The Allure of Toxic Love: Red Flags and Glamour in Sabrina Carpenter’s 'Please Please Please'

In “Please Please Please,” Sabrina Carpenter exudes old Hollywood glamour with her bold lipstick, bouncing blonde hair, and lingerie-as-clothing aesthetic. It’s an alluring visual that immediately captivates us, especially as she exits the holding cell, applying lipstick with a flick of confidence. Yet, what’s concerning is her immediate fixation on Barry Keoghan’s “bad boy” character, rather than acknowledging the legal consequences she faces.



Beneath this gloss and beauty, Sabrina’s character becomes progressively aware that something is off, yet she clings to the hope of a different outcome. The red lingerie she wears becomes a striking metaphor for the red flags she chooses to overlook. As the violence and criminality unfold around her, the message is clear: just look away from the danger, and everything will seem fine.



What resonates with me beyond the video is the troubling narrative of women assuming caretaker roles in toxic relationships. Throughout, Sabrina tends to her partner’s wounds and repeatedly picks him up from prison, all while maintaining her beauty and composure. Even the gallant act of him opening the car door for her suggests that despite her independence, his presence remains the focal point. It subtly reinforces traditional gender roles: the nurturing woman, and the man whose destructive behavior is romanticized or overlooked.


This seductive imagery is undeniably compelling. It taps into a broader and troubling theme—how we are conditioned to romanticize codependent and unhealthy relationships that demand emotional labor, patience, and self-sacrifice, often at the cost of well-being, especially for women.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Motherly Blues: 'What? I Read it in the Paper'

Image
While watching Puberty Blues (1981), I was struck by a recurring theme that resonates deeply with my own childhood experiences as a teenager in Australia. In one scene, Debbie (our teenage protagonist) is picked up by two guys in their car to go to the movies, but her mother, Mrs. Vickers, warns her not to sit in the aisle, fearing she might get " jabbed by a pusher with heaven knows what ." This moment brought back vivid memories of my own mother’s similar warnings. When my sister walked near Kings Cross in Sydney in the late 1990s, Mum cautioned her about drug dealers who might jab her with heroin and turn her into a prostitute. In the early 2000s, while hanging out with friends along a suburban bike track in Melbourne, I received similar warnings about strange men who could stab me with a knife. I hear both Debbie’s and my own mother’s voices echoing, " What? I read it in the paper ," to affirm their concerns. Screenshot from Puberty Blues (1981) As teenagers, t...
Read more

What's in a Razor? Do Razors Really Need a Gender?

Image
In today’s class, we explored gendered advertising, which got me thinking about “men’s” and “women’s” razors. What makes a razor gendered? Is it the color or the general vibe? Women’s razors are often pink with soft, cushioned pads, while men’s are often black, grey, and/or blue, with a strong, sleek design. Image from www.shavemob.com I remember asking a friend why razors needed to be gender-specific, and their response was, “Men have coarser hair.” That explanation didn’t sit right with me. After coming out as trans, I found myself facing the same question when offered a free razor: one for women and one for men. My hair was thickening due to testosterone, and I was growing facial hair—did that mean I should switch to the men’s razor now? The answer turned out to be simpler than I thought. Razors for men are designed for the face, while women’s razors are geared for body shaving, like legs. So the real question isn’t about gender but about which part of the body the razor is intended...
Read more