The disturbing video features Adam Levine as a butcher who stalks his "prey," as she is called in the song lyrics — played by his real-life wife Behati Prinsloo — following her in the street and spying on her as she sleeps, while fantasizing about seducing her as buckets of blood pour over their nude bodies.
Gross. And the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) thinks so too, accusing the band of promoting rape culture by glamorizing a heinous crime.
"Maroon 5's video for 'Animals' is a dangerous depiction of a stalker's fantasy — and no one should ever confuse the criminal act of stalking with romance," Katherine Hull Fliflet, the vice president of RAINN said in a statement. "The trivialization of these serious crimes, like stalking, should have no place in the entertainment industry."
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) agrees, saying the video objectifies women as nothing more than a literal piece of meat.
"The lyrics to Maroon 5's 'Animals' convey aggressive, intrusive behavior and paint women as prey," said NSVRC in a statement. "While many will chalk this up to being 'just a music video,' it's still harmful because it reinforces stereotypes of male dominance and sexual entitlement, which we know have real-life consequences."
Get it, guys? Sexual violence is never sexy.
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