Continued Blog Post for 11/13

Elastic Heart – Analysis

September 18, 2015

The music video “Elastic Heart” by Sia portrays the inner struggles that society may face and the strength needed to overcome them. She does so by using many rhetorical techniques such as symbolism within her music video, exaggeration within the lyrics and intense imagery created by the dancers.

The music video opens by focusing on a large cage in an empty white warehouse. Both dancers are trapped inside the cage standing on opposite ends (:02). The cage is relatively large, but it confines both dancers. The cage is a symbol for the confinement both physically and mentally. At the beginning, they are unable to roam freely or escape in any way. Everyone has his or her own cage or something that limits him or her in some way. She also uses symbolism in the clothing of the two dancers. They are seen wearing dirty nude clothing, which shows the natural and pure side, but also how they are stained (:07, :13). The symbolism in this music video is extremely important as it gives the video a literal meaning as well as a more significant and interpretive meaning. The symbolic props help give the audience a background as to how the dancers are struggling internally.

As the video progresses, the lyrics become very impactful; she uses many rhetorical devices within such as rhetorical questions at the beginning and a hyperbole towards the middle. In fact, she states, “But why can I not conquer Love?”, this rhetorical question adds an emphasis to her lyrics without needing a specific answer in return (:24). The purpose is to bring the audience in and then have the audience ponder and apply the question to their own lives. Her lyrics continue to be impactful as she states, “I walked through fire to save my life” (1:59). This is a hyperbole, as she did not literally walk through fire. However, this sentence overemphasizes the inner struggles that she has had to overcome in order to be alive. The intention and purpose as BYU mentions is to catch the audience’s attention once again and stress how true and real these inner struggles are. The lyrics connect strongly with the video and relate to society as everyone struggles in some way.

Towards the last half of the music video, the imagery intensifies as both are longing to escape from the cage. The male figure hangs from the top of the cage about to escape, but does not as he sees the female character laying helplessly on the ground of the cage (1:52). Even though his desire to escape is so strong, he realizes he cannot exist without her. This entices him to drop down and provide her with comfort by lying next to her. This situation repeats itself later on when the female figure manages to escape while the male figure is trapped inside (3:03). Even though she taunts him at first, for some reason, she returns into the cage as she sees the male figure crumble to the ground. The interpretive dance from both figures provides unique imagery as their facial expressions and actions are so intense. This inflict the pathos appeal, which “invokes the audience’s emotion to gain acceptance and approval for the ideas expressed”. The purpose of imagery is to help connect with the audience. The emotions expressed may trigger feelings among the audience and connect with them on a personal level.

The “Elastic Heart” music video proves to be a very intense and emotional video as it utilizes many rhetorical devices such as symbolism, hyperbole's, rhetorical questioning, and imagery from the interpretive dancers. All these techniques help prove the power and effect of the inner struggles and how strong one must be in order to overcome them, which is reinforced by the rhetorical analysis techniques provided by BYU, Texas A&M and CDA. 

"University Writing Center - Rhetorical Analysis." University Writing Center - Rhetorical Analysis. Texas A&M University, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/Students/Handouts-Guides/Guides-(What-Are-You-Writing-)/Academic-Writing/Analysis/Rhetorical-Analysis>.

Sia - Elastic Heart feat. Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler (Official Video). YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KWZGAExj-es>. 

Another rhetorical technique utilized by Sia in the music video “Elastic Heart” is of characterization and the meaning of using such contrasting characters. Sia chose to use Shia LaBeouf and a child dancer Maddie Ziegler commonly known from Dance Moms. Many deemed this music video as inappropriate because of the intense interpretive dancing and because of the age and gender difference of these two dancers. However, I believe it is important to analyze how they are portrayed in order to develop a deeper meaning to her music video.

Throughout the video Sia characterizes Shia Labeouf and Maddie Ziegler as opposing figures that represent her old self versus her new self. We see Shia as the rough, older, and thicker-skinned individual that represents Sia’s new self, while Maddie dances in a demonized way, which portrays Sia’s old self. Shia’s characterization is evident when he is hanging from the top of the cage showing his strength and power (1:45). He represents the new and improved Sia as he attempts to escape all his “inner struggles”. Sia portrays Shia through the lyrics as well when she states, “I’ve got thick skin and an elastic heart” (1:01, 1:05). In addition, he physically looks older and perhaps wiser as he has a beard and is physically fit. This all characterizes Shia as the new strong and strengthened Sia trying to escape any previous bad habits. On the other hand, Maddie is youthful, naïve, and adolescent and encompasses many of Sia’s bad habits in her past. This is prevalent when she is on the ground as Shia attempts to escape at (1:50). We can see a fragile and younger side of her. However, we can contrast this to when she was on the back of Shia, where she is seen as unstable and crazed, showing her past bad habits (1:21,1:28). In addition, Maddie is physically more petite and younger, but her interpretive dance shows her “inner struggles” from her past.

Overall, Shia was chosen to represent her new strong self trying to break away from past habits, while Maddie represents her old naïve self struggling with unhealthy behaviors. She connects them by showing how Shia is attempting to escape because he is aware of these bad habits, but is unable to as Maddie acts as the soul, which you can never escape. This characterization aids in accentuating the purpose and meaning behind the music video of “Elastic Heart”.