![]() Perhaps the most impactful yet fleeting scene in “Bad Habits” is when vampire Sheeran stops a speeding car from crashing into him, ousting an inflatable dummy that looks exactly like him. The setting (for both the video and the film) consists of urban infrastructure that is waiting to collapse under the pressure of a general feeling of chaos, despondency and nihilistic exhaustion. ![]() After he briefly manages to succeed in doing so, he proceeds to burst into random laughter and shows a card to a fellow passenger that describes his random fits of laughter as a “neurological condition.”Īlthough both scenes consist of chortling and smiles, they evoke a paradoxical sense of despair and sadness due to the dismal and grungy background. This is most reminiscent of one of the earlier scenes in “Joker” where Fleck attempts to entertain a kid who is sitting in front of him on the bus. The following scene in the music video depicts Sheeran coming across a young vampire and offering them a yellow smiley face balloon to cheer them up in the midst of the ongoing turmoil. ![]() Both scenes revolve around chaos and anarchy, ultimately questioning whether both Sheeran and Joker are villains or spokespeople for the seemingly crazed or oppressed (represented in both scenes through the people in the background). What is common to each one is that they both seem to lionize violence. This part bears a striking resemblance to one of the most iconic scenes in “Joker,” where the main character, Arthur Fleck (or Joker), proceeds to calmly walk out of the subway tunnel while rioters proceed to brutally beat two detectives who were closely pursuing him. One of the most obvious visual parallels to Joker exists in the middle of the “Bad Habits” music video, when Sheeran is nonchalantly walking through a chaotic, conflict-ridden alley along with his posse. Through his fashion choices in the music video, perhaps Sheeran is subtly paying homage to the LGBTQ+ community and demonstrating support for Pride Month. ![]() Many of the men that also appear alongside Sheeran seem to be represented as the metrosexual type - all adorned with various styles of clothing and hair. Sheeran’s very presence in a presumably female-populated salon seems to subvert the stereotypes of men not caring about their appearance and of beauty being a feminine obsession. In addition to this connection, there is also an interesting portrayal of gender stereotypes in this particular scene. In “Joker,” however, the color of Joker’s cosmetics progressively becomes darker in order to echo his growing insanity and hostility toward upper-class society. Although they sport different hair colors and styles, both Joker and Sheeran don a bright, clean-pressed suit along with ostentatious makeup in order to echo their own unique persona.Īs the music video proceeds, Sheeran’s makeup gradually gets lighter and finally disappears in the end, essentially signifying the chaos dissolving both within himself and throughout the streets. Immediately, there is a distinct similarity between the film “Joker” and the music video. ![]() The “Bad Habits” music video opens with Sheeran sitting in a hair salon, dressed sharply in a head-to-toe hot pink suit, trading his distinct ginger hair for bleached locks and donning white fangs for teeth. The music video is also anything but formulaic - throughout, Sheeran flies around in the night dressed as a vampire.Īlthough Sheeran has admitted to drawing inspiration from the late-‘90s hit show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the video also consists of several subtle sociopolitical messages and visual parallels to Todd Phillips’ “ Joker” (2019). Many fans were initially surprised as “Bad Habits” seemed to digress from Sheeran’s usual style of stripped-down acoustic melodies, instead encompassing more aspects of electronic music. 6 Collaborations Project,” is already hitting the charts all over the world. His new single “ Bad Habits,” his first new release since his 2019 album, “No. British-born singer Ed Sheeran has finally returned after his two-year hiatus from music. ![]()
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