Now a household name, Sabrina Carpenter has taken the world of pop music by storm, first with her album, “Short ‘n Sweet,” and now again, with her Aug. 23 release, “Man’s Best Friend.”
Carpenter has written music for years, but she got her start in the Disney Channel show, “Girl Meets World.” Now, though, she has taken a clear step outside of her origins and is making music that isn’t so family friendly.
Most recently, she released a music video accompanying her song, “Tears.” The video pays homage to Jim Sharman and Richard O’Brien’s 1975 production, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” with Carpenter acting as an innocent damsel who stumbles upon a house filled with lust, scandals and sex.
Playing Tim Curry’s original role of the evil scientist, hell-bent on deflowering the two leads, is the Emmy-winning Colman Domingo. Emulating everything from Curry’s bright red lipstick to his skin-tight fishnets, Domingo takes his role in the music video and makes it his own.
Carpenter and Domingo, surrounded by undressed dancers and doused in a healthy portion of red lighting, prance around the madhouse with reckless abandon, showing (and taking) off their beautiful clothing.
Carpenter, wandering into the house in a perfect, prim and proper dress, fit with what looks like Susan Sarandon’s sun hat from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” is chased from room to room, losing a new clothing item with every step she takes.
By the end, we see Carpenter dancing in vintage lingerie, gleeful with her own supposed corruption. She flaunts her looks in a cornfield and dances in a fringe-filled, silver and sparkly Victoria’s Secret lingerie set—one that was originally modeled by Naomi Campbell in 2003, according to an article from People.
Already an advocate for women’s expression of sexuality, Carpenter has used this music video—and her 2025 MTV’s Video Music Awards performance this Sunday night—to push for trans rights and awareness in the wake of rising transphobia in the United States.
According to an article from USA Today, her live performance even included dancers holding “picket signs,” with sayings such as “protect trans rights,” “Dolls dolls dolls” and “in trans we trust.”
As Carpenter must know, she is not the first to push for freedom of gender expression and identity in the media. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” became a cult classic in the LGBTQ+ community, filled to the brim with characters showcasing gender ambiguity, relationships between those of the same gender and purity culture falling victim to eroticism and promiscuity.
Today, this may not sound so very scandalous. In the 1970s, however, this film provided comfort, clarity and a sense of rebellion to those silenced and oppressed by intolerant hegemonic values and mainstream culture.
While Carpenter can’t take credit for the things that “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” did all the way back in 1975, she may be able to spread its message and encourage a whole new generation to embrace the original film.
In the meantime…dammit, Carpenter, we love you.
