As most people have spent all their time just belting the song out out from the top of their lungs, it's not unreasonable to assume that some may have overlooked that there's a darker way to interpret Adele's "Hello." But students at the University of Oklahoma's Gender + Equality Center think there's a dark side to the lyrics.
They used the lyrics, along with a key stanza from Maroon 5's song "Animals", on posters around the school to bring awareness to Stalking Awareness Month, which was this past January.
Sure art is art, and it will resonate differently for everyone. The song (and Adele's return) was met with so much anticipation, critical acclaim (and, uh, tears) that it seems almost taboo to question her in any capacity, but the truth is that it's important to evaluate the layers of what's popular in our culture, especially if some people could subconsciously start to believe that "calling a thousand times" is normal.
"The music examples were used to demonstrate how aspects of popular media could be interpreted to normalize unhealthy relationship behaviors,” Gender + Equality Center director Kathy Moxley told Fox News. Specifically, they used the lyrics to "Hello" to exemplify how stalking can become unintentionally normalized. However, Moxley did note that they did not in any way mean to unfairly criticize the musicians, and instead wanted to provide examples of how media can "desensitize people to harassment."
So while we doubt that you'd actually use up your monthly minutes calling your ex a thousand times, a good rule of thumb would be to, uh, not do that. Lest we remind you, stalking is a serious issue.
(Don't text them, either. It never ends well.)
Related: Quiz: Is Your Love Life Stable Enough To Handle the New Adele Album?
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