Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Reviewed

In the video for “Manchild,” a hitchhiking Carpenter climbs in and out of a string of preposterous vehicles, including a sidecar fashioned from a shopping cart, a Jet Ski on wheels, and a motorized recliner. The cover of “Man’s Best Friend” features a photo of Carpenter wearing heels and a black cocktail dress, on her hands and knees, before a faceless man who clutches a fistful of her hair. Carpenter is not the only Disney ingénue to rebrand as a libidinous pop starlet—which is to say, she is not the first person to grow up and publicly express desire—but she’s one of the first to do it in the post-Roe v. Wade era, when America is perhaps more confused than ever about the moral rules regarding a casual romp in the sack.

Author: Amanda Petrusich

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