Petra Collins: Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Good 4 U’ music video + The Teenage Gaze + 24 hr Psycho

Argument: Fashion photographer and director Petra Collins brings visual stories of young women coming of age to mainstream audiences in selected works: her editorial pieces The Teenage Gaze, Idol, and 24 hr Psycho, and the music video Good 4 U, which she directed for pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo.

Her subjects grapple with themes of anger and rage, isolation, uncertainty, and the intricate dynamics of connection and isolation within female friendships, which are similar themes my group explored in our SIP film titled Favoritism. While she succeeds in exploring these subjects through the female gaze and shows them in raw emotional states, she perpetuates themes of voyerism, Eurocentric beauty standards, and sexualization of young women, which sends the message that young women can only be ‘raw’ and ‘real’ on screen if they fit within certain aesthetic ideals.

sources:

https://petra-collins.com/artwork/

https://petra-collins.com/good-4-u/