Melanie Martinez - Sippy Cup Music Video Analysis
Melanie Martinez's song "Sippy Cup" plays on the theme of an alcoholic mother who drinks to cope with the infidelity of her husband. Some parents used to put cough syrup/alcohol in their babies bottles to make them sleep through the night. As a result, the music video and song lyrics are using the sippy cup as a metaphor for trying to blur/forget reality - "blood still stains when the sheets are washed, sex don't sleep when the lights are off, kids are still depressed when you dress them up, and syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup. In the video Melainie plays the character fantasy version of herself named "Cry Baby" from her debut album. Two versions of Cry Baby parallel each other in the video: one depicted as a pure angel with a giant teddy bear & the other one is shown as Cry Baby wearing a pink playsuit and bonnet in bed.
One interpretation of the angelic version of Cry Baby is that because she is a child, her omniscient view on her mother's alcoholism is innocent. This could be reinforced by the giant teddy bear as teddy bears are a symbolic convention of child like themes - continuing the child theme of the album. Key lighting suggests that there are is a dark undertone to song. As a result, it could be seen as foreshadowing the homicide of Cry Baby's father and his mistress. Match on action shots at the beginning draws the audience's attention to a sippy cup and bottle of alcohol, further reinforcing the idea of foreshadowing that alcoholism is big factor that contributes to the events that unravel in the video.
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