Directed by Nick Harwood, Charli XCX’s latest video to promote her upcoming fifth album, Crash, is nothing if not decidedly Californian (maybe even as much as the song “drivers license”). And, after all, since, like another fellow Brit named Adele, she’s spent so much time in Los Angeles, perhaps the state’s unique parlances and phenomena have seeped into her consciousness as much as all things English. One such Californian phenomenon is PG&E. Made famous worldwide by Erin Brockovich (yes, the movie more than the actual person) and being responsible for igniting the catastrophic Paradise fire (in addition to “several” others of the 2017 and 2018 wildfire season in CA).
But, alas, while other regions of the United States can forget about PG&E’s existence when it doesn’t come up in national news for yet another fuck-up, California is reminded every day in some fashion or other of its monopoly over the Golden State’s gas and electricity. Whether it’s through the arrival of an astronomical bill or the constant sighting of the company’s indelible power lines and transmission towers. The very ones that appear in “Beg For You” featuring Rina Sawayama. And what does begging for “you” have to do with the scenes presented? Well, maybe it’s all part of being a “subtle nod” to begging PG&E for some inexpensive/not overly abused and misused resources.
As the video alludes early on to things getting a bit “weird” via the presence of a masked figure with horns, it’s already indication enough that shit’s bound to get freaky when one heads to the desert. In this case, Lancaster, located in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert. And yes, it’s the same location of the infamous final scene in Se7en. Which just goes to show how “Hollywood” Charli’s sensibilities have become as a result of her tenure in CA.
Traipsing through the desolate desert in a PVC bikini and va va voom rouge cape with Rina and some dancers in coordinating attire, Charli is also accompanied by what looks to be that other classic emblem of California: a cult leader (this one also just so happens to have made an appearance in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive—a natural favorite of Charli’s). Draped in a white robe, of sorts, and carrying a staff that looks rife for a Leonora Carrington painting, this gray-haired man seems to be there solely to oversee the ritual sacrifice that’s to ensue. One that finds Charli and Rina seemingly needing to “do their dance” in front of the transmission towers before mounting a platform that’s perfectly framed by two triangle shapes with a space in between them where the vinyl-masked man with horns can also watch from his center perspective… in all his devilish glory.
As the energy builds to the grand moment, energy also quite literally builds in the form of electricity jolts ascending up the towers (shit, even rocks start moving toward the sky, too), as though PG&E can feel the imminent blood sacrifice, and it’s getting positively titillated. And after Charli squeezes blood out of her palm to contribute to the crimson-toned pool that lies before them (notably, Rina contributes nothing, which is a bit lily-livered), the cult leader grabs a giant spoon and taste tests the new consistency of this little contribution to PG&E—one that possibly helps celebrities get better treatment from the constantly strapped power grid. And in the instant the cult leader takes a sip from the spoon, the transmission tower really gets crackin’ with electricity surging through it. All just a sign that the sacrifice is working. More dancing and writhing follow before Charli and Rina hold hands and stand still as everyone else around them lies on the ground like they’ve experienced some sort of Jonestown Massacre incident. And maybe they have.
Unfortunately, the telltale final scene of the video shows us a shot of the same tableau at night, with Charli, Rina and their sistren nowhere to be found. In their place is a lone burning fire. Indicating that perhaps PG&E will forever be prone to start such fuegos no matter how much blood Californians give to them. In that sense, it is a final scene almost as horrifying as the one in Se7en.
