Alessia Cara - Scars To Your Beautiful

What this video is

Released in July 2016 as the third single from Alessia Cara's debut album Know-It-All (Def Jam/UMG), 'Scars To Your Beautiful' arrived during the height of mainstream body-positivity discourse, when social media platforms were simultaneously amplifying unrealistic beauty standards and grassroots anti-beauty-standard activism. The video's deliberate use of non-model, diverse, real-appearing subjects positioned it as…

Why it matters

A defining entry in mid-2010s synth-pop ballad tradition with social-message visual coding. The video established a template for mainstream pop empowerment videos: real-person documentary vignettes, desaturated warmth, and intimate portraiture replacing performance spectacle. Its 2017 VMA Best…

The director

Aaron A. Bertrand, professionally known as Aaron A., is a Canadian music video director. He has directed videos for artists including Nelly Furtado, Down with Webster, Fefe Dobson, Stereos, Jully Black, Kreesha Turner, and Emily Osment. He also directed…