The chorus in “Can’t Hold Us,” repeats the phrase, “this is the moment, tonight is the night, we’ll fight ‘til it’s over, so we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us,” which drives home the intent to be free. This use of dialogue in repetition makes the audience start to believe that if they fight for freedom, then they can have it.
In the beginning of the video, an old man gives Macklemore a flag similar to the flag of the United States. But, the flag has the words The Heist (Macklemore’s album) instead of the stars, and wavy stripes instead of straight ones. Also, the colors of the flag are darker and there are only two. Anyway, the flag is present in almost every scene in the video and goes through quite a ride. First, it is dug out of the snow, then thrown out of a plane, submerged in the ocean, fired off of a rocket, and finally goes skydiving with Macklemore. The flag, a symbol of freedom, is there when all of the dare devil stunts are performed. This symbolizes that doing all these stunts will make you free. The final image of the video is the flag waving in the wind on top of the Space Needle in Seattle.
Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us” is a video for letting loose and doing whatever you want. They do crazy stunts and repeat words to live free by. The strategies used in the video succeed in the intent.
Thanks Eric. I think I now have a slightly better understanding of the video. You make Macklemore's emphasis on freedom a bit more explicit in your post than Julia M. or Alanna. I get that Macklemore's ultimate intent is to encourage and portray freedom in action. I am still confused about exactly how the flag relates to this. The American flag is a symbol of freedom, but Macklemore uses an altered flag with the words "The Heist." How do the words "The Heist" relate to freedom? If they don't, and "The Heist" is just random words, then I have to agree with Will that music videos are nothing more than shameless promotion.
ReplyDeleteI would like to draw your attention to this sentence: "This use of dialogue in repetition makes the audience start to believe that if they fight for freedom, then they can have it." There are two problems with this. One is very important to point out. You violate an important rule of rhetorical analysis in this sentence. You assume how the audience reacts. You can't do this. You cannot assume how the audience will react. All you can do is presume the "speaker's" intent and prove your assumption with textual evidence. Also, I am curious about what "dialogue in repetition" means? Is there a typo there?