In today's society, political media surrounds us. It is present wherever we look, whether that be strikingly obvious party political political broadcasts or subtle political messages in music videos.
In this post I will be writing about the song and music video, "Chained to The Rhythm" by American pop star, Katy Perry. This song was released on February 10, 2017 as the lead singer of her, then upcoming, album "Witness". The music video, which will be the prime topic of this post, was released three days later and, as of writing this, has over 539 million views. The song and video consists of Katy telling the audience of her thoughts and opinions on the political climate of America. The song was released just after the inauguration of President Donald
Trump, someone who Perry is very openly against.
"Chained to the Rhythm” can mean that people are too happy to maintain the status quo in their lives. Just like we are captivated by rhythm in a song, we conform to the oppressive norms of society. A hamster wheel is a recurring theme in both this video and the lyric video of the song and can be a reference to how the working class are stuck in place and can almost never go up the ladder in society.
The video takes place in a futuristic theme park, supposedly in America. The first shot is a wide shot of the park which shows how colourful and bright it is, enclosed inside a high fence. Outside of the fence is bare, empty land. This represents the recurring theme of the song and video that people are trapped inside a 'bubble'. After the 2016 presidential election, many media outlets blamed the surprise win of Donald Trump on media bubbles. Katy’s lyrics reflect concerns raised by former President Obama. In that we live in bubbles where everyone shares the same opinion as us, "Until we leave the bubble and “climb into [someone’s] skin and walk around in it,” we remain oblivious to the troubles of our fellow Americans."
The white picket fence which surrounds the park is also a major theme in the song and the video. The theme park is called "Oblivia" which is a reference to the belief that people are so oblivious to what is going on around them and so wrapped up in themselves that they are unable to see the chaos.
In a following scene, and throughout the video, people are seen on phones and tablets recording and taking photos of everything. This represents how, in our modern world, people are so accustomed to sharing our lives on social media instead of actually living in the moment. In juxtaposition to this, the people in the music video are seen wearing old fashioned looking clothes, especially the women. This may suggest how Perry believes that the US has gone 'back in time' with there views and opinions.
Furthermore, when researching this video, I came across assumptions from people saying that they believed the candy floss in the video, which is offered to Katy on numerous occasions, has been made to look like nuclear bombs. If this is the case, it could denote the opinion that a nuclear war is very possible in the current state of America and how people may be overlooking the sheer enormity of it. There is also a amusement ride entitled "Bombs Away", later in the video, which may be in reference to a similar point.
"The Great American Dream Drop" is the name of one of the 'rides' shown in the video. It features men and women being ushered into a small house with a clean lawn and a white picket fence. This represents how couples are forced to believe that they must strive to achieve this in life. The homes then are rocketed in to air and some people online have suggested that this could represent the increasing prices of homes in the country. This theme is continued as Perry's character sits down on a rollercoaster called "Love Me". What stood out to me in this part is the fact that the seats are labelled with pink and blue hearts. This represents the view that couples should be made up of a man and a woman and how homosexual relationships are still often overlooked. Also, at the end of the ride, after the coaster has traveled through a tunnel filled with reaction emojis, as seen in the image, representing the fact that we as a society react and share everything online, an image of the rollercoaster riders is shown with the stamp "validation station". The riders are scored and the male rider much much higher. This could represent the inequality between males and females in society, more specifically in regards to wage.
In addition, the theme of immigration and deportation is referred to later on in the video when people are being thrown from a ride called "No Place Like Home". The theme park goers are seen sitting down on a ride and being thrown over the white picket fence. The people in the video seem to have darker skin and be of an biracial background which adds to the idea of this scene referencing America's deportation crisis.
Moreover, there is also a recurring theme of a hamster wheel throughout the video and it shows multiple characters running on it. This denotes how workers, not only in the USA, work long hours to work up the career ladder and can often be burned out, as shown by the people falling off the wheel.
The video concludes with Katy coming to the realisation that everyone is so trapped inside the bubble that is naivety and chained to the rhythm of society. As Skip Marley, the song's featured artist, appears, Katy realises how different his is from the others around her and how she does not have to try and fit in to the norms of society.
Watch the music video here;
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