The Cult Reflect Dystopian Youth In Provocative New “For The Animals” Video
The Cult Reflect Dystopian Youth In Provocative New “For The Animals” Video
April 26, 2012
The Cult reveal the official music video for their new single, “For The Animals,” from their forthcoming album ‘Choice Of Weapon’.
Frontman Ian Astbury says about the video: “‘For The Animals’ is a metaphor about people existing in a realm that is outside of structured society and outside of what cultural editors deem to be important or relevant. It could be the feral punk rock kids squatting in abandoned homes or the spirited individual who has little regard for social conventions. It’s for people who choose not to tow the party line or try to fit in. It’s for the free-thinkers and mavericks who are creative and dynamic.”
With the video, The Cult has captured the rising tensions and frustration of a growing group of disenfranchised youth. The provocative clip, from visionary director Michelle Peerali and starring actress Hanna Mosqueda as the lead character, portrays the 19-year-old protagonist transforming from a lost and abandoned youth, overwhelmed by the state of the world large and at her own poor economic status and broken family at home, into an empowered strong woman who finds her inner strength in the end. We see her navigate through a chaotic world looking for an answer only to realize in the end that what she was looking for all along was within her the whole time.
“She realized that the only solution for change is actually within her. It’s about her self-awareness, self-knowledge, inner strength, and waking up her internal life to realize she has to take command of the situation and she has the power to break through,” says Astbury, who appears in the video in a cameo along with bandmates Billy Duffy (guitar), Tempesta (drums), and Chris Wyse (bass). “And in the end, she finds others who feel the same way. The message being, if you feel you don’t fit it, it’s okay. There are others out there. The tribe is there.”
This song (and the video) is “for all the fucked up children starring down the barrel of a gun” a real and metaphorical image, the social, economic, and environmental cards this generation of youth have been dealt. It’s a theme that is put into sharp focus by a hyper-aware Astbury on the band’s new album, Choice of Weapon, out May 22 on Cooking Vinyl.
“Your choice of weapon can be anything you use to deal with your world. It could be self-knowledge. I think we’re at a crossroads, as an individual and in our society, to define your intention in life. What do you choose to do with your life? What do you need to really flourish? How do I not get stuck being a slave to convention? And as the character in the video writes on the wall, “How many more ways will they find to reinvent boredom?””
Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com