Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me

What this video is

Released September 1982 as Culture Club's debut UK single, 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' became the band's first UK No. 1 (three weeks, October 1982) and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1983, making it one of the earliest New Wave crossover hits of the MTV era. The video's theatrical courtroom framing — with Boy George as a persecuted outsider — served as an implicit allegory for gender…

Why it matters

A foundational artefact of British New Wave's global breakthrough, this video established the template for narrative-driven, theatrically staged pop promos that would define the mid-1980s MTV aesthetic. It is among the earliest high-concept music videos to deploy period-costume historical…

The director

Born 26 November 1953 in London, England. Studied at the National Film School where he encountered punk culture and directed his debut feature 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle' (1979) about the Sex Pistols. Subsequently became one of the pioneers of the…