“Treat People With Kindness” is the latest song off Harry Styles‘ Fine Line album to score a music video just in time for the New Year. It marks an end to a decade and unprecedented year with the release of a black and white number that some are arguing have already saved 2021.
The video promises everything we could imagine post-2020: dancing, joy, live entertainment, and of course, being surrounded by people. According to the music video director, Gabe Turner, this video was shot Pre-Covid. Styles foresaw the world needing some upliftment and joy after surviving 2020. And he delivered.
The music video has already gained 10M views since its debut on YouTube. On my first viewing, I was so captured by Styles. I didn’t even see his bandmates playing as the house band for the night club, in which Styles stars as the leading performer.
Here are a few other details you may have missed in the “Treat People With Kindness” music video.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge debuts
If you wondered precisely who the fabulous woman playing the club owner in the opening sequence of the “Treat People With Kindness” video is, it’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge is an English actress, writer, and producer. She created, wrote, and starred on the Amazon Prime hit show, Fleabag. In 2020, Waller-Bridge was named one of Times 100 most influential people in the world.
The duo performed a captivating gender role reversal dance number. You can see hints of Waller-Bridge’s cheeky Fleabag character make an appearance at the end of the music video, when Waller-Bridge effortlessly holds Styles in a dip with a devilish grin.
Harry Styles dancing in Gucci
Styles has been a Gucci muse and model for the last several years. He starred in the week-long Gucci fest film series that showcased Styles along with singer, Billie Eilish. Styles developed a close relationship with Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele. It’s only right that Michele would be the one to create a stunning jacket for Styles.
Harry’s older sister Gemma Styles, took to Twitter to applaud her brother and drop this tidbit:
“If you needed to be any more impressed, I can’t express how heavy this jacket was.” – @GemmaAnneStyles
Fans were not surprised that Harry once again went above and beyond for his art.
Make a note of all the sequins here too. Both Styles and Bridge-Waller were dressed in matching sequined, argyle vests also by Gucci. Sequins have long been a staple for any New Year’s outfit. What better way to bring in the new year than in something glittery and flashy? It can only serve as a hopeful foreshadowing of what’s to come in a post-pandemic world.
Choreographer for ‘Treat People With Kindness’ worked with One Direction
If you are a Directioner, you might remember Paul Roberts, One Direction’s choreographer. During One Direction’s documentary, “This Is Us,” Roberts appears during a rehearsal scene where the boys mimicked dinosaurs rather than following along to any sort of choreography.
Back in his boy band days, Styles and the rest of his bandmates: Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan, were adamant about not being good dancers. They didn’t follow the typical boy band route with matching outfits and synchronized dance moves. So it was a complete surprise that fans all over the world could now watch Styles leap, flip, and shimmy during this three-minute cinematic experience.
Post One Direction, we are now privy to seeing a more confident Styles, letting loose on the dance floor. Just search any concert footage from Styles’ Live on Tour. You will find clips of the singer-songwriter dancing his heart out to his song “Kiwi” or duetting with Lizzo to “Juice.” ‘The Treat People With Kindness’ video is unique since this is the first time Styles had included any dance routine number in a music video.
Everyone’s a Harry Stan
We should also note that the music video was directed by Gabe Turner and Ben Turner from the London-based production company, Fulwell 73. Who else happens to be partners in this company? Ben Winston and James Corden.
Winston worked with Styles during his time in One Direction and even let the pop star crash in his attic for 18 months while Styles’ home was undergoing construction.
Corden might easily be the biggest Harry Styles fan of all. He recently impersonated Styles in a music video of his own, in the parody “Golding.” You can watch Corden running around the Late Late Show venue donned in a white pullover sweater, detailed with all of Styles’ body tattoos while pulling all the same moves Styles does in the original “Golden” music video.
In case you’ve missed it, you can watch the “Treat People with Kindness’ Video here.
Let’s hope 2021 will be the year we “dance again” and continue to treat others with the utmost kindness.
