In society women are objectified and put against a beauty standard. As a result of this throughout the media and people force them into a place of insecurity. In this video it focuses on the act of plastic surgery, however for the wrong reason as the women is being forced into it.
At the begging of this video, whilst the whole video is referencing insecurities and plastic surgery, this part is referring how the media manipulates viewers into feeling we need to change and gain insecurities as we are made to believe our own skin isn't good enough and we have to be a certain way to be desirable. The begging also shows the character ‘cry-baby’ trying to make herself more ‘pretty’ as she has been shown on tv.
Furthermore, the video shifts to a young couple. There is also the idea that men reinforce this idea of women need to be ‘perfect’. Maybe not as in what is shown in the music video, as in this music video it shows the man giving her the appointment slip to have surgery done. Also, the abundance of jewellery and luxurious items suggest is to make her seem prettier and more desirable along with the surgery. However, some men play into the beauty standards of women in expecting them to look a certain way.
Too add to this, into the video we see the man grabbing parts of her face to show the doctor what she needs to change. You can see the despair in her face as ultimately, she does not want this- he does.
Further into the music video after some graphic scenes of the plastic surgery we see the aftermath of the surgery. As the man unwinds the cloth to reveal how badly the surgery went, we see the realization of them both.
This resulting in the a close up shot switching back and forth to the women desperately putting on makeup to try to look pretty compared to her old already beautiful self.
The video proceeds to end with the women distraught as she is looking out of the window to see the man with another woman. This linking to the lyric of ‘Do you swear you'll stay forever. Even if her face don't stay together.’ Reinforcing men wanting someone desirable to them. Then ending with the character ‘cry-baby’ played by Melanie Martinez being seen to watch that story unfold on the television. She removes the wig in realization you don’t need to change for anyone.
Overall, this music video is not an attempt to attack women who get plastic surgery, wear makeup etc. It is trying to show the struggle of people that feel they need to get these surgeries due to the pressures of looking a certain way.
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