Photo courtesy of newsmedia247.com

Before and After digital scrubbing of Katy Perry’s Dark Horse video.

 

Nick Lowry

Staff Writer

 

 In the Egyptian themed video, Katy Perry, dressed as Cleopatra, is shown using lightning to strike down a man who is wearing the symbol of the Muslim god, Allah.

Over 50 thousand people have signed a petition at Change.org criticizing the popstar for disrespecting Islam in her video.

“You can compare the feeling to someone burning a picture of somebody you love dearly,” wrote one petitioner.

The fact that Islam did not even exist during Ancient Egypt, according to Patheos.com, could suggest that the pendant of Allah was placed in scene purposefully.

Student, Nia Alexander, gave her thoughts,“It comes off as disrespectful, she said.” “ Just like if someone of a different religion of culture was to burn the American Flag. Americans would feel that that type of action was disrespectful towards our country. So why didn’t she think of that before? I don’t know, but I’m not even Islamic, and I find that to be disrespectful.”

Is the video trying to send an anti-Islamic message or was this the work of some clueless costume designer?

“It could be both but most likely it was a harsh mistake someone made,” Professor, Mike Lemons said.

It is not the first time Perry has been criticized for her portrayal of other cultures. Last November, she received strong backlash for her portrayal of Japanese culture during her performance of “Unconditionally” at the American Music Awards.

After all the controversy, Perry will surely pay more attention the content of her music videos.

nlowry@lc.edu