This ‘Eating Makeup’ Music Video is Bringing ‘90s Riot Grrrl Back [Video]
Kathleen Hanna, riot grrrl icon and lead singer of bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, is back — with a music video about eating makeup, in which she portrays a giant makeup compact that eats a man. ‘90s nostalgia is at a peak high, as we’ve seen with colorful mascara, crop tops, and vamp lipstick, but some of the most distinct aspects of the ‘90s were the strange, underground movements that rebelled against the status quo. One of them was riot grrrl music, which encouraged young women to articulate their feminist thoughts, pick up a guitar, and rock out. Hanna worked on this video with the frontman of punk band Hunx and Punx, Seth Bogart — next year, he plans to work on a bigger musical project with Hanna, Rookie’s Tavi Gevinson (a riot grrrl enthusiast even though she was born in 1996), and other counterculture musicians.
Bikini Kill in the early ‘90s. (Photo: Getty Images)
This video features a variety of life-size makeup applicators, including Hanna as the giant compact, and many bright-colored lipsticks first applied and then eaten by the same individual. “I really wanted this video to look like a kid’s show,“ Bogart told The Fader. The cinematography has a low budget feeling with the props being constructed by papier-maché and is almost reminiscent of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s cult TV show “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.”
While we’re not prone to eating makeup — except in the inevitable case when our lip gloss gets licked off — this video is about the power of makeup and beauty come to life. (The giant compact literally “eats” a man, after all.) “Once I taste it, I just could not stop eating makeup,” Hanna sings. And for those who have discovered a life-changing lipstick or mascara before, the insatiable appetite described in “Eating Makeup” is understandable.
Related:
‘90s Beauty is Back: Here’s How to Get the Look
