The video depicts a young girl living in a dollhouse with her dysfunctional family, representing the artist's own life. Scenes show the girl's alcoholic mother, absent father, drug-abusing brother, and the chaos of her unhappy home. Though presented in a stylized, doll-like world, the dark imagery and unchanging expressions of the family convey a sense of trauma and cry for help from the artist. The video correlates the dollhouse scenes with the lyrics of the song to represent how the facade of a normal family hides deeper issues.
2. - It starts with a tilting shot that reveals
a young girl playing with her dolls
- The lighting seems dodgy, it indicates its
night-time which would be past a child’s
bedtime.
- The child is very girly by her choice of
style, all pink with two ponytails sitting
peacefully on the floor. This may also
indicate something sinister or weird might
happen
3. - The close up shot of the doll house lets
us see in more detail the elements of it.
We see its 4 rooms and the doll in her
bedroom.
- The doll is also a representation of the
character due to the same hairstyle and
clothing of it, meaning, the artist
portrays herself as a doll.
4. - The scene slowly fades out and reveals the artist in the form of the doll the child was playing.
The choice of make-up, hair and style seems very innocent and child-like for her. Although the
set would look like it’s for children’s purpose, it’s contradicting dark lighting and song conveys a
spooky and sinister atmosphere.
- The artist also stares deeply into the camera with no other physical movement to be seen. This
also creates an uncomfortability the audience experience due to the intense eye-contact made
by the artist. This would also be due to wanting her to provoke us and our fears.
5. - It’s cut to her, continuously, staring at
the camera from a different angle that
shows her outfit and location.
- The dark lighting continues to look
frightening as the only source of light
to be seen is due to the ‘window’ placed
next to her bed which emit blue light =
thriller, mystery
- The floral pattern on the wall and bed
deduces that she is living in the
dollhouse we saw at the beginning.
- The whole setting relates to the title of
the song.
- The body-less dolls sitting next to her
also intensify the emotions of craziness
as no one would rip the heads of their
playing dolls which can, further mean,
how unstable she is
6. - It then cuts to a moving close up of
her mother passed out on the couch
- The choice of clothing indicates that, the
character, is also part of the doll house
and is, in fact, a doll herself.
- The lyrics of the song specifies who the
characters are on camera. Everything the
artist sings, is part of her video
- The camera moves away from her mother and
reveals the bottle of wine in her hand. It’s
unusual to see or portray dolls in this way,
which means the artist created more meaning
than a normal pop song
- It shows the dysfunctional family of her house.
This may also mean the plot revolves around,
not everything you see is what it might be and
the dollhouse represents a normal home
7. - A quick wipe, switches from her
mother to her father as she
expresses in her lyrics. The father
is seen to be absent and missing
- Again, indicating and adding onto the
trauma she may experience
- It continues to look very cartoon
or drawn like due to the dollhouse
aspect created
8. - The artist shows her brother,
abusing drugs which is
unusual for something that
looks so playful and nice. The
contrast created is huge.
- The artist seems to never
change her facial expression
and keeps the same fake
smile on her face, in addition,
her and her brothers robotic
gestures create a nice
effect.
9. - It quickly cuts back and forth to another set
(another room in the house)
- We see the cardboard fridge and stove behind,
indicating she’s in the kitchen but with no
actual real props or elements of an actual
kitchen
- She continues to act like a doll and changed
her clothing, showing us the role of a female
and expressing her femininity
- It suddenly transitions to an almost, chaotic scene
where we see two parts of the house in one frame.
Her calmness may mean how used she is to her
families actions and frustration.
- Interestingly, I have noticed how certain colors repeat
themselves constantly. The pink, blue and shades of
black take over the video.
- Ironically, pink being a girly color and blue and black
are more dark and masculine which can highlight the
fact that being a girl isn’t what it seems and that
it’s harder than society portrays it to be.
10. - We get a over the shoulder shot where we
see her staring at the mirror while her
reflection is staring at us back. It creates
a creepy atmosphere as she stares at us
almost like we’re feeling judged
- The ripped head of the dolls are also there,
in the open, which give a horrifying vibe
- The make-up of the boy is also on
point, it highlights it’s doll-like features
but is also creepy looking. His posture
signifies power and confidence, meaning,
that’s how he feels and is as a person
- The color blue, of the room, punctuates
the stereotypical colors of pink for girls
and blue for boys.
11. - A fast paced sequence is shown in
order to create that chilling, fake
effect of a family but also inhuman
physical movements.
- It’s the first time we see the family
as a whole. Their facial expressions
convey madness but they also seem
broken on the inside
- The artist continues to lipsync as
she blanklessly stares at the camera,
almost crying for help
12. - The scene transitions and we
see her tied up in a doll box.
- She looks trapped but not
scared as she continues to
stare, meaning that she wants
to create that connection with
the one that’s watching but
also make them uncomfortable
and attentive to the video.
- Every element of the video
correlates to the title of the
song as it’s meant to be a
dollhouse which she creates and
brings to life.
13. - The camera tilts upwards and we see the
whole family, again, in the shot. The two
parents are apart from one another which
also doesn’t seem normal or usual.
- Everything looks very stiff and abnormal.
The shadows created behind them also
intensifies the eerie mood
- A close up of the mum, staring helplessly
at the camera whilst holding a flask
suggest she has serious drinking problems
- Moreover, the artist talks through their
family issues
- We see the impact of an unhappy family
contradicting to the stereotypical picture
perfect family = not everything is pink
14. - The young girl seems to re appear in the
video which creates a panic in the family,
they go back to ‘being plastic’ as the
song mentions, and we see the two
parents in the kitchen. The mother is to
be seen cooking and being in the role of
a housewife whilst the man sits back
down reading his newspaper
- The two shot makes the artist seem very small and the
child very big.
- It creates tension and makes the viewers want to
continue watching the video.
- The artist Melanie Martinez also signifies the loss of
innocence as the things she’d been through are very
traumatic. We create a bond with her as we pity and
feel bad but, moreover, some people may relate to her
situation and support her because of this
15. - The little girl suddenly appears in
miniature form and remains petrified
and shocked at the family as she
gained access to see what actually
happens inside closed doors.
- She suddenly teleports back and runs
away because she’s scared and
speechless of what has happened
