"Elastic Heart" Rhetorical Analysis

In Sia’s music video for the song “Elastic Heart,” she employs various techniques to convey the message that she is persevering in life despite the internal struggle that she faces. Her primary audience is herself, and her secondary audience is people who are going through a similar emotional battle (Burton). She utilizes visual presentation and auditory components, including music and lyrics. According to Compose, Design, Advocate, the things that stand out in a piece “probably [are] an important choice the author made” to establish their purpose (316). In order to come to a conclusion about her overall message, we must investigate the components of the music video.

            In the video, there are two characters, a young girl and a man, dressed in dirty leotards and trapped inside a large cage. At 1:00, a fight starts between the two characters. The girl appears to be sinister while the man is defending himself from her. Oddly, the girl has short, blond hair with blunt bangs, just like the Sia does. This hints that she is speaking about her own life. At 2:13, there is potential for a truce between the two sides, but the girl bites the man to deny his offer. Next, she squeezes through the cage bars and teases the man from the outside because he cannot escape (2:57). Finally, she tries to pull him out, but again, he cannot fit through (4:13). He has a pained expression on his face while she is laughing. Overall, there is a contrast between the age of the characters, their size, and their emotions. All of these visual cues are appeals to pathos, or emotion. Pathos is used because it “invokes the audience’s emotion to gain acceptance and approval for the ideas expressed” ("Rhetorical Analysis"). The audience feels trapped because of the cage that the man cannot escape from, even though the girl can. Watching the fight elicits tension that builds throughout the video. Sia’s focus on the visual aspect of her argument is effective as part of a music video. The creative form complements the content; emotions are expressed from a combination of all of the factors previously mentioned. Accompanied with the lyrics and music, Sia is able to fulfill her intentions.

            The second technique used is auditory, meaning the lyrics that one hears. To reference specific lines, she asks, “why can I not conquer love” (2) and states “I’m still fighting for peace” (10). These expressions further emphasize the combative mood of the piece, and add an element of futility. However, she does claim “you did not break me” (9), so the situation also has hope and determination. Sia appeals to ethos through her lyrics. Although she repeats “I’ve got thick skin and an elastic heart” (11), in line 12, she says “I’m like a rubber band until you pull too hard, I may snap and I move fast,” giving herself credibility as someone who is not perfect. She is susceptible to feeling emotions and failing from time to time. The audience hears those statements and feels a connection to her message. As Writing Center points out, she is able to “make a case and gain approval” through this appeal and she does this effectively.

            Considering the pathetic and ethical appeals used, Sia is attempting to convince the audience (herself and others) that perseverance through an internal battle is difficult but must be done. Visually and orally, she illustrates her argument effectively because she uses the appeals to emotion and credibility. These are essential for forming a convincing argument. Through this song, Sia convinces herself of her own strength and power to overcome the obstacles in her life. More broadly, people who have emotional disorders can relate to her personal story and draw inspiration from it.

Burton, Gideon O. "Basic Questions for Rhetorical Analysis." Basic Questions for Rhetorical     

            Analysis. Brigham Young University, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

Elastic Heart. Perf. Shia LaBeouf and Maddie Ziegler. YouTube. YouTube, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 18                

           Sept. 2015.

"Lyrics: Elastic Heart" Sia Music. Sia, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

"Rhetorical Analysis." University Writing Center. Texas A&M University, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

Wysocki, Anne Frances, and Dennis A. Lynch. "Doing Rhetorical Analysis of Others' Texts." 

             Compose, Design, Advocate: A Rhetoric for Integrating Written, Visual, and Oral 

             Communication. New York: Longman, 2007. 316. Print.