My Acolyte Journey: 2014.16

Elastic Heart

Sia. I've actually engaged with this song before now, which is just fine. It just means that my month-long hiatus wasn't because I hate the song. On the contrary! I think it's decent. The first Sia I remember hearing was Chandelier, but I know I've heard a few others. Titanium, for one. I've liked them, I suppose, but they weren't explosive enough to kill me and make me pay attention. She's not an artist like Lana Del Rey, who draws me in and makes me search for articles about her.
[Sorry for the break in posts and all. Life is rough. I originally broke the post up so that I wouldn't feel so pressured by it, but I guess I went the opposite direction for a while.]

So, let's look at Sia. I've heard from a billion places (read: three) that this song is about warring Sia-Self States trying to gain mastery over the external Sia. But I read the song lyrics and I think otherwise. Due largely to "Then another one bites the dust" being a repetition and "I might have thought that we were one" obviously referring to an external person, I don't buy it. I look at this song and I see loneliness and depression. I see what a close friend experienced when the guy who was into her/she was into turned out to have been dating a girl in another city the whole time. To her at the time, it was a moment of clarity and dread: I lost another relationship. I really thought that we could make it work, but I just can't hold on to anyone. That's what I read here. I mean, look how obvious the second, separate party is.

And another one bites the dust
Oh why can I not conquer love
And I might have thought that we were one
Wanted to fight this war without weapons
And I wanted it, I wanted it bad
But there were so many red flags
Now another one bites the dust
Yeah let's be clear, I'll trust no one

The bold words appear talk about external forces. There's nothing explicit here, and the video is pretty obviously Sia-Self States (SSS).
So let's talk meaning. I can't understand Sia. Ever. When she sings, her words turn into mealy vowels and only choice sharp consonants. The song, therefore, benefits from the Weeknd, because I can actually understand the words without reading the lyrics. Seriously once I thought the line was: "I've got thick skin, and an eclectic heart." I just can't hear the words out of Sia.
Because I can't understand her, the video is the extreme meaning dominator for me. No matter what I read in the lyrics, I still think Maddie vs Shia is the true meaning. I think that two halves, battling for dominance in a contrived cage is the message Sia was hoping to deliver. I think that the inequality of the halves true abilities but their perception as equal is important. I think that Maddie as a powerhouse and innovator has a lot to say about the way Sia sees herself and her aggressive/dominant masculine side. I think there's nothing intentionally sexual at all about this video. I think most people are idiots.
Exhibit one: people think this video is sexual. I give you a direct quote from an article that someone was paid to spew out:

One Facebook user wrote: 'I understand that everyone thinks this is a piece of art, but I find it a little too sexual because why is a full grown man in a cage with a 12 year old and both wearing nude suits and making funny faces at each other.

Foolish children. If you're willing to NSFW it up, allow me to learn you a thing or two. David is not sexual. Olympia is. Leibovitz is not sexual. Mestes is. I could go on. Sex is not desire, and desire is not dirty. Nothing in the Elastic Heart video has to do with sex other than your confusing lust for a twelve-year old and a washed-out crackpot. If I stretch for it, I see him crawl over her as she lies down: a sexual posture that the dancers slide from within two seconds. There are some genuine emotions, yes. They are male and female, yes. They are wearing nondescript nude tights, yes. But the camera does not linger on their skin. Heck, it doesn't even flatter. The dance is not tight or provocative. The story is not of desire. No. A thousand times, no. This video is not sexual. If you think a grown man making funny faces at a twelve year old is sexual, I invite you to meet literally any twelve year old on the planet and somehow not make funny faces. It's practically a reflex.

I think this song is great, and I like it. But I've had enough of it for a long time. Delight plays the radio when I'm in the car and I've had too much Elastic Shake it Black Off Widow Heart. I'm done.

Sidebar: this is legitimately the best, most realistic, most passionate expression I've seen on an actor in months. Who knew Shia LaBeouf could act? Nobody. Sidebarbarside: Who knew Shia LaBeouf was dirty? Well . . . she is twelve. Which is awful.