I know I said I was going on hiatus, but I just found the video for Rihanna's new single, We Found Love. Although I tend to shy away from pop music, I have to comment on this music video. Never, never, have I seen a better music video than this one. It tells the story of two lovers against the backdrop of the drug scene, following their romance as it slowly deteriorates from one drug-fuelled haze to the next.
The video begins with Rihanna's character and her lover in varying states of withdrawal, as she narrates how she almost wishes she could have her whole relationship back, the bad and the good, just to relive it. Then the music starts, and the audience watches as the two lovers meet, fall in love, and take drugs.
The intensity of their relationship is mirrored by an ascending synth loop, and accompanied by interspersed shots of fireworks, cascading pills, and dilating pupils. We get a peek at their relationship in happier times: dancing at raves, spinning a car in dangerous (but fun) circles- and then, later, these same scenes revisited with a dark undertone. Rihanna's character slams the door of the car and storms off, her lover is seen shotgunning beers, she begins to faint as she dances, the same shots of pills pouring out and pupils dilating and contracting are now mixed with scenes of buildings collapsing onto themselves. The images intensify in speed and brutality: Rihanna's lover screams in her face, he grabs her chin and seems to hit her, she passes out on the street and is taken away in a whirl of ambulance lights, we see her submerge herself in a bath.
The film ends with Rihanna packing up her bag and leaving her lover, kicking his arms away as he attempts to restrain her. The video offers unique insight into the drug culture and its effects on the people who participate in it: while the portrayal of drugs seems negative, Rihanna doesn't shy away from showing the couple getting high and enjoying it; indeed, that's how their love is accelerated. This leaves the viewer to question the situation: although it was drugs that ultimately led to the couples demise, it was drugs that brought them together in the first place. The video for "We Found Love" is an interesting social commentary, and still incredibly enjoyable to watch.
"We found love in a hopeless place," Rihanna croons, mournfully, and she did- but she found a whole lot of beauty there, too.
Rihanna on WhoSay
