The video, directed by Seth Mendelson explores the overwhelming societal pressures faced by women, in an unrelenting, single-take video that is most concerned with making a statement.
Michaela’s idea was to do anything but a standard pop video, so she’s explained why the video turned out as it is:
“I didn’t want the true meaning of “1954″ to be completely lost in a catchy melody and lyrical metaphors, so I knew I had to make a statement. For the video, I focused particularly on women and the treatment of women. Society often talks about how far women have come, but there are still some fundamental issues that beg the question, is this still “1954?” I wanted to create something visually that highlighted this. I didn’t want to make a ‘pretty’ pop music video, I wanted to make a video that made a statement about how I feel I still believe we have a long way to go with societal norms and pressures and hopefully my video will prompt some discussion and thought about how we can move forward….”
