9-20-2026 MY FAVES: the archetypes

-

 what i'm reading...

i'm just over halfway with the grapes of wrath, and the joad family finally made it to california:
and in the tractor man there grows the contempt that comes only to a stranger who has little understanding and no relation. for nitrates are not the land, nor phosphates and the length of fiber in the cotton is not the land. carbon is not a man, nor salt nor water nor calcium. he is all these, but he is much more, much more; and the land si so much more than its analysis. that man who is more than his chemistry, walking on the earth, turning his plow point for a stone, dropping his handles to slide over an outcropping, kneeling in the earth to eat his lunch; that man who is more than his elements knows the land that is more than its analysis. but the machine man, driving a dead tractor on land he does not know and love, understands only chemistry; and he is contemptuous of the land and of himself. when the corrugated iron doors are shut, he gets home, and his home is not the land.

what i'm watching...

we're on season 2 of the vampire diaries, and the werewolves enter scene by way of katherine's evil scheming. sib informed me that nina dobrev got paid less in average than ian somerhalder and paul wesley. um... this girl played two roles from the get-go?!


sib introduced me to love island: adria, the balkan version of the popular reality tv series. i watched only the first episode, and it was truly painful watch. entertaining, but mentally straining. there are many contestants from the diaspora, rumor has it the casting directors struggled because most people off the street were uninterested. 
saturday night we watched the inglorious basterds, directed by quentin tarantino. i don't mind the movies, but i feel like keeping the amount of gore to sprinkle it throughout the film would make more impact than seeing scalped heads every 25 minutes. still, the film had a happy ending. (???)

what i'm listening to...

album analysis: electra heart
as a tumblr kid, marina and the diamonds' concept album electra heart, was a staple since i first heard primadonna on the radio. in high school, i stayed up late on the computer "studying", which was just deep diving into the best indie music at the time. 
this album has been a mystery for marina's fans, and it made numbers on tumblr during peak years (2012-2015). there's 11 music videos, and the labeled parts to not match the original album order. i'm going to talk about those music videos and the theories that lie in the visual and audio storytelling:

we start with part 1♡fear and loathing♡, and it is believed this is the "death" of marina and possibly the birth of "electra". someone in the youtube comments described the video as a "depressing makeup tutorial". 

part 2 ♡radioactive♡. it's heavy edm which was getting pretty popular at that time. side note: diplo was one of the producers of the album (as was dr. luke ew). the music video is influenced most likely by lana del rey's work: western american desert a la route 66, letterman jackets, scrawny dudes... electra has all the necessities checked. can you believe that during this time there were two other radioactive songs: one by imagine dragons and one by rita ora?!
this is the official birth of the alter ego electra heart, where she finds a love, possibly toxic (hence radioactive). "lying on a fake beach, you'll never get a tan".

part 3 ♡the archetypes♡. an intermission teasing with the instrumental to a later track, state of dreaming, and the introduction to the four female archetypes that are scattered throughout the album: housewife, beauty queen, homewrecker, idle teen. the robotic voice used to freak me out, but it's symbolic to the notion of a "real fake". if you had to choose, what archetype do you think you represent?
part 4 ♡primadonna♡. this single was super popular on croatian radio, and i was always obsessed with the versailles vibes of the music video. in this music video, we finally spot the signature heart on cheek, and spoiled brat persona. the aesthetic stayed even during the later coquette trends spotted online. the music video totally inspired me to do an electra heart halloween costume someday. 

part 5 ♡su-barbie-a♡. this video freaked me out, but it's full of symbolism. the video features a 50s woman on a porch, without her head visible, has viewers speculating that it represents "barbie-like" housewives, lobotomized from any personality other than the archetype. the title itself is a play on the word "suburbia", and there's even quotes referencing to sylvia plath, but originally came from the stepford wives: "if you're going to tell me you don't like this dress i'm sticking my head right in the oven." the instrumental references the song valley of the dolls, based on the film.

part 6 ♡power and control♡ this song is super powerful, about a woman taking charge,"a human vulnerability doesn't mean that I am weak". the music video is simple, marina looks her best perhaps in this one, wearing a bandage dress similar to a classic hervé leger little black dress, her hair up and the heart on her cheek grows.
part 7 ♡how to be a heartbreaker♡ in this song, marina flips the typical script, possibly turning to the homewrecker archetype, and she gives us the following rules: 
1. dave fun
2. don't get attached to someone you could lose
3. wear your heart on your cheek, not your sleeve
4. look pure
5. kiss him goodbye at the door
6. leave him wanting more

part 8 ♡e.v.o.l♡ love spelled backwards is e.v.o.l. the song is about how two messed up people can mess up a relationship through toxicity and codependency. the music video gives glimpses of the archetypes. it might be because we're inching toward the climax of the story of electra heart. 

