Ok, Shorter post than any of last week's, but I really wanted to get this out there.
Yesterday, Miley Cyrus released the music video for her new single "Wrecking Ball", a sad breakup song. The new video comes off the heels of her controversial MTV Video Music Awards performance two weeks ago, which left many stunned.
This video does very little to change people's opinions of her.
Let us start with the song itself. A much slower piece than her previous song "We Can't Stop", this one has a much more "adult" feel to it. The darkness of the song is a sharp contrast from the prior, but it still lacks emotional depth. It has a very emotional message/feel to it, but its very bland. No real deep message here, just a dry sob story. That being said, the song is by no means a disaster. It has great playability and it's simple chorus is enough to sway listeners. The vocal talent is definitely there, and this is likely to be another hit for Cyrus. I personally really enjoy this song a lot and I'm sure many others will as well.
But then there's the video.
The video differs from that of "We Can't Stop" in the sense that its shock value doesn't come gradually, instead opting for the much more direct approach of Miley swinging around on a wrecking ball completely naked. While this obscure material was "okay" for an upbeat party song such as "We Can't Stop", it takes away from the dark/seriousness of this song. The over-sexed scenes of her lying seductively on a pile of rubble doesn't suit the deep lyrics of her tragic sob story. Its hard to take the song seriously when she can't even seem to take it seriously herself. The video disregards the whole idea of this sad love story, and chooses to sacrifice the prospect of a well done music video for a sex-crazed, marketable, and gossip friendly train-wreck. Aside from the content, the video is repetitive. It seems that many angles are repeated and awkward. The few good angles are repeated to death, and then everything else is just weird. There are a bunch of different shots of her licking a sledgehammer (which is just plain odd), and then the closeups of her face aren't even serving much an emotional purpose either. They only serve as a distraction, as I'm too busy focusing on the ever present saliva in her mouth (gross...).
Unfortunately, this video will likely get millions of hits and be repeated and talked about over-and-over again.
This video upsets me particularly because most times I like to be the one rooting for the unique artists. I like to see people be different and bring something new to the table (Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, etc.). I feel as though Miley Cyrus is not trying to be unique though. I feel as though she sees every opportunity as another chance to make a publicity stunt. This seemingly serious song is lost in her over-erotic and just plain weird music video. At least with other out-of-the-box types, they know how to walk the line.
For example, in Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi", she also takes the route of a crazy and over-the-top video. Lots of sparkly objects and just flat out weird stuff. However, the separating factor between this and "Wrecking Ball" is that there is a story and uniqueness to it. It is not simply running on sex-appeal alone. It uses a very over-the-top artistic approach to all the shots and they aren't all focused on a sexed up singer. The video follows a story and has some sort of "emotional" (the word being used very generously) progression. This is not to say that this video is perfect, but it is surely leagues above "Wrecking Ball"
So there are my thoughts on "Wrecking Ball"! What did you think? If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here! (Be warned: Probably not appropriate for kids!)
Be sure to leave your "Purple Opinions" on the video in the comment section below!!!
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