Elastic Heart: Did Sia Make a Video About Narcissistic Love?

Sia's "Elastic Heart" video is an evocative, contemporary dance piece that takes place between a man played by Shia LaBeouf, and a young girl, prodigy dancer Maddie Ziegler. In a behind the scenes making of the video, we are told that Maddie represents some of Shia's self states, perhaps an inner child or some of his personal demons. But since the story is presented in the form of artistic movement, the audience can interpret it however they wish.

I see it as the dynamic between two people caught up in a narcissistic love cycle. The video fast forwards through most of what happens in this type of relationship - the flattery, seduction and love bombing; the mirroring of one's personality, conditioning the target to believe in what is, ultimately, one long con - and skips straight to the end of this abusive cycle, when the narcissist's target knows something is quite wrong and has begun to lash out, even though she may not understand why.

Set in a gigantic bird cage, the two characters begin in a face off, with eyes determined and deadly. They are dressed in nude clothing and they are filthy, having already been dragged through the mud by events that have taken place prior to this moment. At first you believe the girl is the antagonist. Villianous, out of control, full of inexplicable rage and aggression, her movement plays out like an angry animal who doesn't want the man to get close to her. Anytime he approaches she attacks, making him appear the victim of outright lunacy.

She manages to scare him away and he climbs out of her space to the top of the cage where he dangles above for a spell, observing her until she is no longer agitated. She finally has a moment to rest, but once he sees that she is calm, he drops down to land beside her, coercing her to come to him, like someone encouraging a stray dog with food. She is drawn to this ostensibly selfless behavior and wants to trust it, but she knows in her core that he is going to harm her, so she bites down on his hand before he can. She then opens her eyes wide with her own hands to tell him that she sees through his manipulative tricks of persuasion, and she slips through the bars of the cage revealing that she always had the choice to leave.

She watches the man lose control because he can't reach her outside the confines of his prison. She could be free of him if she just walked away, but like so many caught up in this kind of addictive cycle, she chooses to go back in and help him because she knows that he is a wounded creature who can't help himself. Tragically she is fooling herself into believing she can save him.

It is her return to the cage that gives him strength, and for the moment he listens as she exposes the many masks he wears. But when holding his hand she attempts to lead him out of the cage, they find he can't fit through the bars. She expends a great amount of energy trying to pull him out, and when the sad truth sets in that he is stuck, he grabs hold of her waist begging her not to leave him. You watch this fruitless endeavor for several moments after the song has ended. His eyes become lifeless and his body eventually goes limp as he loses hope, but she continues to fight his battle for him in a grand effort to free him from his despair.

The video ends before we know whether she gave up or if she returned to the cage a second time. I have hope that she realizes she'll never be able to free him from his own prison. If she does, another innocent soul will sadly take her place. Kind people are abundant, and they don't like to see a wounded creature trapped.

Here's the curious thing. When he was hanging from the top of the cage above her, there was a brief moment in which he looked up, and from the outside looking in, you can see that the opening at the top of the cage is big enough for him to fit through if he were willing to garner his strength and climb out. Instead he chooses to focus his attention on her.

If he would only look up to that expansive sky and coax himself out, he might find that he has his own wings.

"Elastic Heart" is the second video of Sia's trilogy starring Maddie Ziegler.

Sia never ceases to amaze. I highly recommend buying all her albums. "Elastic Heart" can be found on her latest album, "1,000 Forms of Fear," my personal album for this year. As LaBoeuf puts it, "Her work is very cathartic. You listen to the album, it's just like reading a diary."

All images in the post were found in a Google search for Elastic Heart Video.