I’m a long fan of singer Pink. She frequently writes about female independence and mindless female stupidity, domestic abuse, the toxicity of fame and is unapologetically political. But as for clip to her newest single, – Please Don’t Leave Me, well, I would have expected more class from Avril Levigne, let alone Pink.
The album, Funhouse, was written following her split from her husband and has themes of anger, regret and growth. The song itself is about a woman who took her partner for granted, emotionally and verbally abused him until he’d had enough and left her. There’s shades of Scarlett O’Hara as a woman who didn’t realise what she was taking for granted until it was gone. But Scarlett eventually learns that she has no-one but herself to blame and that if she truly loves Rhett, she has to let him go. As for this clip… if you haven’t seen it, imagine Misery’s Annie Wilkes. I’m not exaggerating, it’s the most common analogy made by YouTube commenters.
When he first tries to leave, he slips on some marbles she leaves at the foot of the stairs and falls down them. In the hospital, she’s spoon-feeding him, then takes a golf club to his knee. When they’re back at their house and he tries to hobble away, she sics her dog onto him. Then she pushes him in his wheelchair down a flight of stairs and into a scene involving creepy-looking dolls that could have been pilfered from a b-grade horror movie. Finally, when he tries to leave again and she’s physically trying to make him stay, she slips on her own marbles, over the banister and hits the ground a storey below. The clip ends with her singing the closing lines as he’s being carted off in a stretcher by the ambulance officers.
I don’t get what point Pink is making. Sure, she’s not the first person to have revenge fantasises about an ex. But to express it in such a way? To present herself as a woman who would rather see her partner brutally injured, even dead, than someone who has to dignity to let him go? It not only reflects badly on Pink, but perpetuates the stereotype of the bitter, vengeful woman who would rather see her partner dead than without her.
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I actually really like the song because I’ve been in an abusive relationship and I’ve taken a lot of the abusive traits in my next relationship so the theme of knowing you treated someone like shit but still want them to stay strikes a chord with me. It’s the clip itself which I have a problem with. I don’t doubt Pink meant well… but I also know for a lot of people, no matter what she intended, the clip left them feeling she was parodying or condoning abuse.
Scarlett(Quote) (Reply)
Ok. I’ve read enough “analysis.”. Can anyone say “borderline personality disorder?”. And I think the worst wedding song could very well be “Every Breath You Take – The Police.” People play this thinking it’s about deep love instead of what it’s really about – stalking!
PGG(Quote) (Reply)
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