Daniella Moyles defends Rihanna's new video

Since Rihanna dropped her new, strictly 18+ short film for 'Bitch Better Have My Money', there's been plenty of outrage and countless think pieces penned on whether the video is a feminist statement or the exact opposite. If you haven't seen it as yet, it depicts Rihanna and crew kidnapping, torturing and eventually drowning the wife of a wealthy and corrupt accountant, all in an act of revenge against a man who was – apparently – stealing Rihanna’s money.
Daniella Moyles, who recently took over Spin 1038's Fully Charged breakfast show with Cormac Moore, decided to watch it and see what all the fuss is about. Her verdict? She's very much Team Rihanna.
"I can see why people would say it's controversial and it's shocking," the broadcaster says. "I'm sure people are giving it all that 'what if young people are watching?' But to be totally honest, there's not many videos that I could watch for seven minutes and keep interested."
Moyles marks Rihanna out as different from many of the other chart-toppers around at the moment.
"Rihanna's the only one that's branched out from that that huge, commercial pop thing and is still being, through and through, cool as fuck. No one else is doing that and I respect it.
"I'm looking at that video going: 'that is a mini movie'. It's beautifully shot, it's engaging to watch. She totally gets away with it because she's Rihanna and she's bad ass. Miley Cyrus is doing worse, it's just she's not doing it as well."
While people have praised Rihanna for coming across as a black woman taking the power back and tackling race relations in the US (read Roe McDermott's piece on that here), there are many others decrying the violent misogyny in the video.
"I'm not leaving it going: 'oh my God, I'm so offended,'" Moyles argues. "If you're asking me for my moral compass, I don't think violence is ever the answer. But as a minority, being black and a woman, she's probably trying to make the message as loud and clear [as possible]. And nobody's coming away from that going 'Rihanna's going to actually stab someone if they don't hand over money!'
"Isn't it good that it's getting people talking about feminism and minorities? It's useful."
Moyles says the fact Rihanna co-directs makes all the difference.
"Of course it does! If she's not behind it, she's only a puppet in it. The fact she's behind it means there is real thought put into the message. It also adds another string to her bow. It shows a level of talent that is far greater than just being an manufactured pop star."
And there's no doubt that all the attention, positive or negative, is actually what the Bajan artist would have wanted.
"Exactly. People are so vanilla. I'd say it has zero effect on Rihanna."