Pretty Hurts: Analyzing Beyonce Knowles' 2013 Music Video - Essay Sample

Introduction

The music video that I have decided to analyze is 'Pretty Hurts' by Beyonce Knowles. The song was produced in 2013 by Melina Matsoukas as the director. The song starts with a question of what inspires Beyonce, and she responds that her inspiration is happiness. My opinion towards the meaning of the song, 'Pretty Hurts' is individuals who put all their efforts in trying to be something they are not. In the end, individuals might turn into what they have been attempting to be, but in their hearts, they know they will not find any happiness. The video made me believe that nobody is perfect because even the celebrities that we envy like Beyonce do not always succeed.

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Beyonce sang the song intending to target the young girls and portray a mother's contradiction. Nevertheless, 'Pretty Hurts' indicates the reality of life and offers a set of moods to the audiences. As the song begins, it develops the video setting of a pageant scene. Beyonce sings about how her mother said the way beauty matters but the chorus contradicts and displays the struggles of women on trying to be perfect and attain the beauty standards of the society. Beyonce advises people not to pay attention to their physical beauty but should focus on themselves because no one is perfect. She acts as a pageant contestant trying to be perfect by competing with other girls but does not succeed even after trying very hard.

The purpose of 'Pretty Hurts' video was to develop a mood and not to narrate a story. The mood generated by the video is sympathy because after watching it, I sympathized with Beyonce due to her portrayal in the music. The sad mood is also conveyed when Beyonce puts all her effort, trying to lose some weight after people's thinking of her big body. The song displays a mood of angriness because it tries to endorse the opinion that ladies should fit in the beauty principles of society.

The relationship between the lyrics and video is the theme of searching for beauty in imperfection. The theme is expressed after Beyonce puts all her efforts to perfect her beauty so that she can succeed in the pageant contest. Though she fails to win the competition, she discovers that she is the only one who can define her beauty. I believe that 'Pretty Hurts' was targeted to ladies who envy the celebrities and make assumptions that they are perfect as society makes them appear. Beyonce losing the pageant contest was a symbol of her imperfection because sometimes she fails.

When Beyonce failed to win, she threw and smashed all her trophies, which symbolized the action of release. The act of breaking the trophies meant that they were no longer worth the struggles of making herself perfect since she was a child. She discovers that the only important thing in her life is self-love, and that is why the video ends with a scene of her natural beauty. The difference between the video and the lyrics is that the video provokes the viewer's emotions because they can watch the character's emotions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nobody in this world is perfect, not even the celebrities that we envy. The only important thing as displayed in the music video is appreciating and loving ourselves. The central theme of the song is the search for beauty in imperfection. The theme is evident when Beyonce puts all her efforts to perfect her beauty so that she can succeed in the pageant contest.

References

The video was retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXQLa-5n5w

The lyrics were retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXbj3oK02Hg