Week_3_1/29/2016_Look Through the Bars

            The music video by Sia called “Elastic Heart” is famous for rousing many controversies surrounding its contents. It features “real cannibal” Shia LaBeouf and a child dancer Maddie Ziegler performing a very unorthodox dance in a cage. When I first saw this music video earlier last year, I could not see past the creepiness of it throughout the whole video. To me it was just full of pedophilia and savagery. Therefore, I was very surprised when it was one of the choices available for rhetorical analysis. I began to wonder if there was more to this video than what I initially perceived, and after looking at it from a rhetorical point of view I can see why it has become such a hit. The music video Elastic Heart is praised by many people for its depiction of the two parts of a person’s heart being in conflict with each other and how the person deals with it.

            The highlight of the music’s lyrics is “I’ve got an elastic heart.” Throughout the music, Sia explains what this means. Her heart can snap when stretched too much but it cannot be broken. This means she is not willing to feel emotions, but trapping it inside her heart so that it cannot come out. This concept is subtly represented in the video.  In it, the young girl and old man both act like beasts and are in conflict with each other (1:56). One would expect the girl to be sweet and innocent but that description actually fits the man more. They seem to care for each other but are constantly fighting. The girl can come out of the cage any time she wants but the man cannot (2:55). The girl also does not want to leave the man in the cage (4:40). This is analogous to how a person bottles up all of her feelings and finally chose the innocent and pretty emotion to come out, but that is just so that others cannot judge that person. The line “I’ve got thick skin and an elastic heart” supports this theory. The “thick skin” means the person is trying to appear fine and tough to others. However, that means the uglier beastly emotions must be caged in, just as the man in the video was left behind. However, as the girl could not let go of the man, the person wants the beastly side of her, such as anger, sadness, and fear, to be expressed. That person cannot erase them or let them go.

            This concept evokes such conflicting emotions with many people because most people can relate to what it feels like to hide what they are feeling. When they see a video like this as a comparison to themselves, they can view their own emotions and positions in a different way as expressed in the video and therefore appreciate the video more. Even those who do not feel the way Sia sings about can be moved by the struggle and touched by how it can tear them apart. This video can even make people address feelings they didn’t know they have by representing it through the actors. If it does, they will also be moved by the video as it evokes new feelings.

            All in all, this music video appeals to pathos by letting people relate the concept behind the music video. It can arouse conflicting emotions that can touch people’s hearts through its unique portrayal of people’s inner struggles.