Any music video that ends in a loving girl friend group hug is alright with me. And that's just the start of the list of things that wowed me in Carly Rae Jepsen's new music video for Boy Problems. With her newest album, Emotion, having been released in August of last year, the music video of Boy Problems came at somewhat of a surprise. But it was definitely not an unwelcome one to me--Boy Problems is my favorite track off Jepsen's horrifically underrated album. And the music video did not disappoint. Here's the rundown on my top favorite three things about the video.
First off: the aesthetics. The entire music video is straight out of an 80's teen girl's dreams. It's exactly that: dreamy. Scenes move from the gloomy, broody bedroom of Carly Rae Jepsen to a pink tinted bedroom where girlfriends are chatting it up and rolling their eyes in shirts that say things like "Cherry Baby". The video has just the right amount of glitter, curtains of tinsel and pops of color within a muted and delightfully dark-lit world.
The cast of characters. Besides Carly Rae herself, the video is populated by young women only. This is a welcome change from break up songs that feature constant flashbacks to the has-been boyfriend and the shots of him and his new girl who is always supposed to be shown as annoying and totally awful for him. The girls in the video showcase a variety of body types ethnicities, making this truly an anthem any girl can relate too. Tavi Gevinson, creator of popular online publication Rookie Mag, also makes an appearance as in the most awesome pink suit as the boss of an all girl office. This is no surprise, as the video was directed by her close friend, Petra Collins. The video also features Torraine Futurum, a trans woman of color, in the lineup. The full range of girls in this video just makes me happy. Content for girls by girls is the best, isn't it?
The overall meaning. The entire video takes place in little scenes of what you'd expect girls to be doing when mourning the loss of a boyfriend--except they're not really doing them. As Jepsen sings throughout the video, "think I broke up with my boyfriend today but I don't really care, I got worse problems", this seems to be exactly the case with these young women. In the bedroom where Jepsen herself is holed up in bed with tissues, she bursts into dance, and at the funeral for one girl the "deceased" rolls her eyes at her mourning friends and takes selfies instead. She's got no time for dramatics over a boy, clearly. These girls value time and friendship with each other over any boy and I'm here for it.
If this little CRJ love fest didn't convince you, check the video out for yourself and pay this underrated pop queen her dues.
