Wrecking Ball thoughts

I was curious so I watched Miley Cyrus' music video for Wrecking Ball. I'd seen gifs and screen captures of it: a nude Cyrus in a destroyed grey room, an extreme close up of her teary face. It was noticing a lyric that drew me in at last.

There's been a decent amount of controversy surround Cyrus for a while now; a lot of people judging her behaviour, her fashion choices and now this video. I'd been keeping out of it. I don't need any feminist fuel and I'm of the opinion that Cyrus can do whatever she likes as long as it is not harmful to anyone else. I guess that's debatable after the twerking incident. But I watched Wrecking Ball and I cried.

The opening image is Cyrus with her big blue eyes and pale face against a white background and a tear rolls down her face. It has been a long time since I have seen such strong emotion in a music video, especially a pop video. I felt this instant empathy and sympathy for her. The music is bare at first, like she is, just her voice and these keyboard synths.

The bass drops on the chorus and the emotion in her face and voice grows. The lyrics are like a punch in the face to me. I feel every word, though I suppose I have reason to. It's not terribly sophisticated language but some of the phrases hit me hard. They make me feel my own past actions and I don't know if that's my own guilt talking or Cyrus' outstanding emotional performance.

I'm not going to slut shame Cyrus for her extremely skimpy outfit and nakedness. She's a grown woman. It's not especially sexual. I see it as a metaphor. The song is about intimacy. The relationship she sings about seriously lacked emotional intimacy. Neither partner allowed the other to be inside the walls of their minds, though both clearly wanted to be. The way Cyrus appears naked into the broken down walls is metaphorical of herself and how she doesn't let her guard down and of how if she had broken down the walls of her partner, there would have been true intimacy, rather than what I'm assuming was just physical. I assume that from the few slightly sexual gestures at and with the sledge hammer. It implies to me that she thought she could break down the emotional walls with physical actions.

I really really appreciate what Cyrus is saying in her song, I think it's going to be one I need to listen to a lot because I think it has it's own meaning for me. I love the metaphors she shows in her video. I really like the idea of it but I'm not 100% on the actual finished thing. It's not a song about sex, so the nudity does not feel artistic enough. I'm not judging her for it, it fits the mood and the metaphors and the message. I just don't think it was pulled off in a classy enough way. The way she has her extreme close ups of her face are so beautiful and moving and then I see her awkwardly posing around this ball and I feel a little strange. Sure I'm distracted by the lyrics, but is it enough?

All in all, I adore the song, I have a lot of respect for Cyrus but I probably would have gotten someone else to direct the video because the idea is there and it's good, just not quite pulled off right. If I could change some things, I'd add more slow motion shots in - it might be cliche but it's never wrong - a stronger sense of contrast in the lighting and probably stick it in black and white. The lyrical content is provoking enough for the video to be a little more serious. But that's just me.

If you never watch anything else of Cyrus', just watch Wrecking Ball.