I Touch Myself is a catchy yet simplistic song with an overt sexual theme. It is not subtle; it does not suffer such high arts as symbolism or metaphor. Chrissy Amphlett is talking about literally touching herself, and we all know the social and cultural impositions to which she is referring.
Bay’s video is riddled with like non-subtleties. Lilies. Fainting Sofas. Poles in close proximity to women’s faces. Close-ups of cleavage. Georgia O’Keefe could have directed this video.
The film alternates between black and white and color, the color segments overlit and bright with purple, gold, and Amphlett’s striking red hair. In some music videos an oscillation between greys and color might indicate different realities – a dream sequence, a flashback, or even a fantasy.
But here the entirety is a fantasy – lurid, sexual, and loud. So lucidly presented, in fact, that the overt sexuality loses is sex appeal. A topic that should feel risqué feels desperate.
By the end of the song, you realize that the singer knows how silly she sounds. She is either so hopeless that she must make her desperation known to the world, or so mutually in love that she wants to shout it to whoever will listen. Her sexual need is a cartoon, and this is the perfect video for it.
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