It’s the righteous, murderous rage seething under quiet determination in “Please Please Please” that does it for me. A pop number perfectly calibrated for this moment of terror from the cult of broken masculinity.
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The music videos for both the original and Dolly Parton versions of the song visualize this tension between desperation (the cooing “please please please”) and determination (the grave “motherfucker”).
Though the original video gives its worst violence to a man, Carpenter exacts her revenge.
The newest version of the song posits Carpenter and Parton as outlaws in the vein of Thelma & Louise or Bonnie & Clyde.
The rage is real here, and the implication is clear. We’re given a shovel, a pickup, and a sack of cash. “I beg you don’t embarrass me” isn’t an entreaty—it’s a threat.
It’s a true bop! But I hate the premise of begging a grown human to act right but the reality of having to do so…. 😭 I sing “Leave, Leave, Leave” sometimes.
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Though the original video gives its worst violence to a man, Carpenter exacts her revenge.
The rage is real here, and the implication is clear. We’re given a shovel, a pickup, and a sack of cash. “I beg you don’t embarrass me” isn’t an entreaty—it’s a threat.
https://youtu.be/C-ZKvyF7tmg?si=jaX2azVDoFU-p2kO
But I think it’s ultimately more threatening than earnest in its approach to the shitty men ruining our world: