Pretty Hurts Critique-Kathleen Gillis

Beyoncé Forces Attention to Unrealistic Thin Ideals

“Perfection is the disease of a nation.” Beyoncé Knowles sings in “Pretty Hurts,” the front-running song off her most recent album Beyoncé. In the video, Beyoncé is a contestant in a beauty pageant, and depicts the darker side of the pursuit for unrealistic body ideals that society tends to recognize. As the video concludes, Beyoncé is second in the competition.

The lyrics of “Pretty Hurts” coupled with the disturbing video of beauty contestants trying to fit in with unrealistic beauty ideals sends a message that focusing solely on fitting into a societal norm creates dangerous consequences. Beyoncé is successful in persuading that focusing solely on beauty creates a dangerous mental psyche that is perpetually unhappy with physical appearance, and cannot have aspirations about significant achievements.  The artistic display of these elements creates, in my opinion, a shock value for the viewer. Too often music videos are filled with how a woman should look, not how she should feel or think.

Beyoncé especially delved deeper into this issue when she tackles a loss of self-principle mid-way through the video. The music pauses as the announcer of the pageant asks Beyoncé what her greatest aspiration is. The video then cuts to a scene of Beyoncé physically drowning as her voice stutters and attempts to answer the question. Using this technique, she is successful in showing that she cannot properly answer the question because she is solely focused on the outcome of fitting into a mold. She has no goals in life besides winning the next crown, or losing the next pound of weight. Her generic response, “To be happy,” is all she can really strive for. But the harsh reality is that if she has no other goals besides physical beauty and perfection, she has no legitimate aspirations. In addition, the generic response appears to be the reason why Beyoncé is chosen as second, instead of the winner. She cannot win based on her looks alone.

Another striking and somewhat overlooked part of the video is the 10 second clip at the end of an actual home video of Beyoncé winning a pageant as a young girl. This scene combined with the first verse, “Mama said you’re a pretty girl, what’s in your head doesn’t matter,” creates an illusion that Beyoncé and many other girls have been battling with perfection ever since they were very young. Using this technique appeals to girls who have been subject to these ideals. Beyoncé essentially says, “I am here with you, I have been through this scrutiny too.”

Beyoncé proves that a beautiful girl is beautiful in the body and the mind. However, media critics still pegged Beyoncé’s appearance as the main focus in her video. The Daily Mail used the headline “Beyoncé shows off trim waist as she plays a pill-popping beauty queen,” and only focuses on how she toned back up since having her first child. The blog mentions nothing about the message of the video, in turn endorsing the culture that Beyoncé is trying to fight. I believe that Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts” video is a successful statement to body issues that girls across the United States are facing, but Media platforms that ignore the message and inadvertently endorse the thin ideal are only adding to the problem.

            Beyoncé created shock value and insight into the ideal woman with her video, “Pretty Hurts.” I believe she was successful in starting the conversation about women and body dysmorphic disorder. However, certain media platforms still chose to focus on her physical appearance in the video instead of the message she was attempting to portray. This adds to the thin ideal that most of pop culture endorses.