In 1991, Courtney Love dove into a pulsating crowd after finishing a set with her band, Hole. “I just dove off the stage,” explains Love of the experience, “and, suddenly, it was like my dress was being torn off of me, my underwear was being torn off of me, people were putting their fingers inside of me and grabbing my breasts really hard, screaming things in my ears like ‘pussy-whore-cunt.’ When I got back on stage, I was naked.” Love continues, “But the worst thing of all was that I saw a photograph of it later. Someone took a picture of me right when this was happening, and I had this big smile on my face like I was pretending it wasn’t happening… I can’t compare it to rape because it’s not the same. But in a way it was. I was raped by an audience, figuratively, literally, and yet, was I asking for it?”
How Courtney Love’s Trauma Inspired “Asking For It”
This inspired her song “Asking For It” on Hole’s seminal 1994 album Live Through This, and later, lyrics from this piece were used on Hole’s 1998 polished rock album Celebrity Skin for the concluding song, “Petals.” Given Courtney Love’s infamous reputation as the then-bad girl of grunge and riot grrrl, and the fact that she has been hounded and verbally eviscerated by press and music fans alike, is it any wonder that she asks her listeners directly, “Was she asking for it?”
The Historical Abuse of Women by Powerful Men
History shows that women have been destroyed by powerful men time and time again. Whether the men in question have political, physical, or occupational power, women are collateral damage for the rise of powerful men and their allies. Courtney Love certainly knew this, where after her marriage and child with grunge’s Golden Boy Kurt Cobain, she was still perceived as a slut, whore, and gold digger; and subject to abuse from fans and the media.
The Perfection: A Horror Film Echoing Courtney Love’s Themes
It is fitting, then, that Richard Shepard’s The Perfection (2019), a horror tale-bordering-exploitation flick about two abuse survivors trying to save each other, themselves, and future victims from their domineering and pedophilic music instructor, use Love’s lyrics in the finale.
Why The Perfection Resonates with Audiences
When I first watched this film in 2019, I was disturbed yet entranced. This movie is not for the faint of heart. As the final scene began, my mouth was agape. But my ears were delighted, for I heard the biting lyrics of a Hole song (as performed by The Chromatics), encapsulating the film’s overall themes: innocence taken away by men, survivors’ trauma, and the forced confession of an oppressor.
The Power of “Petals” in The Perfection’s Finale
“Petals” takes a memorable line from “Asking For It:” “I will tear the petals off of you / Rose red I will make you tell the truth.” Though the film slightly altered the song, the theme of innocence-lost stands out. The original lyrics paint a visceral picture:
“She’s the angel on
Top of the tree
Sugar, honey, here she comes
She’s going to fall on me
Innocence was our fire
We told the truth
I miss the sweet boys in
The summer of their youth
Tear the petals off of you
And make you tell the truth
They will make you so
So cynical
The fire burns the flesh
Destroys the best that made our souls
She’s the grace of this world
She’s too pure
For the likes of this world
This world is a whore
Tear the petals off of you
And make you tell the truth.”
Survivors Fighting Back
Charlotte and Lizzie, both survivors of sadistic abuse at the hands of music instructors, particularly Anton, are the protagonists of The Perfection. By the middle of the film, both understand that it is their duty to protect a little girl, a cello prodigy, from the abuse that would come from Anton.
Riot Grrrl’s Legacy in The Perfection
When you pair “Petals” with the final act, a cello performance/revenge by the two women to a dismembered Anton, memories of the riot grrrl movement set in. It was a standard practice by riot grrrl performers such as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile to tell the women and girls of their audience to come to the front of the crowd, front and center to the stage. This was not just to reclaim the space often taken by men, but to protect the young women and girls in the crowd from these men.
The Dangers of Punk and Hardcore Crowds for Women
Aggressive moshers and angry men were standard members of any punk audience. This caused problems for women and girls, as well as gender-queer folks: they risked their safety every time they entered a punk show or hardcore rock performance (need I remind you what happened during Korn’s set at Woodstock 99?). Hole has stood and still stands for a reclaiming of space and safety for female, gender non-conforming, and queer audiences. A Hole song for the final act fits a horror flick that deals with abuse, survival, mutilation, confrontation, and queerness.
Lizzie and Charlotte were robbed of their innocence at a young age. They were willing to mutilate themselves and their oppressors before they would let anything happen to another child. Women have been physically, emotionally, and verbally mutilated by men for centuries, sometimes since childhood. If men refuse to change, it is up to us to protect one another or die trying.
Emotional Impact of The Chromatics’ “Petals” Cover
When I heard The Chromatics’ rendition of “Petals,” I cried. It felt cathartic, heartbreaking, and triumphant. They chopped off Anton’s petals, sewed his eyes and mouth shut, and made him listen to their truth: we are perfect and you are nothing.
Was he asking for it?
