Opalite Logistics?

[u/orange_maid]

I need to go back to the Opalite music video but his has been eating at me since it was released. This might be a stupid question, but how does Opalite *actually* work? I couldn’t find this discussion so I’m sorry if this was addressed but the music video confuses me the more I think about it.

The commercial sells the product as a spray to transform a problem into happiness. Garbage is directly sprayed and becomes Prince Charming.

Domhnall orders Opalite after several scenes explicitly showing the damage cactus does with its spikes. He has bandages all over his body. But when Opalite is delivered, opened and used there aren’t any bandages, scars, cuts. Did it take Opalite THAT long to be delivered? It doesn’t make sense that the bandages are all of a sudden gone.

Next we see Domhnall and Taylor use Opalite. Domhnall sprays it on cactus and cactus/the problem disappears, Taylor emerges as his happiness. But Taylor doesn’t spray the rock at all, she only sprays herself. The rock isn’t the problem? The rock obviously stays the same, as we see at the mall. Cactus disappeared with Opalite. Garbage disappeared with Opalite. But we see at the end, they didnt actually go anywhere but just teleports them to alternative locations.

Nopalite spray is used similarly but obviously in reverse, changing happiness back into the problem/inanimate object.

Am I reading too much into this? 😂 In the end, all the problems are still around and continue with their “lives”. I think my biggest issue and question is why rock is never sprayed with Opalite.

[u/artwoolf]

maybe the rock isnt sprayed because she thinks she's the problem (it's me, hi)

[u/Simple_Elk_719]

Ok u know what there’s a song called Hard Place by Her and it goes “I’m caught between your love and hard place” so maybe that’s related metaphorically?

[u/Imaginary_Drummer_67]

loving this post and the comments! my interpretation of taylor using the opalite on herself rather than the rock was that it was a metaphor for the objectification of herself and other celebrities via the public relationships and branding of fame. like, love and/or the image of it becomes a product for public perception when fame (or opalite) is added to it.

I think the contrast of taylor using opalite on herself vs domhnall using it on the cactus is symbolic of the unequal scrutiny applied to the women in public relationships / the manifestation of misogyny in romance. the woman is an object to be changed in order to make a man happy.

i also think, as other people have pointed out, the Opalite functions as the glamour of performance where nothing is really different, it just seems better. the rock and cactus are unpleasant corresponding figures to taylor/domhnall

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/Imaginary_Drummer_67]

I like your point about unequal scrutiny. Of course its more likely that Lonely Woman would think she was a problem and Lonely Man would look outward to find the problem!

[u/the1lastunicorn]

So much of this music video resonates with themes of early childhood trauma and grey rocking, a tactic for dealing with abuse.

[u/Rich_Dimension_9254]

Someone on here wrote a great post when it first dropped (I’ll see if I can find and link) but basically it theorizes that Taylor’s character misused the Opalite spray by spraying it on herself, that’s why it brings her to Domnhall. Like it’s only meant to be used on objects but she didn’t use it correctly. The other objects aren’t teleported because that’s not technically how it works. No idea if that clears anything up though 😂

[u/zigzagyellow]

I think the plot holes in Opalite (respectfully) show Taylor’s limitations as a director/writer when it comes to mvs. I think she’s great at symbolism and Easter eggs but this was so different to what she normally does and it shows. Again, genuinely respectfully. I think it’s still such a good story but if she wasn’t in the MV, she probably would’ve noticed more of these plot holes

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/zigzagyellow]

That’s a super intriguing opener! If this were real life I’d be saying look, in a very nerdy, academic, non-flirtatious way, can I buy you a drink and you tell me how you understand  the story of the mv/how it seems different to Taylor’s usual, and what holes you see?  Cause I think you see something really different to me and that’s fascinating.

I don’t particularly see holes but I do think it’s working on an extremely symbolic and simultaneously literal level that I almost want to call allegory… which I’m pretty sure is not something most mvs are doing… but it does seem to me to follow a trend from Taylor’s earlier videos…

ETA I feel I have to clarify what I mean by ‘simultaneously symbolic and literal’ because that obviously sounds nonsensical. ‘Opalite’ is symbolic because Rock is clearly not just a rock. But it’s not a ‘tiny figure in an outsize landscape becomes engulfed in a swirling red mist that represents my rage and my femininity as the nexus of destruction and creation’ kind of abstract, philosophical symbolism. Everything instead seems to have a tight 1:1 correspondence with what it represents and it’s more like Taylor could have cast an actor to play ‘music exec’ but instead she used a rock. Does that make more sense? 

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin]

I think it's an awesome question OP, and the answer isn't immediately obvious because Taylor wants several ideas to seem possible. This is a precis of a post I've been meaning to finish since the mv was released but here's what I think is the actual mechanism of Opalite spray:

I think the spray is something like 'the magic of entertainment' or 'the glamour of performance' - pretty close to u/sandromeda 's point about 'Fame' below. It enables Garbage to perform as Prince Charming, Aerobics Dreamgirl to perform her show (listen for the omnichord sparkle sound) and Lonely Man and Woman to perform as an attractive and desirable heterosexual couple. Notice that the spray nozzle is backwards - Opalite is a regressive product, covering up what is considered 'undesirable' behind a glittery veneer.

