The Diversity of Opinion in the Work of Lana Del Rey

Ella Oberstein

Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.

I agree with this aphorism in a multitude of ways and I see art everyday that is either appreciated, ignored or receives backlash. Everyone interprets art in different ways, and that is what is so complex and special about it. For example you cannot exactly have a wide array of opinions on sports when there is just one team who loses and another who wins, you can appreciate both sides’ efforts but there is no mixed opinion, either the team wins or they do not. With art it is truly up to an individual’s interpretation. Everyone has experienced different things and led different lives that cause them to form varying opinions on what they see around them. If everyone had the same view on a piece of art that would be quite boring and there would be not enough talk and banter that went around that work of art. Art should start conversations and peak arguments. Art can sometimes even split people into groups of other likeminded people who appreciate the same art as them. An example of this stems from a song by Lana Del Rey. Lana Del Rey has been called antifeminist many times because of her very dark and sometimes uncomfortable lyrics. She draws from experiences from her past and also her friends in order to create songs that not just tell a story but also are meant to make other people who have experienced the themes she sings about feel seen. Not everyone likes her music but those who do are people who feel they can relate to her lyrics much like many people who listen to different musicians. The song  song that gave her the most backlash was “Ultraviolence.” This song has a theme of abuse and hostility but the idea of Stockholm syndrome and still loving your abuser. She uses the lyric “He hit me and it felt like a kiss.” Many people were very thrown off by this and found her to be romanticizing domestic abuse and trying to make it seem aesthetic. This was not at all her intention however and she was trying to speak on a topic that is not given much coverage. It is in the eye of the beholder to decide how they want to interpret that song but art is art and she does a beautiful job of covering how it feels to be in an abusive relationship. However, over time people started to come back to this song and album with new opinions as they listened more and heard different outlooks. Listeners were now understanding this art as a raw depiction of what it was like to be in a toxic relationship and no longer the endorsement of violence and cruelty toward women. Lana Del Rey is a controversial artist but I believe that is what makes her so special. She does not strive to do anything for people and make everyone happy but instead she speaks to a niche group and works to make them feel understood. She is a strong woman who talks about each era in her life with confidence and lets the world receive her art however they want without any explanation from her. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions with any form of art and at the end of the day you can not force someone to appreciate something that does not align with their views.