There are lots of things I don’t miss about the early 2000s: the low rise jeans, the razor-thin eyebrows, the widespread “postfeminist” ideals that kindled this era’s casual misogyny (in no particular order). Good and bad, it’s the world I—and so many others—grew up in.
Thin was in, and I and every other adolescent I knew was busy internalizing the narrow beauty ideals that dominated the decade—a mission that every magazine ad, commercial, TV show, and music video seemed intent on conveying.
When I discovered Knix would be collaborating with early aughts pop prince (and Knix friendly) Shawn Desman on a music video for his newest release “Love Me With The Lights On,” a wave of nostalgia took hold. Was this an opportunity for a mini do-over?
What I hoped would ensue was a dance anthem that combined Y2K charm and shower-singing potential with the representation that era so desperately lacked.
Unsure what to expect, on the day of the music video shoot, I was giddy to find Shawn’s 1-2-step in full effect, the spotlight surging with a diversity of underwear-clad folks strutting their stuff.
The final product delivers the slow-motion captures, close-ups, saturated palette, glorious wind machines, and other Y2K-proclivities I’d hoped for—except it features everyday women.
Behind the scenes, a chorus of folks cheered each other on as they stepped on camera for the first time. The warm and whimsical ambience suggested the shoot was, for many, an exercise in healing their inner-child.
“Conceptually, the whole thing is about empowering people to just be comfortable in your own skin,” Shawn tells me between takes, his eight-year-old daughter in tow. “I wanted [my daughter] to be here because I wanted her to see and hear all of this.”
Motivational speaker and music video star Jam Gamble describes the experience as “surreal.”
I ask about the music video’s potential effect on young people. “I think I just know how I felt at that age. I didn't see myself in music videos,” she says. “The thought of somebody watching me and not feeling the way I felt back then is really powerful.”
For Victoria Chiappetta, growing up with a physical disability meant trying to dim her light to fit in. “It was [during] COVID that I started to see the world in a different light, through social media I started meeting people and was like, you know what, maybe there is space for me,” she says.
She describes taking part in the music video as a full circle moment. “When you’re growing up and you don’t look like anybody, you’re really questioning your purpose and role in the world.”
“I’ve been listening to Shawn since I was younger and growing up,” she continues. Being a part of the project—“it sounds cliche”—feels like a strange coincidence that has altered her perception of beauty.
Representation means “seeing people like me, the girl with the prosthetic leg” and its powerful influence exceeds the personal, reverberating and inspiring others to step into their own light; to be seen and heard.
Everyone on set had their own story and motivating force for taking part in the music video, including Shawn, who wrote the song as an ode to his wife after health complications left her feeling self-conscious about her body.
But if Shawn’s new certified bop is any indication, desire is no issue for the “Love Me With The Lights On” singer.
Beyond its love ballad origins, the song and music video challenge traditional notions of beauty—asking the music video stars and audience alike: what does beauty mean to you?
Whether it’s moving through the world with confidence, refusing to shrink yourself to fit in, or being the representation you never saw growing up, the answer is free form and for you to decide.