'Si A Review Of 1000 Forms Of Fear'

Chloe Matcham

Selma Purac

MIT 3354F

October 9, 2015

Australian singer-songwriter, Sia, released her sixth album, 1000 Forms of Fear in July of 2014. The album topped charts across the world and was followed by Sia releasing music videos for three of the album’s hit singles. The thematically linked trilogy was leaked to the public over the span of eleven months, spreading virally - with each video causing more controversial debate than the last. The first, was Chandelier, the second, Elastic Heart, and the third, Big Girls Cry [Cite her website]. Most central to the each of the video’s plot lines, as well as the predominant triggering point for her audiences’ revulsion, has been 12 year old Maddie Ziegler. Reality star famous, Maddie was

The major distinction and issue, Maddie is a little girl and Shia is a full grown man. The use of such a young girl introduces a juxtaposition of purity and innocence, which widely troubles viewers as Shia wears a pair of nude skin tight shorts and Maddie a nude body suit. Clothing that matches their skin tones comes across to audiences as very sexualizing, particularly when you see them physically interacting with one another throughout the

Time and time again, they get hurt. Viewers who have interpreted the lyrics as very literal narrative to the video have come to the consensus that Maddie and Shia are set up to be lovers of some sort. The establishment of a father and daughter relationship has been established because of the age difference, and the nude clothing is inherently sexual. Without making these quick assumptions, it becomes more apparent that they are dressed identically to establish that they are not separate entities from one another, but instead one person. The clothing can help establish Shia and Maddie as asexual. After all, art is open and therefore art and sexuality are not mutually exclusive. They are striped down to just flesh and bone, with no coverings, nothing to hide behind. For the public, the idea of being totally exposed is one of the most frightening things for human beings. Sia is arguably more emotionally vulnerable in her work then if she would have been the centre of the video’s attention. There are distinct elements of isolation, violence, addiction, losing one’s mind, insecurity, fear, and even physical pain. Maddie wears the iconic white wig that represents a form of Sia. In doing this, it doesn’t really matter whether Sia is sharing a personal narrative or not. Sia blurs audiences associations between the real author and the implied author (Goodwin CITE p.75, she has established the