One of my absolute all time favourite music videos is Beautiful Trauma by P!nk. The song and video accompany each other so well, whilst the video tells a depressing and all too familiar story for some people.
Starring P!nk herself, and heartthrob Channing Tatum, the video features incredible costume, inspired from the pinup 60s housewife aesthetic. Throughout the whole video, the colour co-ordination matches perfectly, to the outfits and also the emotion being expressed in the video. Overall, extremely satisfying to look at.
The story behind the video is a lot more intriguing. I feel like it has one strong message about the unfortunate reality of abusive relationships, and how men should give their more “feminine side” a chance, be more emotional and feel things from their female counterparts side.
In the video, we are introduced to a simple but unfortunate story – the husband and wife who are clearly unhappy. He is drinking to get through the day, she is taking her pills to get through feeling under appreciated. The video makes it clear that once they both have become intoxicated, their spark is back, but as soon as this wears off, they are distant and sad – hence the separated beds.
This all changes when she finds him hiding in the closet – maybe theres another subtle message there – putting on a dress. She’s shocked, but encourages it. I think this is a metaphor of the husband finally giving in and becoming softer and more emotional, and they suddenly connect on more than just a sexual level. She introduces him to many different ideas and he meets it with open arms.
The end scene shows them getting back into bed, this time, swapping roles, putting to bed all of the problems they previously had and being at peace with the partnership they have created.
The video accompanies the song well with this story arc, as the song seems to continuously hi-light the “trauma” of the relationship, and matches the kind of neo-vintage aesthetic of the whole video.
All in all, treat yourself to a break and enjoy the beauty of this song and the video!!
Mars Smith
