"In life, we hide the parts of ourselves we don't want the world to see,” The words in Lil Nas X's long awaited single MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” say. “We lock them away, we tell them no, we banish them. But here… we don't.”
In a music video rife with undeniable sexiness and obscure biblical references, Lil Nas X dives immediately into the subtext of what it feels like to grow up queer in conservative and religious communities. The 21-year-old Georgia musician has been teasing his exploration of the topic in the new single for some time now, and it couldn't have been executed more endearingly if he'd tried.
The video opens with a peaceful looking Lil Nas X strumming on his guitar in a CGI-style garden of eden before he is seduced by a snake-like form. The seduction morphs into a palace setting where Nas X is chained up and stoned to death, plunging via a never-ending stripper pole into the depths of the underworld, clad in thigh-high latex boots and Calvin Klein underwear where he meets a devil-like daddy in leather bondage gear and seemingly gives him the lap dance of his life before snapping his neck and taking his satanic crown.
It's beautiful chaos, and a very clear commentary on how young queer children and teens grow up being told that being their true selves will result in being sent to hell by conservatives. A notion that Lil Nas X is assuring folks that he is fine with if it means he gets to live authentically.
Controversy has of course been spiked amongst hysterical right-wing and conservative groups calling the video offensive, demonic and immoral, which Lil Nas X has rightfully brushed off with a series of both poignant and laughable tweets. Watch the full video, and see the best of the tweets, below.
i spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the shit y’all preached would happen to me because i was gay. so i hope u are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.
— nope (@LilNasX) March 27, 2021
there is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop. me sliding down a cgi pole isn’t what’s destroying society. https://t.co/H21SMVnfNQ
— nope (@LilNasX) March 26, 2021
— nope (@LilNasX) March 26, 2021
showed my 3 month old niece the call me by your name video and she said “uncle that was quite the stupendous visual, why in heavens would any individual be enraged over such a sensational showpiece” i’m gonna go cry yall😢😢
— nope (@LilNasX) March 26, 2021
i’m gonna be so pissed if i don’t get any illuminati conspiracy videos. i worked so hard for this.
— nope 🏹 (@LilNasX) March 26, 2021
