kyuh! ♪

Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.

♪ I got a big fat ass (echoing) ♪

Yes, you do, darling.

Did these two get an Oscar for this?

Now, you wonder why kids
are so screwed up nowadays,

because of this kind of [bleep].

Come on. Clean it up. Clean it up.

- ♪ Hey! ♪
- (school bell rings)

(whispers) Is it over? Yes. Oh, thank god.

Oh my goodness.

Wowee zowee, Batman.

I thought I had a voluptuous figure,

but she makes me
look like a little wallflower.

(movie reel clicks)

(Finebros) How would you
describe this music video?

How would I describe it?
It's very sultry, sexy.

Bump and grind kind of burlesque thing.

It's a porn video.

Soft pornography.

Very sexual.

But they did it nicely.

In my day, inappropriate.

Today, I mean, at least
they were wearing clothes.

- (Finebros) You know who the artist is?
- No, I don't.

No, I don't.

No.

No, I don't.

It was a "Nicki Minaj."

- Nicki Minaj.
- Nicki Minaj.

(Finebros) Her name is Nicki Minaj.

(intrigued) Nicki Minaj.
Like a ménage à trois.

(Finebros) So she is one of
the most famous artists

in hip hop and rap music.

That's 'cause she's got a nice big ass.

(Finebros) But she is hugely successful
and came from nothing

to get where she is today.
What are your thoughts on that?

Well, I think she deserves it.

Her hip hop is positive
enough. It's catchy.

I love to see girls succeed.

I have a little problem with
the exploitation of her body.

She has a lot of talent.

I don't know why she has to sell it on sex

and why she can't trail-blaze
some kind of new path in hip hop

that doesn't involve sheer sexuality.

(Finebros) We're gonna
hand you the lyrics.

- So can you please read this aloud?
- Oh good.

I'm glad it's in big print.

(dramatically) "My anaconda don't.
My anaconda don't."

"My a--" (cracks up)

"My anaconda don't want none
unless you've got the buns, hon."

So I can't be in a relationship
unless I have a big butt?

Is that what this is saying?

(Finebros) So what does
"anaconda" really mean?

I'm not really too sure.

It's a big ol' snake.

(Finebros) Do they mean it
as an actual snake?

I'm gonna hope she did.

It means he has very large personal parts.

Maybe somebody's big [bleep].

Big [bleep] wants a big ass, right?

- (Finebros) It means a big penis.
- Ohh.

Oh! My goodness.

Now it makes sense.
Thank you for the translation.

(Finebros) This is the
album cover for the song.

Yeah, it shows her big--
she has a nice big ass.

There's a lot of cleavage there,
but it's not on her chest.

I don't like the cover.
She's better than that.

So anyone can see this? Oh my.

I think it makes it hard on all women.

We're so much more than sex,

and this is saying
this is all you need to see.

This is all we need to be.

(Finebros) What would have
happened if an artist

released album artwork like this
back when you were younger?

They probably would
have been thrown in jail.

They would have never gotten it out.

This kind of stuff
you went to Tijuana to find.

It was not available.

Jack Paar got kicked off the air

for referring to the bathroom
in the early '60s.

People were hysterical when
Marilyn Monroe's skirt went up.

(Finebros) So this song
has been very controversial.

On one side, there's people saying
that this is a feminist song

and that women can be proud
of their body and express themselves

- however they want.
- No, I don't-- I don't--

I can't subscribe to that.

I think it's a little shocking,
and I'm ashamed.

This, to me, is not a way
of making women equal.

Better getting the same salary
that a male employee would get.

That would be more important
than displaying their tush.

There is absolutely
nothing wrong with taking joy

in your body and in sex,

the problem being that
this influences young girls.

These are the most popular things,

and they think that
this is all it's all about.

(Finebros) On the flip side,
people say that this video

- is just objectifying women.
- No, not really.

Just showing off a nice body.

I don't think so.

Everybody is doing
that same kind of thing.

I agree with them.

Yeah, and she puts out a video

to where you only want
to look at the "objects."

It's too bad that the younger stars
that are making all the money

and that are high-profile
feel like they have to resort

to this kind of sexualizing of themselves.

It seems to make it okay
to view women in this way.

If men get the idea

that they can just think
of women as sexual beings,

then, I mean, there were
over 200,000 rapes of women

in the United States last year.

(Finebros) There's also a third angle
where people say that

this controversy is people
taking this too seriously

and the song is kind of
a silly, funny song.

Does that make this type of thing okay?

Yeah, I think it's okay.

I think it's just entertainment
and somebody

trying to become popular
so she can make money.

I don't think it's a good excuse, no.

Fun and sexy could be done
with a little more tongue-in-cheek.

What would happen if she put out
something that was still fun

and still interesting
but more spiritually uplifting?

I think it'd be really interesting
to see somebody do that.

In your lifetime, do you feel like culture

has gotten better or worse
when it comes to issues

- like objectification of women?
- Worse.

I think it may be going a little too far.

We are going downhill fast.

There always has been sex around,

and I think that each generation
accepts it at a different level.

It's not that different than
it was through the generations.

I think it's just we're becoming much more

relaxed about what we tolerate.

I came from the era when

everything we had to do was to please men.

That's no longer the case,
and it's wonderful,

and there's a wonderful freedom
that I wish I'd grown up in.

But with the good, you know,
comes the extremism.

(Finebros) So what do
you think can be done

to fix this situation,
at least to some degree?

Give them a pair of trousers.

It really is up to the individual.

I would hope that the public would speak

in the way of not buying into
the videos, not buying the music.

You cannot legislate morality.

Who's the judge in saying
this went too far?

Problem is, if you start putting
rules and regulations

in trying to stop this stuff,

you're gonna have a lot of problems.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere.

(Finebros) Finally, what
would you want to say

to younger people who are watching this

on how to process this world
that has so much sexuality in it?

What context would you want
to leave people with?

I'd say accept it with a grain of salt.
It's only a music video.

This is better than
watching a bloody movie.

This is not the norm.

Everybody doesn't walk around doing that.

The motive is to sell something.

That's not the way people
comport themselves in everyday life.

I'd like to see them open up
their heads and go take a walk.

Get out of this pop culture

and expand your mind and
your horizons and learn about

all the other wonderful things
the world has to offer.

I would tell young people to go
and watch it with their parents.

If you go, "Oh no," then stop and think

is this really something
you want to do then?

If you're sneaking this,
then in your heart,

you do know there's something
a little bizarre about it.

Thanks for watching
this episode of Elders React.

Let us know in the comments

what you would like us to react to next.

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Shake something else.
Shake your fist in defiance

and make the world a better place. Bye.

♪ (ragtime music) ♪