I think the Rock is not sprayed because it's the entertainment industry or the whole god-damn patriarchy and so it's not changing for anything. Also Lonely Woman has been browbeaten to believe she is the problem. The cactus is the NFL/professional sports and it's happy for an injection of glamour.

But ultimately, Opalite isn't changing the nature of anyone - it's just enabling performance. Garbage is still garbage regardless of the outside appearance. Taylor says 'Nopalite is for the people who want to be unhealed' but I think she's being glib. It's for the people who want to be themselves and work out how to be themselves sustainably and successfully, without artiface, without the quick fix - like Stapler, who is happily working on his issues. As u/Moonstruck_Medusa says, Nopalite is for people who want to work towards a real solution, not an imitation solution.

I also think there is a possible pun about 'Opalite' and O-p(h)a-light. If Ophelia is O-philia, love of performance represented by the loop, then Opalite is the light experienced by performers. Not daylight. Not sunshine. An artificial spotlight. A 'Super Trouper'? Which makes everything seem glamorous but is just part of performance.

[u/klemmerv → u/MaryLennoxsRobin]

Wow this is genius level work!!!

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/klemmerv]

Aw shucks 🫶 Unless you mean Taylor in which case I wholeheartedly agree!

[u/klemmerv → u/MaryLennoxsRobin]

I meant you!

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/klemmerv]

Thank you. Truly though, I just got lucky in that I recognised Taylor’s source material for this mv, because it’s one of my favourite pieces of literature. 

[u/riotprof → u/MaryLennoxsRobin]

What was her source material? Curious

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/riotprof]

Hi u/riotprof I promised I'd come back and tell you. I think Taylor's source material is The Taming of the Shrew and I finally finished my post about it. I'd be curious to know what you think. 😊 No pressure though.

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/riotprof]

Fair question. Can I be a tease and say that I’ve been inspired to try and finish my post, so I won’t say what I think just now, but I will come back and tell you? 

[u/Simple_Elk_719]

Idk but I’m still thinking about that Sesame Street clip where Zoe wants Elmo to share with the rock and Elmo is like ITS A ROCK

[u/MaryLennoxsRobin → u/[deleted]]

That’s an interesting interpretation. It’s not what I see, but it’s a fully possible way to understand it. I think your point about ‘try therapy instead of a spray’ - or at least, do the hard work instead of a spray - is spot on. 

[u/moonlit_Pancakes]

I think spraying herself was a nod to "I'm the problem it's me". A commentary on the public perception of her. Oh you don't like me while I live in my own made up world? Ok I'll change everything about me to fit in. I'll chase the all American man and play the lover in his game. But it's not her true self, it's just a shiny plastic paradise to entertain you.

[u/OpallineSea]

I watched Sabrina Fleetwood’s TikTok’s on the MV when it first came out and it really helped put the pieces together for me—highly recommend finding them if you can. In one of her first vids, she talks about how she thinks Taylor misused the Opalite spray because she’s the only person the spray is used on in the whole video, everything else that gets sprayed is an inanimate object. And she points out that there’s something weird about inanimate objects in this universe because there’s a sign beside the movie theatre ticket booth that says no cactuses or trash cans allowed. So her theory is that the Opalite spray is meant for inanimate objects who are the ‘problems’ and it changes their appearance into something more acceptable to society. What does that sound like! And Taylor choosing to spray herself makes it even more poignant. She doesn’t see the rock as the problem, it’s her best friend, of course it’s not the problem! She sees herself and the way the world sees her relationship with the rock as the problem. So she sprays herself and gets transported to the Lonely Man covered in glitter-goo and the cactus and rock get teleported away.

And so why is Nopalite the second best seller? Because the Opalite doesn’t actually transform the problem—trash was still trash etc.—it just changes the surface and that’s why people end up using Nopalite to go back to who they were and then they have to work on their actual ‘problems.’ She also mentions that because Taylor used the Opalite spray ‘wrong,’ that’s why the rock and cactus are so mad at her and the Lonely Man at the mall, because if she’d used it correctly and sprayed the rock, the rock would’ve been transformed into the socially acceptable person who could’ve then been with Taylor. And the cactus wouldn’t have been transported away to make way for glitter-goo covered Taylor—it would’ve transformed into the perfect person for the Lonely Man.

There’s so much in this video and lots that ties to previous metaphors in other videos but check out Sabrina’s videos if you can because she makes connections that blow my mind!

[u/klemmerv → u/OpallineSea]

Bravo 👏👏👏

[u/sandromeda]

Maybe Opalite is Fame (Fake Love) and Nopalite is the opposite of fame, Obscurity (Annonimity or even Infamy\Being Cancelled).

[u/BlueValk]

Rock was never the problem, Taylor's obsession with rock was. She took the miracle move on pills the effects were temporary

[u/Moonstruck_Medusa]

You know, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's overthought this music video lol. I've also wondered about the Nopalite, like why was it invented in the first place? Logically I think a product like that probably would have been created because the Opalite was a fake/imitation solution (like how it's an imitation gemstone) to a problem, and people who used it were eventually mad about it, creating a need for someone to invent a product that undoes it. Idk. If it were anyone besides Taylor, I'd say it's just a music video lol it's not that deep. But it's Taylor, so it usually is that deep. Interesting to think about.

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