Demi Lovato - Dancing With The Devil

[littlepotter 73,278]

9 hours ago, GeeYewWhai said:

I find it borderline glamorizing addiction

Some of yall really get on here and just say anything  

[Magic Mike 2,485]

1 hour ago, HEARTSTOP said:

Also, the guy leaving her doesn't look as bad in this video somehow?

Actually that was really hard to watch as well, as it’s so indecent!

I’m shook with this video, I also agree that she makes it about alcohol a bit too much. I cannot believe she recreated this for the sake of making money with her tragedy with the legitimacy of a cautionary tale

I love the song but I’m really shook with the approach. It has shock value sure but it appears as it does not come from her truly, but from her team of managers 

[Damon 10,896]

i'm sorry i don't want to be insensitive but this video (and the doc) only confirms how her and her team are trying to make money out of all this situation, but i'm not blaming it on demi since scooter is behind it

[GeeYewWhai 2,382]

12 hours ago, littlepotter said:

Some of yall really get on here and just say anything  

The corny ass survivor part when she still did heroine after the OD glosses over the nuance of addiction. If you wanna talk about a touchy topic like addiction you cant be creating some hero type story line, otherwise risk it being glamorizing. Also the over the top generic production makes it come off disingenous. Idk it has a ton of writers, ton of people directing/producing. 

[spector 1,894]

i respect her traumatic experience and wish her well. however, i did not like the song nor the video: the narrative is too contrived, too simplistic—somewhat pretentious.

gaga, for instance, opted to show her struggles in mtn metaphorically, while demi followed the most literal route possible. although neither is good or bad, i find that the latter, in this case, brought about a different emotional effect than intended: i'm feeling that i should be feeling it—yet, i'm only feeling the bitterness of the conceptualized idea. it's screaming at me, making me emotionally numb. i think it means that, due to the misguided execution of the topic, there was no "authentic" emotional response (on my part). in that sense, the song and the video work against themselves and, in turn, prove and highlight their self-serving mechanism. by blocking the very thing that they aimed to present, to come to the surface and rear its ugly head, they managed to prevent the spectator from entering anything but surface-level clichés. there is no linearity in trauma, which explains, to an extent, why the "hero's journey" arc failed to work here.

i didn't necessarily want to compare gaga and demi—their experiences and art can read valid in different eyes. to me, the non-linearity, the loss of control and agency, and the confusing, abrupt tone of mtn resonated more and felt "truer" (i'm putting quotations marks around the words authentic and true because they are just empty signifiers, they don't mean scheisse). oftentimes, in art, things come to us—present themselves—in the dark. if they are spoon-fed and cut fair-and-square, there is a risk that may arise: losing their edges. as such, demi's portrayal was "too sharp" (put in a nicely cut narrative box) with no (emotional) edges, while gaga's felt mudded enough for the spikes of the trauma to bubble up.

Spoiler

 

[StrawberryBlond 13,477]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:31 AM, SFX said:

I genuinely believe critics are calling it her best album yet because of the backstory with it and everything she’s gone through , the album itself is like her other albums-very average with a few standout tracks.. possibly even less than usual. I don’t find her re-enacting things particularly brave, I think by now everyone knows what happened and it was a logical artistic step… As for the brave? I’m not really sure, it does look a little bit like capitalisation but I am happy for her if she is truly in a better place now.. I think an actual brave take would have been to create a body of work that didn’t revolve around the biggest story that has been written in the press about her ever

I kinda agree somewhat after listening to the album in full. I wish the entire thing sounded like the first 3 tracks and I would've preferred more focus on the actual addiction issues than about her troubled love life in the aftermath. I don't know how you almost OD on heroin but make the bulk of your album not about that. Also, to have the first few tracks be so dramatic only to switch into a much more lowkey sound for the rest of the time is too much of a tonal shift. So, I'd hardly say her entire album revolves around the topic. I wish it had revolved around it more, truth be told. I find that topic far more interesting than the standard popstar fare of break ups.

On 4/3/2021 at 2:42 AM, GeeYewWhai said:

It feels super contrived. Something about the flashyness, generic ready for pop radio production, on the nose metaphors, made it feel almost like an ad for addiction rather than her personal story. Idk I think for such a broad difficult topic to talk about it, she chose the least creative or constructive way to show it. I find it borderline glamorizing addiction

How is it flashy? It's pretty basic imagery and kept it really simple. They didn't even put a lot of people around her at the party scene. And it's hardly the kinda sound that screams #1, it sounds like a big power ballad, not the stuff you hear at the top of the charts, this was made a single for the artistic statement. The only way I find it potentially glamorising addiction is the fact that (and this is just me speaking as an audio fetishist so I may be a bit biased) the production and style of singing sounds like it's trying to be sexy. That breathy background refrain, the way she purrs out those verses, the explosive way she sings the chorus. But it in no way actually glamorises it through the lyrics. It basically calls out the common thinking that doing a drug once or occasionally is harmless ("not like I wanna do this every night"), that it's ok to take them if they provide a great high ("don't I deserve it, feels like its worth it in my mind") and that taking a lower class drug won't necessarily lead to harder drugs ("it's just a little white line, I'll be fine, but soon that little white line is a little glass pipe"). She states that all this thinking is "twisted reality, hopeless insanity." And she even outright hopes that she doesn't reach the end of her life and prays to God to save her. So I don't get why you think it's an ad for addiction. It's the ultimate anti drugs PSA.

