It’s raining bras! The ‘Guess’ video joins the list of strange rains in fiction that could be topped by the mythical frog rain sequence from ‘Magnolia’ (1999). Bras and panties fall on the heads of Charli XCX and Billie Eilish like a cold Valencian drop, like a god overturning Humana containers. In fact, as explained at the end, “all the underwear that has not been used (sic), will be donated to a charity for women who have survived gender violence.”
The metaphor seems clear. Since September 7, 1968, when several protesters against the Miss America pageant took off their bras and threw them into the “garbage can of freedom” (no, they didn’t burn them like feminist Goebbels), from that day on, taking off your underwear if you are a woman, especially the “oppressive” bra, carries an implicit charge of vindication, it is a popular symbol of empowerment.
‘Guess’ mixes feminist allegory with purely lewd activity. A festive ecstasy interrupted by the stellar appearance of Eilish riding a backhoe as an ironic reinterpretation of the well-known lesbian stereotype. The party ends with the two singers climbing onto a mountain of clothes that looks like a Primark fitting room on a Saturday afternoon, a pile of panties to roll around in, both literally and metaphorically.
