Sabrina Carpenter: The Modern Monster in a World Obsessed with Creation
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The world recently celebrated Jacob Elordi’s performance as the creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, with reports of a 13- to 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. Yet, a different kind of creation story is unfolding in real-time, topping the Billboard 200 chart with Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album, Man’s Best Friend, released August 29. While Elordi embodies the stitched-together monster of gothic fiction, Carpenter’s career – and her unapologetic embrace of femininity – presents a strikingly parallel narrative of creation, control, and societal reaction.
The Creature and the Pop Star: A Mirror Image
Carpenter navigates a landscape where her fashion choices – a rotation of “vintage Victoria’s Secret teddies and lacy robes with sky-high heels” – are constantly dissected.But, as she explained in a 2024 interview with Time, she isn’t dressing for the male gaze. “Femininity is something that I’ve always embraced,” she stated, “and if right now that means corsets and garter belts and fuzzy robes or whatever the fuck, then that’s what that means.” This assertion of self-ownership is a direct challenge to the forces that traditionally dictate how women should present themselves.
Built from the Parts of Pop History
Carpenter’s artistry isn’t born in a vacuum. Her sound and style are a purposeful amalgamation of pop icons who came before her. She embodies “a dash of Dolly Parton’s big hair and commanding lyrics, a sprinkle of Britney Spears’s girl-next-door sexpot vibe, a heaping scoop of Taylor Swift’s collaborator-heavy, country-influenced discography.” This synthesis creates something both familiar and entirely new – a chart-topping artist who feels instantly recognizable yet uniquely herself.
However, this success is met with a predictable backlash. just as society concurrently demands and condemns a pop star like Carpenter, she faces criticism for being “too provocative,” a “bad influence,” and a threat to “delicate young girls.” the outrage over a former Disney star exploring her sexuality is revealing. It’s as if the world is shocked that she…grew up.
Revenge, Reimagined
Carpenter’s music directly confronts this double standard. In “Tears,” she sarcastically celebrates basic decency from a romantic partner, singing, “I get wet at the thought of you / Being a responsible guy / Treating me like you’re supposed to / Tears run down my thighs.” This mirrors the creature’s confusion in Frankenstein – his inability to comprehend why his creator woudl reject him after bringing him into existence.
Similarly, in “My Man on Willpower,” Carpenter laments a sudden loss of affection: “He used to be literally obsessed with me / I’m suddenly the least sought-after girl in the land.” The novel’s creature responds to rejection with violence, enacting a bloody revenge on those Frankenstein loves. Carpenter,thankfully,chooses a different path. Her revenge is “bloodless but brutal,” delivered through pointed lyrics like those in “Never Getting Laid”: “baby, I’m not angry / I love you just the same,” she sings, before wishing a former lover “a lifetime full of happiness / And a forever of never getting laid.” the imagery – trapped, isolated, and denied pleasure – is a potent form of retribution.
Carpenter’s story, like Shelley’s, is a powerful commentary on creation, control, and the consequences of rejecting that which we bring into the world. She is a modern monster, not of stitched-together body parts, but of carefully constructed image and unwavering self-possession, daring the world to accept her on her own terms.
