If you have never heard on Melanie Martinez she is worth the listening to. Her music has meaningful lyrics, messages, and is addicting without being annoying. But let us look at her latest music video to see just how talented this young woman is.
In the beginning of the video, she is in front of a television with an ad offering perfecting products with side effects such as lowered confidence and depression. The young girl she portrays then goes to the bathroom and is quite upset because she isn't what the commercial says is the perfect woman.
This identifies with the false and shameful advertising adolescents and young adults alike are exposed to and the harmful effects they have on who someone thinks they are and should be, but the message is even more real as the video continues.
The commercials on the television turn into a music video where a gorgeous girl is about to get a facelift to fix her imperfections. The facelift does nothing, only making her different than who she actually is, and all because of a man in this case.
The content here also exposes another sad truth: the fact that people who are beautiful already change to fit a standard only available through plastic surgery and other expensive techniques.
By the end of this video, the girl is not only heartbroken, but she has also shown Melanie, portraying the young girl, that you should never change because society tells you to.
Moving on to lyrics, Melanie has a habit of placing deep, haunting phrases in her music. From this song come many examples such as:
If you weren't born with it; You can buy a couple ornaments
Sexual, hey girl if you wanna feel sexual; You can always call up a professional
This is only in the first part. The chorus actually sets the mood for the song, but the first verse makes an impression.
Baby soft skin turns into leather; Don't be dramatic it's only some plastic; No one will love you if you're unattractive
While this seems to send the wrong message by itself, the lyrics sum themselves up with the lines :
But little girls are learning how to cut and paste; pucker up their lips until they suffocate
Stay forever, stay forever; Even if her face don't stay together
The lyrics satirize and inform her audience of what is happening in our society, even if we don't always notice. With so many beauty products to hide aging and celebrities getting surgery to fix something no one really cares about, it is impressing upon the younger generations that there is a standard for perfection and that they must attain some of it if they want to have a significant other, or be accepted in general.
Melanie's tasteful but imaginative take on this shows her continual genius in music and the power of being real to yourself because no one is perfect.
Interested in the video in question? Here is the link to it so you can form your own opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkri1NUq9ro.
