It feels wrong to admit, but I have seen Little Mix in concert... and I loved it. In my defence, I snagged some bargain tickets for my family and spent the afternoon at a summer festival in Hyde Park, watching various headliners including Little Mix. There was definitely something impressive about the way these young women could dance and sing (in tune without lip syncing) and get a park full of sunbathers up on their feet. Dancing with giggling small children is a dad's delight – especially in the sunshine. You'd have probably enjoyed it too if you were there.
However, when my small children's fascination with the energy of Little Mix suddenly involved them singing about witchcraft around the house this year, I began to feel uncomfortable. Had I been wrong to introduce them to a band who seem to condone black magic? Certainly some would think so – there is definitely a group of Christians who take a zero tolerance to such things from the books Room on the Broom to Harry Potter to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But personally, I have found that the latter has provided a fantastic place to explore the depths of the Christian faith through the power of allegory. And the Harry Potter series offered an excellent conversation starter for all of my children as we talked about friendship, loyalty, and the supernatural. So what does Little Mix have to offer us?
Take a sip of my secret potion,
I'll make you fall in love.
For a spell that can't be broken,
One drop should be enough.
Boy, you belong to me,
I got the recipe.
And it's called black magic,
(and it's called black magic).
With more than 120 million views on Youtube this was a smash record, and I doubt that the release of this song coincided with a increase in occult practices. From what I see through my own convivial daughters and the friends they bring through the house, the throw-away lyrics are incidental. Yes, the video uses an occult practice as its central plot device, but it seems that most young people will see this as unrealistic fantasy. What I personally find more disturbing are the gender-based stereotypes that are reinforced in the song and accompanying video: nerdy girls struggle to attract interest from the opposite sex until they take a magic potion that changes them into hot young musical starlets whose newfound beauty bewilders the boys. The now pretty girls are bored of physics lectures and so use their powers of charm to transform a dull lecture into a disco lightfest. The video portrays a view of female empowerment which is about using sexuality and media-enforced body image to get what you want. The lyrics of the song encourage a similar idea. If your boyfriend is not being faithful or not paying you enough attention then black magic, read as a metaphor for sexuality, will sort everything out to your liking.
To their credit, the band did amend this slightly in an interview. Jesy and Leigh-Anne explained: "I think the potion is a little connotation for confidence... Just have a little bit of confidence and get your man." Confidence is definitely something I want my daughters to have. It will be helpful in every part of their lives, not just romantic relationships. But I don't want their confidence to be based on appearance, or the man they end up with. Rather, I want my daughters to have another kind of confidence that is based on their personhood; their character; their value as human beings made and loved by God to worship him and contribute to the world. Perhaps CS Lewis was right; we don't need black magic, but a deeper magic:
"There is a magic deeper still... that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead... Death itself would start working backwards." (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Chapter 15)
Lewis' deep magic is a way of talking about the power of the cross of Christ. That's the place where we can find true confidence, because a God who loves us laid down his life for traitors like us in order that we could be ransomed from the grip of death and be given resurrection life. I wonder if Little Mix would be up for a re-mix?
