Influence vs. Appropriation: Avril Lavigne's "Hello Kitty" vs. Miley Cyrus's Current Existence

The latest non-controversy: Avril Lavigne released a Japanese pop music video to celebrate the only culture that likes her new album. The Western world thinks its racist. 
Avril Lavigne's facebook post:
RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!! I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN Japan.
The "Offending" Video:
So the video has been called racist. And at this point in American history, no one even bothers explaining why. People throw around the "r" word and just assume that any "intelligent" person would understand.
The other hot intellectual buzzword is cultural appropriation, "stealing" another's culture.
The problem? What's the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural influence? If America is the melting pot, isn't this kind of stuff inevitable? And now add globalization to the mix. Avril Lavigne's album is succeeding in Japan, so she made a Japanese pop video for her next single. This is not Miley Cyrus twerking; this is not Gwen Stefani parading around like a Native American while her back up band plays. (No Doubt hasn't been a real band in years. We know this.)
Americans know nothing about Japanese pop culture. We are insular. We treat K-Pop like a fad. Yes, we treat another country's pop music like its just some passing trend in our own. Westerners (read self-righteous white liberals) are always telling racial minorities/non-white societies how to feel about the color of their skin.
Say the video is bad. Say the song is worse. However, be careful in criticizing the video. If this video is an homage to Japanese pop culture, and American critics call it out for stereotyping, then Americans are insulting Japanese pop culture. We are saying the Japanese should be ashamed for how they portray themselves. Who's racist now? Thinking you know more about a culture than the members of that culture is racism. You are claiming to be inherently more intelligent than another group of people. It's racist to argue that your cultural aesthetics are superior to another's and hence should be the standard to follow.
If the video was made by Japanese artists for a Japanese audience, then its the Japanese pop fans who will ultimately judge it by their standards. All we can do is shrug our shoulders and say: "We don't get it. This isn't our culture." Americans are just embarrassing themselves. We look ignorant. We are showing how out of touch we are with what's going on in pop around the world. We expect the world to accept American pop as the default pop, but we can't even acknowledge that other countries make music videos and their aesthetics may be different?
The song is western. So hate it all you like.
Personally, the back-up dancers are the only ones making this relevant to me on a musical level.
Since the video stays true to the spirit of J-pop (bright, fun, robo-dancing) I file it under cultural influence. Bonus points for working with Japanese artists, but there is no rule that non-Japanese artists can't pay homage to J-pop.
As for Miley Cyrus, it's complicated. Miley used hip-hop culture to sell a pop album. And it's too obvious that she's using street culture to revamp her image. In other words, she'll be hip-hop for however long it suits her, and she's claiming it not just as an aesthetic for a one off video, but as an identity choice. If she can't experience the burden of black culture, then it's wrong for her to define herself through it. You can't take what conveniences you and leave the rest. Eminem grew up on the streets. He may not relate to black racism, but he's still a true child of hip hop culture who's been consistent with his upbringing. Avril isn't pretending to be Japanese. She's not changing her identity. There's a natural compliment in her fun loving, "I still like pink even though I rock" persona that does mesh well with J-pop. And it was primarily the Japanese who made this observation. White people didn't decide for them.
Also, Miley made such an overblown farce out of street culture to the point that it became a gimmick, undermining the spirit of a genre and community. So long story short, she's filed under cultural appropriation. J-Pop is only a gimmick to ignorant Americans who refuse to see the relativity.
Due to inequality, white people delving into minority/foreign cultures will always be sketchy. A white woman will gain national attention for twerking far sooner than a black woman would. And if the black woman did, she wouldn't be laughing to the bank but defending her race. A white male artist will sooner get a hit single singing an R&B song than a black male would in this current climate. (How did we move backwards from the 90s?) Also, how many black rock singers ever get a major recording contract. Most white people don't even think black rock musicians exist outside of blues. They do. But pop culture has only allowed minorities to succeed primarily through their own culturally defined genres (with rare exception). So when white people then decide to intrude on those genres, because they're bored with the homogenous crap euro-pop they've made generic or they need to look cool to other white people, then it's an issue.
Currently in our society, white people succeeding through black influences highlights racism, because black artists are severely limited in general. However, most people, including many black people, understand cultural influence and living in a free society. The problem isn't JT and Robin Thicke are R&B sensations; but where is the black R&B sensation who can stand next to Timberlake? Usher hasn't had that spot in years. The problem isn't that "Thrift Shop" exists; it's that people think it's the best hip hop song ever, like Tupac never existed.
Ultimately, anyone can be inspired by foreign and minority cultures. The internet backlash does not destroy careers. Our society treats everything so seriously that even serious matters become trivialized, blowing over as the hot air rises so quickly it collapses onto itself. And honestly, Avril is now more relevant to pop culture than she has been in years. Whether it's Miley twerking, Avril J-popping, or Jaime raping Cersei, only no press is bad press. Dominating the cultural conversation is the only important factor to mainstream success...and the corporations know it. It's our fault. Corporations know how public consciousness works. Right now the only show that matters is Game of Thrones, and for tonight, the only musical event that will matter is "Hello Kitty."
It is possible Avril's career will be tarnished forever though. However, it's not because she's racist. It's because no one likes the song, and racism will be used to justify destroying her. For all the conversation around Cersei's rape, even those who complained will watch week after week, because we would never let civil rights get in the way of our entertainment. We'll justify it somehow, not remembering that HBO only cares that you watched, not why.