Relax people, it's clearly a tongue-in-cheek video. It's just a bit ...well ... confused, but who knows if Morrissey wanted it that way? He does love to wind people up.
It's like the Robert Palmer video for Addicted to Love - making a point about women being used as sex objects in music videos, rather than having something to say (although, as much as I love Morrissey and this song, Palmer and his director did it better).
In this case, the women are bearing the title of the song in several different languages, but the only language people will see is "sex". It also provides a contrast between the intelligence of someone who is multilingual and the implied stupidity of women who strip off for 'entertainment' (having said that, such a contrast is now beyond parody, given what Page 3 of The Scum did with the News in Briefs). And then there are the lyrics of the song; everywhere Morrissey mentions is associated with death, imprisonment, or chaste behaviour and then you've got the shocking image of scantily clad women as a direct contrast. There's also the connection between Morrissey having a gang symbol shaved into his eyebrow and the model wearing knuckle dusters, though this is a motif left hanging and therefore we're not really sure what that's about (other than Mozzer's fascination with gangs).
I'm not saying it's a great video, but it's certainly not Morrissey engaging in some throwaway sexism
Well that theory would would have worked, if you had not seen any of sams early work
Sam clearly has an obssesion of scantliy clad women or thinks of them as his trademark.
Its clear to me that he forced his style on morrisseys video, not doing it as an statement but because he likes it.
Plus since when is that morrissey sort of approch to protesting, cheap photography and chep models.
And finally the models were added on later, if this was morrissey idea why did they not just be with morrissey
My Theory is that some people do not what to admit that this is just bad, because i want to seen as they have an profund understandig of this video that we the common schlubs do not.
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Wait til I tell you about a boy in the bush being worth two in the hand ...
The contradiction of a shy, celibate young man, singing about a vulgar subject and wrapping it in layers of innuendo, was what attracted me to Morrissey and The Smiths in the first place; it was like I'd found Oscar Wilde and the Carry On films in musical form. I still think that person exists, but, like many men of a certain age, he's become clumsier and much less subtle about his intentions, hence this video.
Still, like I said, the song stands up to scrutiny; the juxtaposition of passion in passionless places gives it much more depth than the average pop song and then there's the individual's take on kissing and how important it is to a relationship. Some people don't consider a kiss a big deal, whereas, to others, it means more than sex.
Hey im like that
I could survive on kisses and only kisses
Sex is heavy, sloppy and full of reluctant reveals
