Amy Horsley: September 2010

In the video, the performer is dressed very well as she is shown wearing very formal wear and a number of evening dresses that go down to the floor. In the video she wears three different dresses, one for each room that she’s in and she wears her hair in two different styles. This is quite a contrast to the nature of the video as the story being portrayed is very serious and quite upsetting and is a less than glamorous situation. You can clearly tell that her hair has been styled carefully as looks very professional and stylish whilst she is wearing quite a fair amount of eye make up. It does not look at all as though she is really in the situation and looks more like she would be going to the Oscars simply from her appearance. The performer is shown performing the song at many points throughout the video as though she is telling the story herself and speaking to someone. The video appears to be in real time and as though these things are happening to her. Throughout the video, she is cleverly placed constantly in between her parents when she appears to be almost an angel, standing and watching things happening to her mother and father and sister yet unable to do anything other than stand and watch. She is constantly shown throwing things, looking at objects wandering around as well as trying to break out of the bathroom which she is in. Lindsay Lohan released this song and video at the height of her fame as therefore she was always seen as glamorous and in the public eye which is reflected in the video which she herself directed.

There is a very clear and fairly disturbing story to the video which is reflected in the lyrics. The video was filmed in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City and mainly references her father Michael's drunkenness and alleged domestic abuse. In the video, Lohan hides in the bathroom as her parents, Michael and Dina argue and fight in the living room. Her sister, Aliana, goes to her bedroom after coming home from ballet class, breaks into tears, and too hides in her room. She also starts mimicking her sister in actions such as banging on the walls and screaming at their parents to stop and even at points, holding onto a rosary. The three rooms are shown behind a department store window, outside which a crowd of observers form. At the end of the video, Lohan stands behind the glass and photographs of memories fly up onto it, from which she breaks out. Lohan said that the video's storefront setting was chosen because, in her words, "my life is on display".

She wrote the song based on the strained relationship with her father and the troubled he caused throughout her childhood therefore all the emotions revealed through the lyrics of the song are mirrored in the video. Due to the nature of subject that she is singing about, you would think that the song would be quite slow and emotional. Whilst there was plenty of emotion, the song is quite fast and rock-themed yet you can sing along which could be seen as a direct contrast to how it should have been and is likely to have been done like that purposefully to shock the person watching. The video itself is a mixture of pure and at points upsetting realism and metaphors as well with the fact that she is performing in a department store window with people watching.

The camerawork is fairly simple throughout however at one point whereas there is a climax in the song, there are lots if cuts which are put together very quickly to perhaps build tension and stir up emotions in the audience member. There is one particular shot around the middle of the video where both Lindsay Lohan and the actor portraying her father are sitting at opposite ends of the sofa. This clearly shows the distance between her and her father. The music does not come in straight away as the video starts but there is a small scene almost to set the scene for the song and mid way through, the song stops when her father punches the wall and there is another small scene to again ensure the audience understand and also maybe to make it all a little more emotional before then the music starting again to photo flashes and camera noises. The video features a lot of close ups of people’s faces showing their emotions in an extreme way and bringing the point of the video across in an extreme way.

There are many different props we see the performers and the actors interact with. One of the main ones are the photographs that appear towards the end of the video featuring Lohan and her family suggesting better times and maybe the longing for the innocence she had back then. The lyrics in the song also make reference to God, and when they do, she holds up a rosary and we see her with it throughout the video. Her sister also has one as well as her mother suggesting her faith and how much she relies on it, when she was going through this situation originally and still today. Towards the beginning of the video we also see the performer writing in a diary, evoking the feeling that she has been keeping track of these memories and emotions for a very long time. There is also a point in the video where her sister picks up a telephone suggesting that she is trying to call for help but failing as she breaks down and cries. This could be seen as there never being anymore able to help them when they needed it the most. The video is quite dimly lit and dark, which can be seen as reflecting the subject matter and in some ways similar to the style of a typical rock music video.

There is only one point in the video when special effects are used and this is when the photographs are artificially brought up onto the windows before the windows are then shattered out onto the audience representing the final freedom achieved by the family after the initial amount of emotional trouble suffered. The performer is not portrayed in any particular sexual way and I think that this has been purposefully avoided to make more of an impact on the audience and also to not take away from the seriousness and the true emotion behind the video.

The video is literally an illustration of the song and its lyrics. It had been very carefully created and written to try and match the passion felt behind the song. I think that the video is aimed at anybody that has had problems within their family life, particularly between a daughter and a father and try to make them feel a little easier about it. I think the music video is just a visual of the song which was done purposefully. The three things that I really like about the video are the combination of realism and metaphors with the nature of the emotions and the fact that they were in a department store window, brutal honesty and the fact that the performer was brutally honest about their childhood, making me get quite emotional the first time I saw the video and finally, in typical girl style, I really like her outfits!