part 9 ♡state of dreaming♡ the delusion anthem. marina admits living in a play and make believe-land. the music video feels like a hazy dreamlike silver screen film, and it feels triumphal, even though the lyrics feel gut-wrenching "if only you knew my dear, how i live my life in fear". could it be admitting that electra heart is a fake persona, all that primadonna, "powerful" personas are just a maladaptive daydream coping mechanism for an insecure person?

part 10: ♡lies♡ we start off with no visuals, just marina (electra?) staring straight into the camera. a confession of emotions, a relationship that's not working. the heart on the cheek is still there, but her look is minimalistic, no more costume-like looks. an opulent garden dinner ruined by the rain of truth. you could be the beauty queen, the perfect housewife, "i just wanted to be perfect"...

part 11 ♡electra heart♡ "can we go back, can we go back to the start?" we revisit the whole storyline, with vignettes of each music video, and then ending the video with her wiping off the heart on her cheek, "killing" electra heart.
beside the 11 songs with music videos, here's more songs  that are such amsterpieces of their own:
bubblegum bitch
homewrecker
starring role
living dead
teen idle
valley of the dolls
hypocrates
sex yeah
lonely hearts club
buy the stars
♡welcome to the life of electra heart♡

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-21-2025 MY WEEK: a kool kat's week out and about

-
Image
  it was a feast-full of a week my friends, and sib and i treated ourselves frequently with eating out, as did boyfriend and i. while i enjoy cooking every so often, i admit i have no desire to, and will always rather eat out. i understand the health and economic benefits of cooking at home, but i'll never say to no to tacos at barrio , ramen at ichiraku , udon noodles at asian feastery, or all you can eat sushi at  kintaro . same goes for breakfast - i'll indulge in the low-key diner vibes of manhattan deli  or go for the continental buffet after church at concord family restaurant .  a very cat-oriented week it was too. on our late-night walk, we had a shadow follow us, a cat kind enough to let us pet it a million times. we also participated in a kitten kanuudle  fundraiser with amazing raffles (neither of us won). sib and i don't own a cat due to allergies, but maybe someday we'd say yes to adopting, maybe, just maybe... sib and i were the youngest attendees ...
Read more

10-19-2025 MY WEEK: travel essentials and super products

-
Image
sib was dropped off to the airport end of this week, for her "vacay" to start. don't be alarmed, by vacay, we mean harvesting the olives our parents own. meanwhile, i have a few days of prepping and packing. i shared with you my packing list, months ago - was it vermont or pittsburgh trips? well, here i am to share my essential packing list for this month's big trip.  somewhere on the indyx realm on substack, i read that 12 items can be enough for a two week trip, they used as an example, to europe. of course i was up for the challenge. i love a good no-fuss packing list. and i am grateful to have a semi-wardrobe back in croatia (and a love for shopping, am i right?). still, i haven't been in the homeland during fall, since my senior year of high school. through the years my fall/winter wardrobe diminished, due to the oversaturated summer trips and necessity for summer wardrobe space in my parents' tiny apartment.  let's get onto what's in my suitcase....
Read more

11-30-2025 MY INSPO: a bountiful harvest of inspiration

-
Image
  this past week, inspiration was all around, from gifts i'm excited to wear, to the turbofolk princesses of the 2000s. here's some inspo that caught my attention, and now i'm bringing it to yours. y2k balkan style while my peers in the usa were surrounded by nicole richie and paris hilton, jwow and snooki, britney, destiny's child and xtina - as the naughties style icons with a reputation , i was surrounded by not so different icons, when it comes down to the level of cuntiness.  a bit of backstory - with croatian history being extremely complex with serbs, we're in an entanglement of sorts. very similar, shared most of our lives and upbringing, lot's of our traditions overlap. we're neighbors, friends and cousins with each other, and our languages are similar - we don't need translation. and we cannot forget the homeland war, where this relationship took a dark turn and left these feelings bittered toward our neighbors. i am no historian, and i know th...
Read more