“La La Land”, By Demi Lovato, is a popular song that presents an argument that says people should not have to change themselves to satisfy the wants or needs of others. Demi Lovato is a growing pop star just starting to hit the Hollywood scene. She got her start as a Disney Channel actress and she says in her song “Well, some may say I need to be afraid of losing everything, cause of where I had my start and where I made my name”. Most people present the argument that kids that start their career off at Disney channel are thrown to the curb as soon as their hit show goes out of style. She also sings “Well, everything’s the same in the La-La Land machine.” The nickname “La-La Land” is a widely known name for Los Angeles. This is an example of satire, because Demi is basically say that it’s all crazy, so it doesn’t matter what she does, because it’s all the same.
This song is also presenting a universal argument that you don’t have to be perfect, and you should stay you, especially when diving into the depths of Hollywood. “I’m not a supermodel, I still eat McDonalds, baby, that’s just me.” Demi is telling the listeners that even though she’s a popular singer, and an actress, she’s just like everyone else, which presents an ethos form. She’s connecting to the listeners, trying to tell them that she doesn’t have to change who she is to impress the press or the people judging her, that she likes herself exactly the way she is. All people are faced with the pressure of changing who they are to fit in better. Whether its dressing better, losing weight, who you’re dating, or even where you are from. In the song Demi sings “Who said I can’t wear my converse with my dress, well baby, that’s just me.” She is constantly being judged by the paparazzi, the critics, and all of America that is watching her on television, or listening to her on the radio. She also sings “Who says I can’t be single, And I have to go out and mingle? Baby…that’s not me.” Demi is trying to connect to the listeners and get her point across that, she’s not going to change for anyone, even for these really “important” people, so neither should we. She’s telling us to just stay ourselves, and not to change for anyone.
The music video is pretty simple, and easy to understand the rhetoric. It starts out as a talk show in a studio (having the Hollywood sign in clear view), with Demi as the special guest and a host, who introduces Demi as a singer an actress and a “fashion icon”. The host then asks her what it is like to be a star, and it changes to the music video. The beginning portion is an example of satire, and symbolism, because they’re making fun of the way shows gush over big stars.
The video has three different settings: one where Demi is walking around in a crowded street, another where she’s at a red carpet premiere for her new Disney channel show, and lastly a photo shoot, where she is dressed up in a big pink wig. In the scenes where she is walking around in the street, she has normal clothes on but is being surrounded by people doing weird things. This is supposed to represent the “La-La” part, or craziness, of the la-la land. As she is walking she is stopped by a boy, who hugs her and then a photographer stops and takes pictures of them, which ends up on the cover of a magazine. This is to show that people are always watching, and she can’t escape people judgments. It then switches to the red carpet premiere, where she is wearing a little black dress, and converse shoes, which is playing along with the line in the song. She’s standing alongside her cast of her Disney show, which could be interpreted that she’s doing just fine, even though everyone is questioning her status and her start in the Hollywood scene, then it changes to her photo shoot, where she’s put in this tiny little pink dress and this big pink wig, to symbolize how they’re trying to change her, and make her better, even though she looks like a fool. In the end its just flashing between all three and then the song finishes and it goes back to the studio and the host says “well, alright, you go girl.”
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmjO1p9Oxrk
lyrics:http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/demilovato/lalaland.html
Peer Review:
ReplyDelete1. The thesis of this essay is very clear. It is “La La Land”, By Demi Lovato, is a popular song that presents an argument that says people should not have to change themselves to satisfy the wants or needs of others. I believe that this is also a rhetorical thesis. The writer clearly identifies the argument of the text and video. The argument presented is "This song is also presenting a universal argument that you don’t have to be perfect, and you should stay you, especially when diving into the depths of Hollywood."
2. The writer uses may specific examples that support the text and video.
The text states these examples:
She got her start as a Disney Channel actress and she says in her song “Well, some may say I need to be afraid of losing everything, cause of where I had my start and where I made my name”. Most people present the argument that kids that start their career off at Disney channel are thrown to the curb as soon as their hit show goes out of style.
She also sings “Well, everything’s the same in the La-La Land machine.” The nickname “La-La Land” is a widely known name for Los Angeles. This is an example of satire, because Demi is basically say that it’s all crazy, so it doesn’t matter what she does, because it’s all the same.
“I’m not a supermodel, I still eat McDonalds, baby, that’s just me.” Demi is telling the listeners that even though she’s a popular singer, and an actress, she’s just like everyone else, which presents an ethos form
“Who said I can’t wear my converse with my dress, well baby, that’s just me.” She is constantly being judged by the paparazzi, the critics, and all of America that is watching her on television, or listening to her on the radio. She also sings “Who says I can’t be single, And I have to go out and mingle? Baby…that’s not me.” Demi is trying to connect to the listeners and get her point across that, she’s not going to change for anyone, even for these really “important” people, so neither should we. She’s telling us to just stay ourselves, and not to change for anyone.
The video states the following examples:
In the scenes where she is walking around in the street, she has normal clothes on but is being surrounded by people doing weird things. This is supposed to represent the “La-La” part, or craziness, of the la-la land.
As she is walking she is stopped by a boy, who hugs her and then a photographer stops and takes pictures of them, which ends up on the cover of a magazine. This is to show that people are always watching, and she can’t escape people judgments.
It then switches to the red carpet premiere, where she is wearing a little black dress, and converse shoes, which is playing along with the line in the song. She’s standing alongside her cast of her Disney show, which could be interpreted that she’s doing just fine, even though everyone is questioning her status and her start in the Hollywood scene,
then it changes to her photo shoot, where she’s put in this tiny little pink dress and this big pink wig, to symbolize how they’re trying to change her, and make her better, even though she looks like a fool.
In the end its just flashing between all three and then the song finishes and it goes back to the studio and the host says “well, alright, you go girl.”
The writer could be more descriptive when talking about a couple topics and lines.
In the scenes where she is walking around in the street, she has normal clothes on but is being surrounded by people doing weird things. This is supposed to represent the “La-La” part, or craziness, of the la-la land ( could this also represent the people around her that were changed by stardom?)
3. The writer provides analysis of her support and examples. All of the examples lead back to the thesis that no one should change who they are because they gain a little fame or because someone wants them to. The writer could watch the video again and provide further anaysis for the different scenes and images presented.
1. What do the instruments in the song add to the thesis?
2. What other images does the video produce?
4. The one thing that sticks with me from the essay is the part in the video that is a photo shoot. I think that it sticks with me because it really drives the thesis home. She was made to wear certain clothes and wear a wig to change who she is. She wanted to portray how bazarre this was. I really thought this was a good first draft. The writer went into a lot of detail and used many terms used in class to add to her writing.