On 4/3/2021 at 11:09 AM, HEARTSTOP said:

I feel the exact opposite. I wish she would have shown more graphic images, so people would really take in the message. Somehow having perfect hair and almost flawless makeup and tan in the hospital after having an overdose makes it look less bad than it was.

Also, the guy leaving her doesn't look as bad in this video somehow?

I'm glad she made this video and song though, it's very touching.

Agreed, she pulled no punches, this felt not so much like a music video as opposed to a drugs PSA. I think she made it as graphic as is necessary to get the message across. As someone who freaks out about needles, I definitely didn't want to see the image of shooting up heroin (though I think she smoked it that night anyway). Most of us don't need that image. And the sexual assault was made pretty clear from how it was all framed and that may be considered a bit too triggering for people to see. I think her make up is somewhat smudged, so I thought it did look somewhat imperfect. But I think we're distracted by the tubes up her nose and in her neck to not really notice that. I don't know how the dealer doesn't look bad. They made him look like a complete POS in this video. Which is what he deserves because that's what he is. In case you don't know, they even got a guy who looks like him (from the back at least) to represent him here, so it's not like they thought to make him look totally different to completely protect his identity. Guy was interviewed by TMZ recently, clearly a mixture of high as a kite and dead behind the eyes, being totally unapologetic for what he caused (even having the gall to say "we were friends and it became sexual but we were mostly friends"). I don't know how you give someone class A drugs, rape them while they're unconscious and then leave them for dead and still be able to walk around without arrest and give interviews to reporters on the street but he should be in jail right now. I hope this video makes more people demand he faces consequences for what he did. He should feel so ashamed watching this and scared for what will befall him but I get the feeling that he lives life on the edge and doesn't think about consequences.

[ChavaWM 1,833]

I honestly am always so confused with where I stand with her. I've been through these things too, for years. Since I was 14. Overdosed 3 times. Have health complications and obvious mental health issues. I don't know why I find her so contrived and not genuine. I want to feel for her and be like "wow she's getting through it" but I find her to always put on acts and I feel mean for feeling this way. I don't think she's glamorizing addiction. I do think her manager or label want to put this as the forefront to sell as much records or keep people talking.

Just a random thought but anyone find it strange that Scooter has the artist that always just seem to go through terrible and troublesome things?

[Quartz 11,923]

Why the fck are people here hating on this?! How does this glamorize substance abuse when she's LITERALLY painting herself in such a bad light? Wow, you guys are something else. Imagine saying this to her face. 

[matteonster 433]

You can say that she tries to make money out of her trauma and then you’re wondering why people are so afraid to tell anyone that they’re suffering with addictions or mental health issues. You just have to know that once you put out comments like that, you’re part of the reason why people are hiding these issues and are afraid to tell what’s going on with them because they’re frightened of being judged or in worst cases attacked, or just simply left invalidated with their feelings.

I’m honestly happy that she was able to tell the whole story of hers. I feel like this is genuine and she’s trying to shine a light on these issues that sometimes young people are dealing with. It makes her an honest human being to me and I hope it encourages other people to tell their stories too. Just please be kind people.

[Kapi09 2,462]

Another song about an overdose that says she feigned sober. In 3 years she will sing again that now she was not seriously sober. But she promises to improve again. The never-ending response of the typical junkie.

 

She should quit show business for ever if she doesnt want to się ina few years. 

[MadreMonster 2,584]

6 hours ago, Kapi09 said:

Another song about an overdose that says she feigned sober. In 3 years she will sing again that now she was not seriously sober. But she promises to improve again. The never-ending response of the typical junkie.

 

She should quit show business for ever if she doesnt want to się ina few years. 

Relapses happen. It’s not something we should shame. This is why people are scared to talk about their addictions, because if they aren’t perfectly sober they will get ragged on. We should remind those with addictions that it’s ok to not be perfect and to speak when they are relapsing or wanting to relapse - we want them to speak early so we can get them help before they get to the point of overdose.

Its frustrating from an outside perspective but we need to listen and understand from their point of view.

[ALGAYDO 27,318]

6 hours ago, Kapi09 said:

Another song about an overdose that says she feigned sober. In 3 years she will sing again that now she was not seriously sober. But she promises to improve again. The never-ending response of the typical junkie.

 

She should quit show business for ever if she doesnt want to się ina few years. 

What is this addiction-shaming nonsense 

[Bio 23,538]

This feels like sensationalism to me. And the song is just bad.

[Killa 14,578]

I liked the song. The video isnt very interesting but its really generic description weve seen hundred times. Dont get whats so out there about it