The Medium is The Message - A brief look into 'Part Of Me' by Katy Perry

A lot of things seem pretty trivial…until they don’t. The topic I’m going to write about today seems pretty deep at first look, but hang on…it’s not quite as thoughtful as it seems. Interestingly, this blog post is an example of what I’m trying to talk about.

Confusing talk aside, let’s dive into the topic at hand. Today, I’m going to talk about Katy Perry’s chart-topping pop single, Part of Me, which has received a lot of critical acclaim, and I, personally, feel that this song portrays a lot of emotions, particularly through its music video, some of which are lost when listening solely to the song.

When I first heard the song, although it did appeal to me considering pop is one of the genres I usually seem to like, but it didn’t come off as much more than a catchy pop song which dealt with the phase after a breakup in a romantic relation. I mean, sure, it’s pretty good and all, but it wasn’t anything particularly new or original. And then I stumbled across the music video while lazily browsing though John Legend music videos, which now that I’ve mentioned, are pretty deep themselves. But that’s for another day. Back to the evergreen Katy Perry.

The  music video does an awful lot to exponentially enhance the emotion of the song. It starts with Katy finding out that her boyfriend had been unfaithful to her. She walks up to him and hands him the ring that he gave to her before coming out crying as he chases her. At this point, I’m thinking that it’s pretty much the usual and expected storyline. The extremely clichéd American drama. She then walks into a gas station store, where there’s a poster that says “ALL WOMEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THEN SOME BECOME MARINES”. The moment of realisation ensues, where Katy Perry very nobly decides that the best way to take out her frustration is to do something productive and then without a second thought, turns around walks into the washroom, chops off her beautiful locks and decides to sign up for the United States Marine Corps.

The rest of video oscillates intermittently between the two phases of Katy’s life. One where she’s just a normal woman, spending time with her boyfriend, reminiscing, while the other whilst performing gruelling tasks training for the Marine Corps. Initially, her expression gives away that she’s still living in the past, but as the video progresses, she only starts regaining her confidence and swagger. She even ignores a letter from her boyfriend, calling her back.

The video concludes with Perry, brimming with confidence, dancing under the American flag, ready to begin her newest mission.

This song really gave me goosebumps when I heard it along with the music video. It’s a beautiful way of showing that life goes on and every grey cloud has a silver lining. I’ve always been a fan of Katy Perry, and she’s one of my favourite female artists, behind just Rihanna, and this only raises her in my eyes. God bless you, Katy Perry, you wonderful woman.

I hope that my message comes out loud and clear and my cryptic words at the beginning don’t seem quite as cryptic now. So until next time, adiós damas y caballeros!

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwfgXD8qV8