 Peter Gaston of Spin wrote that the video for " Hard " resembles " Janet Jackson 's ' Rhythm Nation ' meets Christina Aguilera 's ' Dirrty ' phase — Rihanna vamps in dimly lit outposts , dodges explosions in the desert , and , quite enticingly , takes a break from boot camp to smother herself with mud . Morale @-@ boosting , indeed ! " James Dinh of MTV News showed the video , on a small player , to fans in Times Square in New York City to ask their opinions . Most said she looked " sexy " in the video , and agreed that it was different from previous videos and shows where she came from and where she is going in her personal life . Bill Lamb of About.com wrote , " I must confess that I do fail to understand the point of Rihanna humping the gun turret of a pink tank dressed in Mickey Mouse ears . It seems pains were taken to make the setting look like Afghanistan or Iraq with the other actors looking as close to real military personnel as possible . " Lamb criticized the video 's lack of sensitivity and respect for using an army and weapons of destruction to glamorize war , saying , " Does Def Jam , Rihanna 's label , need to be reminded that this comes on the heels of sadly sending off an additional 30 @,@ 000 troops from our country to real war ? In my mind this is one of the most tasteless , offensive moves by a major pop artist in recent memory . " 
