I’m Not Okay – My Chemical Romance

Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say.I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way.

For all the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took,Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?

I'm not okayI'm not okayI'm not okay

You wear me out

What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems?(I'm not okay)

I've told you time and time again you sing the words but don't know what it means(I'm not okay)

To be a joke and look, another line without a hookI held you close as we both shook for the last time take a good hard look!

I'm not okayI'm not okayI'm not okay

You wear me out

Forget about the dirty looksThe photographs your boyfriend took

You said you read me like a book, but the pages all are torn and frayed

I'm okayI'm okay!

I'm okay, now(I'm okay, now)

But you really need to listen to meBecause I'm telling you the truth

I mean this, I'm okay!(Trust Me)

I'm not okayI'm not okay

Well, I'm not okayI'm really not okay

I'm not okayI'm not okay

(Okay)

Introduction• This particular music video illustrates the lyrics, which is the simplest technique

used to help visualise the meaning behind the song itself. However, this particular song can be seen as fitting into many different music videos, as it could have many different meanings than as portraying through the visuals in the music video.

• The I’m Not Okay video is made to be like a film, they do this through the use of an age rating at the beginning, and having wording appear throughout like in a movie trailer. However, the music video has an enigmatic ending of the band members and the jocks running towards each other with bats etc, which is unlike a film as in a film they would explain how the fight would end. Therefore showing that the narrative includes substance as it is used to show bullying and the inevitable feeling of being an outcast.

• As a large proportion of the bands audience is made up of teenagers, means that the music video becomes relatable, as the band members go back to high school within the video. They also experience bullying which many teenagers would relate to, and therefore the narrative is successful as it allows the audience to relate to the band members who are being bullied by stereotypical jocks.

• The band members look like stereotypical nerds, but also like punks, which is considered alternative. Therefore they may be looked upon as someone to bully as they stand out from the rest of the characters from the music video. For example Frank (The rhythm guitarists) shirt is undone and his hair is dyed black and spiked up which portrays him as a rebel which would typically be linked to being a punk.

Genre

• The genre of this particular music video is punk rock. You can tell as all genres hold different specific traits which make them noticeable.

• For example, in punk rock music you would usually see a lot of fast cutting shots due to the fast paced music. When considering mise-en-scene, you commonly find that band members where a lot of dark colours and are energetic when performing in their video, in order to spur the audience to feel the same way.

• In this particular music video mise-en-scene plays a large role in deciding the genre as the band members all wear dark clothes, one of the guitarists has piercing, and many of them are seen to have tattoos. This resonates with the audience, as many have the same sense of style, and therefore can relate with the members of the band.

•As seen in many other punk rock music videos such as Give It All by Rise Against, short quick shots are used. These types of shots are typically used due to the fast paced music the backs the narratives.

•Similar to the Rise Against video, both use narratives and performances shots to show both the band and the story within the lyrics. They do this by cutting from shots of the band performing such as a close up of the guitar player Frank then cutting to the narrative where you will see a shot of the school.

•The narrative within the My Chemical Romance music video differs from the Rise Against video as the band are the characters within the story. This is done to enable more shots of the band so that the audience become familiar with them without the music video becoming boring.

•They also both use medium shots which enables them to make the shot appear crowded even though its actually not.

Similarities

Stereotypes

• Theorist Perkins noted that stereotypes can have an element of truth within them which makes them believable. Such as the stereotype that women like to gossip more than men is actually true in a sense as its seen as more acceptable for a woman to do than a man due to it being seen as one of their traits.

• Therefore in accordance to this theory, stereotypes can be accurate such as the stereotypical nerds and the jocks within this music video.

• However, within media stereotypes are usually emphasised as in real life jocks don’t always bully nerds as seen within this video when one of the jocks is laughing at one of the nerds who is played by a band member.

• With time these types of stereotypes change, such as women were often perceived as unequal to men who weren’t expected to work, which has obviously now changed. This is also true for people within high school who are portrayed similar to characters in the video. The band members would be giving high school from their perspective from when they were younger, which means the video isn’t completely truthful as nowadays the ways school have run will have changed and many schools have become stricter upon bullying. Which means that its not so stereotypical anymore for a jock to bully a nerd as they would get punishment at school.

The beginning of the music video opens with what looks like an age rating like within movies where you get the rating 12A or PG.However, the rating within this video is made up as its an R, standing for revenge. This theme of revenge runs throughout themusic video and therefore this opening sequence is highly significant.

