Hozier's New Music Video

A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, Irish singer-songwriter Hozier released a new music video to his song Cherry Wine, starring Oscar nominated actress Saoirse Ronan. The video has gotten a lot of attention in the media because it focuses on the issue of domestic violence. It shows what appears to be a healthy relationship until it becomes apparent that it is an abusive one. The video cross-cuts loving scenes of Ronan and her male partner with a shot of Ronan looking at herself in the mirror, wiping off her makeup to slowly reveal a black eye. Using this strategy of cross cutting between such extremes, the video aims to address the difficulties of leaving an abusive relationship. Hozier, being very forward and upfront about the purpose of the video, writes on his website "With the song Cherry Wine, I tried to get across the difficulty of coming to terms with and facing up to domestic violence and the dynamic of an abusive relationship”. Hozier has also said that all of the profits from the song will go to over 20 domestic violence charities around the world.

 I think this video is really important because it brings to light the issue of intimate partner violence, which I feel like isn’t seen as much in media compared to other forms of gendered violence. Making it clear that the two people are in a relationship, the video shows how hard it can be to leave an abusive relationship. That is one of the most difficult things for victims of intimate partner violence, and something that isn’t always understood by friends and family of a victim, let alone the media. I think the video was done really well, and I think it’s awesome that such a big artist like Hozier has brought this topic into mainstream media.