Media Artifact Analysis

Fiona Apple beautifully illustrates the confusion of a naturally destructive person in her music video "Fast As You Can." Through most of the song, she warns the listener to cut her out of his life before she has too much of a hold on him. Fiona's haunting facial expressions and unkempt appearance pair with her intense lyrics in a desperate attempt to push the listener away from her. Simply watching her mouth reveals so much about her real disposition. After declaring that her "pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will disprove your faith in man," we're treated to a particularly menacing half-smile.

She'll tear your world apart... and love it.

Fiona's haggard image is made even more disconcerting by the intentional mismatch of audio to video applied sporadically throughout. It makes her seem off-kilter and unstable, which is exactly what she's trying to get across.

She also employs another unusual technique: touching the camera itself. By dirtying the lens, the viewers are limited to only exactly what she wants them to see. The bridge of this song is sung through this visual effect, sometimes shielding Fiona's entire face. She seems uncomfortable with this softer, more vulnerable aspect of herself illustrated through this section. She cleans the camera as she's singing to give the viewers a better glimpse of her, but she does this intentionally badly. She wants to look like she's letting her guard down without actually leaving herself vulnerable and easily hurt by disclosing anything more to the intended receiver. One could also view this section as Fiona's attempt to clean up the mess that she's left this relationship in. She only puts forth the minimal effort to give the appearance that she cares, but in reality, she has little attachment to the viewer himself. She wants a relationship, but she obviously has no idea what she actually needs from it for herself. After all, who offers to be another person's pet? Even if the relationship does continue like she half-hopes it will, it won't be healthy. The smudges on the camera hide how she's feeling, and she obviously intends to keep that shield up. After the revelation that she does want to be with this person she's so desperately trying to push away, a look of disgust flashes across her features as she smears the camera again with her dirty cloth, effectively undoing any progress she had made.

The song ends over clips of Fiona smiling in various degrees of sincerity and certainty. She herself isn't sure of the validity of the message she's sending or whether she should have said anything at all. Either way, what's done is done, and she'll accept that with a grin.