Smeared Lipstick

 I’d like to offer up my observations from a few select music videos and movies.  I believe it is used to designate some form of insanity.  One example, to hearken back in time, is to observe Bette Davis’ make-up in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”  However, in slightly more recent times, David Bowie has used this symbol to great effect in his music videos for “Boys Keep Swinging”.  The insanity being portrayed here is the frustration that it is a man’s world.  The little old lady simply accepts this and blows a kiss at the end, while the others smear their lipstick.

In “China Girl” the insanity is made evident through a girl getting dressed up to meet her guy on a beach and finding him with another woman.  She smears her lips.   I’m sorry, but I cannot find any deeper meaning than that.   In the Duran Duran video for “Come Undone”  you can tell by the lyrics that the entire song is about insanity.  In fact, this particular video is filled with much haunting imagery, aside from smeared lipstick.  And, of course, let us not forget our old pal Robert Smith from The Cure.  The man simply wears the smeared lipstick like a badge of honor wherever he goes!  Then he got the entire band doing it in this example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3hdytcAUjI (but it might have been due to the elements, chuckle) 

To further illustrate how deep rooted this is, in the rather more contemporary Postal Service song “The Distract sleeps tonight”  contains lyrics directly referencing the idea of smeared lipstick. And,  Lest you dismiss this as merely a British phenomenon, again I persuade you to look upon another American movie for the ultimate smeared lipstick , “The Dark Knight” whereby the joker, as portrayed by Heath Ledger, is pretty insane.  True, the joker has been portrayed before by Ceaser Romero and Jack Nicholson (don’t get me started on Jack)  but not to such an extant nor to such great depth.

In contrast, the No Doubt version of “It’s My Life” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_rOln5rhE4  shows Gwen Stefani, her lipstick being very very heavy and very very red, is not smeared, despite the fact that she is being hauled off,.which I believe is the power of a woman to  be responsible for her actions and accept the consequences.  The exact antithesis to David Bowie’s “Boys Keep Swinging”

Anyway, I have expressed my thoughts on this subject and would welcome more examples. Until then, I bid you a humble Adieu.