Thinking & Writing Katy Perry - Firework

You would never expect this girl to strip down and jump in a pool in her bra and panties. She’s ugly. She doesn’t have long beautiful hair and she could definitely loose a couple pounds. But there she goes, in front of all her perfectly shaped friends. She pops up out of the water and fireworks fly out of her like its New Years Eve in Dubai, India. Surprisingly, not a single party goer at the in the pool yells out “ew gross! She’s fat!” like you would expect from your viewing history of Hollywood films. 

“Show 'em what you’re worth, make ‘em go Oh! Oh! Oh! Baby, you’re a firework!” Katy Perry sings. The music, lyrics, theme, and visuals are not only powerful alone, but Katy Perry’s message of transcendence through fear of judgement was tremendous in the context of 2010, a year that amidst many other challenges, was filled with gay rights movements, obesity-phobias, bullying, and cancer.

Musical elements were used in Katy Perry’s “Firework” to help support her message. The lyrics especially; “Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?” Here, she reaches out to her audience with a penetrating and universal question. We all feel weak, stressed, or sad, worried about the future. “You don’t have to feel like wasted space. You’re original, cannot be replaced! If you only knew what the future holds. After a hurricane comes rainbow.” How inspiring! These words form a perfect marriage with the instrumentals to bring listeners to an emotional state of motivation.

Visually, the music video is strong in supporting Katy’s message. Fireworks are just awesome. There’s not really a good enough word to describe the awe that sinks in when you see the sky blowing up colorfully. The fact that they are exploding out from within the once broken characters is very symbolic. Others in the frame remain in the dark, normal, and mainstream. “Like the 4^th of July,” she says; a night that sticks out from all other nights. Finally, when the crowd of firework-emitting youth congregates in the end, you are captured in the grand finale and you realize you are not alone in your trials; that as you go change your attitude about them, you will shine brighter than that trial ever could.

In addition to the textual elements found in this music video, there are meaningful and contextual components originating from far outside of Katy Perry’s studio. The times were dead on for the release of this song and music video.

Gay rights movements were in their younger years, and more and more people were coming out of the closet despite a harsh unaccepting culture. Brokeback Mountain came out in 2005. Clay Aiken, American Idol star shared publically that he was gay in 2008. Later, to be followed by Adam Lambert in 2009 and Ricky Martin in 2010, even Raven, the Disney girl, was known to be in a homosexual relationship (HuffingtonPost.com.) The “It Gets Better” project was founded just a month before Katy Perry’s release of “Firework” and she ended up dedicating the song to the foundation(songfacts.com.) This music video, as a piece of 21^st century art, represents a significant era.

This was and is a time of high expectations for women and their weight while we face a radically changing lifestyle and ever-lazier infrastructure. Katy Perry and the chunky girl who jumps in the pool (lumps-and-all) sent a comforting and motivating message to a lot of struggling overweight women that probably helped inspire the song in the first place.

 In 2010, 16,000 children missed school everyday out of fear of being bullied (bullyingstatistics.org.) 6 taunting classmates were charged with felonies after Pheobe Prince hung herself from a stairway in Massachusetts in January 2010. Massachusetts was one of the many states to pass laws on bullying.

Cancer struck the lives of Millions of Americans in 2010 and took the lives of over 470,000 (seer.cancer.gov.) My Grandma was one of them. So was Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow.

           Were all these struggles in America happening years before Katy Perry walked into the studio? Yes. Have major artists produced pick-me-up songs long before? Heck yeah! But these are specifically relevant to 2010 and the contemporary nature of the style of music and lyrics help her message reach the audience she intends to reach.

            These are a lot more than just a few numbers and names. They are real challenges for real individuals and families in our country. Society needs art like this because it engages and lifts. It’s impressive to see Katy Perry’s fearless approach at busting unhealthy cultural trends. She’s gorgeous. She’s a musical celebrity. She’s got the perfect body and all the money yet she’s telling everyone they don’t have to be so perfect and flawless to be awesome. Katy Perry calls the song her “epitaph” and likes to believe the song has legs. It was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2010 and the video won MTV’s video of the year award. However, the outreach that exploded throughout the world was much more of a prize than that little trophy that can fit in a bookcase.