Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" in Crunk Egypt

Released halfway through the single's run at #1 last month, the video for Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" has been met with controversy and praise -- more deserved praise than controversy, in my opinion, though controversy hardly hurts pop success.

The video sees Katy taking on the Cleopatra-inspired alter-ego Katy Pätra in ancient Memphis, Egypt, with modern influence from Memphis, Tennessee, a hail to featured rapper Juicy J's hometown. Katy welcomes suitors into her court but takes their gifts after disintegrating all of them.

The design of the video is ingenious, as well as accurate and well-researched in Egyptian and Cleopatra themes, according to scholars. The controversy rested on one suitor (who turns to dust at 1:15 in the vid) wearing a pendant with the Arabic word for "Allah." Some marked the fact that Katy destroys him as a sign of the pop star's opposition to God. A petition circled to have the video removed, leading to the pendant being digitally removed from the video.

Personally, I felt like the pendant was a brilliant move in the video's theme. It is common for gangsters to wear religious symbols around their neck, such as a cross, and to take it to an Egyptian theme, it makes sense for them to take on an Arabic symbol of Muslim deity. However, because art is interpretive (and some choose to interpret negatively; or perhaps, they miss the big picture), I feel the creators of the video handled the backlash well.

In any regard, the design is worth a look! It is sure to be an interest come music awards season -- or, at least, deserves to be.