Paula Abdul - Cold Hearted

What this video is

Released June 1989 as the fifth single from Abdul's debut album Forever Your Girl, 'Cold Hearted' arrived at the apex of MTV's cultural dominance and the new jack swing era's infiltration of mainstream pop. The video represents a unique synthesis: Abdul's background as a professional choreographer (notably for Janet Jackson) elevated the music video form into a vehicle for genuine theatrical dance art, while…

Why it matters

A definitive artifact of the choreography-as-auteurism moment in pop music video, Cold Hearted elevated the music video from promotional clip to short-form dance film. The Fincher–Abdul collaboration proved that directorial craft and performance virtuosity could produce a video with genuine…

The director

David Fincher began his career directing commercials and music videos in the 1980s before becoming one of Hollywood's most acclaimed feature film directors. He directed numerous landmark music videos for artists including Paula Abdul, Madonna, Aerosmith,…