Just because a girl tools around town in a chastity belt doesn’t necessarily mean she’s feeling (or acting) pure. Indeed, for ROSALÍA in the Stillz-directed “La Perla” video, it’s quite the opposite. Though, to be fair, saints weren’t always engaging in such saintly behavior before they became fodder for hagiographies. However, as her only song on Lux that’s so patently not about a saint—in truth, it’s likely about some of the sinning behavior of her ex, Rauw Alejandro—it makes sense for her to ground the visuals in the temporal world. Starting with the video’s opening scene of her sitting on the ground in fencing attire, set against a white backdrop as she goads, “Hola, ladrón de paz/Campo de minas para mi sensibilidad/Playboy, un campeón/Gasta el dinero que tiene y también el que no/Él es tan encantador, estrella de la sinrazón/Un espejismo, medalla olímpica de oro al más cabrón/Tienes el podio de la gran desilusión” (or, in English, “Hello, peace thief/Minefield for my sensitivity/Playboy, a champion/Spending the money he has and spending the money he doesn’t/He’s so charming, star of senselessness/A mirage, Olympic gold medal for biggest bastard/You’ve got the podium of disappointment”).
Sticking her sword up in stabbing defense, as though warding off this “perla” (meaning, sarcastically, this “gem” of a man) before Stillz cuts to the next scene, it’s made clear from the outset that ROSALÍA now very much has her defenses up—physically and emotionally. Smoking a cigarette and driving around in a Lamborghini in the following scene, it’s obvious that ROSALÍA isn’t too upset about shedding her saintly aura…and her nun’s habit, for that matter (the one she appears in on the album cover for Lux). Instead giving in to some of this plane’s “earthly delights.” Not just expensive cars and nicotine, but also a pair of Dior shades that rival Charli XCX’s own designer sunglasses (with the “Brat” alternating between the likes of Balenciaga, Givenchy, Prada and Bottega Veneta, among others). In short, ROSALÍA has dispensed with all traces of her “holy” behavior. That is, save for the chastity belt she freely sports around town. Except even that comes across as anything but holy seeing as how ROSALÍA has opted to wear it in the style of a thong with low-rise jeans à la the 2000s signature fashion statement for women (though, mainly, for women named Paris Hilton).
As for the enduring myth of chastity belts as a way to quite literally keep a woman (and her “honor”) under lock and key, it’s been mostly debunked by a scholar named Albrecht Classen, in his 2015 book, The Medieval Chastity Belt: A Myth-Making Process. Even so, the myth is too seared in most people’s mind to ever truly dispense with, and the way it’s used here has a double meaning. On the one hand, ROSALÍA is saying she has the restraint not to let her genitals out to just anyone—you know, the way Rauw Alejandro does. On the other, she’s saying that, in the aftermath of being burned so badly, she’s putting her pussy on lockdown until someone truly worthy, er, comes along. This being a maneuver that echoes Julia Fox’s own much publicized vow of celibacy.
To add to the seriousness with which she wants men to fuck off, ROSALÍA also includes two of the more “ferocious” dog breeds (at least that’s the primary perception of a Rajapalayam and a Doberman, both breeds known for being highly protective of their “primary human”) as part of the “crew” she fucks with in the video. This, too, having a dual implication in terms of symbolism. In fact, symbolism is most of what “La Perla” has to offer, which has caused dissatisfaction for some fans who were expecting something as “grand” and “effects-y” as “Berghain.” But what ROSALÍA does for the visuals of “La Perla” is brilliantly subtle, allowing the lyrics themselves to keep serving as the bombastic part of it all. But back to the dogs. On one symbolism front, she is wielding these canines as protection from being subjected to any further instances of encountering a “ladrón de paz.” Yet on another front, she’s flexing her ability to tame and control such dogs as these—the word “dog” so often being synonymous with “men” (though, in all honesty, the comparison is insulting to dogs). To overpower any of their potential “bite” with her combined aura of sweetness and firmness (though that sounds like one is describing a kind of fruit).
In what amounts to the final “set piece” of the video, Stillz then shows ROSALÍA in an ice skating rink, namely the Kendall Ice Arena in Miami. The specificity of the location perhaps has a hidden meaning that only ROSALÍA can fully appreciate. Then again, not everything has to be an “Easter egg.” In any event, it’s within this setting that she throws her final punches (at times, literally) while Stillz intercuts scenes of the previous locations and guises she was in. All of them versions of a woman who has pooled her knowledge and experience to realize that this “perla” is “one to be very careful with”—meaning to steer clear entirely of this “emotional terrorist.” With ROSALÍA doing just that while driving off in her Lambo, happy to relish some of the secular world’s material trappings. Though that doesn’t seem to include men.
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