The first opening shot is a medium shot of the rhythm guitar player Ray and Gerard, the lead singer. This particular shot has nobacking music and therefore acts as an introduction to the song. More importantly, however, the dialogue within the opening shotintroduces you to the band as it tells you what the lead singer enjoys such as “D&D” standing for dungeons and dragons. Once allthe things he likes are listed, he gets told that he’s “never going to make it” due to the things he likes which is relatable to their teenage based audience who may feel they wont fit in for the same reasons of enjoying different things.

After that, words appear on the screen in black and white which read “if you ever felt” and then quickly a shot panning a swimming pool area with divers is shown with all swimmers lined up on boards. However Gerard isn’t in the same swimming costume as you would expect like the rest, but is instead fully clothed portraying him as an outcast to the audience. This shot is intercut between text to keep the fast paced music moving along with the music video otherwise it would bore the audience. Within this shot of the swimming pool, the setting of the video is established due to the outfit Gerard is wearing which looks like a high school uniform.

After the shot of the swimming pool the music video cuts back to the text which reads “alone”. Therefore altogether the sentencewould read “if you have ever felt alone”. The text is in white with a plain black background this is done for effect as it helps you to focus solely upon the wording instead of anything else enabling the band to portray their message. The contrast between the black and white connotates the difference between the band from the rest of the characters.

The same effect is made here when you see narrative following a piece of text on the screen which begins to create a storyline to help the reader follow the narrative. For example the words “If you ever felt rejected” is followed by a scene in the narrative where the guitar player is laughed at by the jocks and has something thrown at him. This particular shot is a medium shot, however it shows Gerard (the front man) in the background, which shows other members of the band to get the audience

accustomed to them. This shot is taken in daylight and therefore no other necessary lighting needs to be used.

Next you see close ups of instruments and them being plugged into amps. This informs the audience of the genre due to the electric guitars used, and the amps you see close-ups of. The lighting behind this shot makes it look like this is a venue they are playing at, though you later discover the band leaving this location and realise that it was actually a garage, which makes this a contrived performance. The fact a performance sequence is cut into a narrative is common of the punk rock genre which I have looked at, such as Rise Against.

Audience reception theory • The audience observe this music video with negotiated

reading (subordinate response) as the audience has a choice of whether they chose to accept the social structure presented within the video, or whether they choose to reject the way certain social groups are unfairly represented.

• This video does hold a mainly dominant view, as the jocks are portrayed as antagonists, while the band members appear to be the protagonists. Although, you are still able to disagree with this view, as the band members are getting revenge on the jocks which portrays them in a negative light, and therefore the video is more objectively representing the two clashing social groups, as the producer isn’t outright stating that the nerds are correct in their way of getting back at the jocks.

• This shows that the hypodermic model doesn’t apply to this particular video as the audience are able to interpret the video and song lyrics in a way which suits them.

Uses and Gratifications Model• This particular model relates to this video as it states that audience

members are all different and people choose to select specific texts that fulfil their needs.

• This links to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

• It links to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as it tells us that we wish to be accepted into a social group before we can have personal growth and fulfilment. Therefore, people who like this type of music will join a social group has a similar taste in music, which will then lead them to fulfilling their own needs by exploring the genre further.

• Going back to the Uses and Gratifications Model, theorists Blumier and Katz tells us that: ‘Media usage can be explained in that it provides gratifications (meaning it satisfies needs) related to the satisfaction of social and psychological needs’.

• This means that we use media in order to satisfy either the social group we’re in or our own psychological needs, such as anger which could be released through listening to heavy metal.

• Blumier and Katz also tell us that by listening to the music we do, we define our identity and sense of self. By doing so we are able to make judgements upon which singers we like and dislike in accordance to which music we enjoy. For example, if you enjoy more poetic lyricism, you would disfavour genres such as modern rap. Once we have these views we usually turn to value reinforcement ,which is when you watch more of the media products that agree with your beliefs. Such as watching My Chemical Romance videos may reinforce your ideologies as they share similar interests and ideas as yourself.

• Diversion is also a main use for music as punk rock music is usually passionate due to the meanings behind the songs, and therefore can be used as a release or just for entertainment.

This particular music video illustrates the lyrics, which is the simplest technique used to help visualise the meaning behind the song itself. However, this particular song can be seen as fitting into many different music videos, as it could have many different meanings than as portraying through the visuals in the music video.

The music video also helps the audience to feel more connected to the band, through using close-ups which makes creates a ‘relationship’ with the viewer. It also helps to put focus on the particular band member they do a close-up on, such as in this music video, the close-up is of the lead singer while he is performing which helps sell the artist to the audience.

• Iconography is used within My Chemical Romance videos through the use of makeup, which is reoccurring throughout many of their videos.

• Similarly, storytelling is used in many of the bands videos. Although their music videos don’t have endings like stories do, they still succeed in portraying the moral or underlying meaning that the video expresses.