93,824,086
That's the exact number of views Sia's "Elastic Heart" Music Video has gotten in less than a month since its debut, and the numbers continue to grow (watch it below). The 39-year-old Australian singer-songwriter is known for her quirky art forms and has produced notable hits for the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna and Katy Perry, just to name a few. Her latest music video, featuring "Transformers" actor Shia LaBeouf and 12-year-old Maddie Ziegler, sparked some controversy with seemingly pedophilic content. I'm here to expose the truth, and, no, it doesn't involve pedophiles.
Breaking it down
The music video is "artsy" to say the least; it incorporates various elements of visual literacy such as:
Body Language
It's an interpretative lyrical dance that depends on movement and facial expression to express meaning.
Perspective
The camera angles constantly shift throughout the clip, it gets each of the two perspectives Shia and Maddie as well as "outsider" views and one bird's eye view shot when Shia hangs on the top bars of the cage (see 1:43). There also is a continuous shift between normal and a more distorted fish-eye lens (see 0:41), this mostly happens when the viewer's perspective is brought into the cage.Colors
There's not much of it, the color palette is composed of muted nudes, greys and whites
Symbols
The cage, the older man, the younger girl, dirty clothes. But we'll get to all that in more detail later on.
Contrasts
An older, larger, dark-haired man vs. a young, small, blonde girl.
Repetition
The dance uses a few repetitive movements like growling and screaming, there's a lot of that; some even allude Sia's preceding music video "Chandelier" which also stars Maddie Ziegler. (see 2:52)
But what does it mean?!
The performance embodies Sia and her personal struggles; she has talked about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A severe effect of the illness being depression and suicidal tendencies, both of which the artist had been through. After her breakdown, however, she enrolled herself for rehabilitation and is still undergoing recovery.
The Proof
You're not going to believe me if you don't see proof, are you? Well then...
Firstly, there's the cage which symbolizes Sia's own mind. Inside it is her young, aggressive and flawed self, portrayed by Maddie. There's also her matured and much stronger (he climbed the cage with his bare hands!) self, portrayed by Shia. In the video, they are both in dirty clothing and Shia has clearly not shaven for a while; this shows the fact that they've been fighting for a long time, just like how Sia has been "fighting" her illness for a long time. She is expressing her internal conflict of being at war with herself.
Sometimes, her matured self naively reconnects with her old self; shown by Shia's character awakening Maddie's from sleeping and sparking her aggression once more. This can be seen as symbolism for relapse which is common on the journey to recovery.
At 3:25, Shia's character is seen carrying Maddie by the ankles like a backpack. This further reinforces the idea of the journey to recovery. There is also the idea that her "warring self-states" alternate between periods of violence and peace; in bipolar disorders, sufferers experience extreme mood changes similar to this.
In the end however, it's shown that her past self can easily slip through the cracks of her mind cage unlike her matured self. The first time this happens (see 2:55) it's to the displeasure of her matured self, as if her past gets the best of her and wins. But the second time around, her past tries to lead her present state out to no avail. Sia doesn't feel ready yet and isn't satisfied with her control of her illness so she feels that she has to stay in her cage.
More Proof
Next, let's take a look at some of the lyrics:
"Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart, but your blade it might be too sharp"
and
"I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard"
Here, Sia is personifying her illness as someone with a blade. She feels strong where her heart cannot be easily broken as it is elastic, but her conflict still gets to her.
"I'm still fighting for peace"
and
"I want my life so bad, I'm doing everything I can"
She is continuing her struggle to take control of her condition; this is also shown by Shia's character continuing his struggle against Maddie's.
That's all for now, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my take on Sia's "Elastic Heart".
Did you have the same interpretation as I did? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think
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http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/07/247777DA00000578-2899875-image-a-71_1420598565240.jpg
Watson, Meg. "Watch Sia Explain The Meaning Of ‘Elastic Heart’ With Bananas Over Her Face Read More at Http://junkee.com/watch-sia-explain-the-meaning-of-elastic-heart-with-bananas-over-her-face/49420#Oc5fiz7FDXVoAuw0.99." Junkee. N.p., 22 Jan. 2015. Web. 1 Feb. 2015. <http://junkee.com/watch-sia-explain-the-meaning-of-elastic-heart-with-bananas-over-her-face/49420>.
Soldani, Bianca. "'I Wrote a Suicide Note': Singer-songwriter Sia Furler Reveals She Contemplated Taking Her Own Life While Battling Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Depression." Mail Online. N.p., 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2609104/Sia-Furler-reveals-contemplated-taking-life-battling-drug-alcohol-addiction-depression.html>.
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