A five-year-old girl who is unable to swim is drowning in a pool, where the depth is ten feet. She is incapable of communicating for help and continuously gulps copious amounts of water while kicking her legs and flinging her arms frantically. A young boy who is learning how to swim notices her desperate need for a rescue, but is too hesitant to do anything due to his fear of deep water. He then realizes that he does not want a young girl to die just because no one was able to come to her rescue, and builds up the courage to enter the deep end of the pool. He dives in just in time to rescue the drowning soul and conquers his fear of deep water, all because of courage. In Katy Perry’s “Firework” music video from the album Teenage Dream, she demonstrates that anyone, no matter who he or she is, can do anything they strive for by developing the courage. Accordingly, the video won the “Video of the Year” award at the Video Music Awards in 2011 (Carter, MTV). Katy Perry’s video successfully illustrates that anyone can be a “firework” by achieving the gain of courage even if he or she struggles through things such as domestic violence, sexuality, appearance, or illness.
Domestic violence is defined as “the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another”, which can unfortunately be seen in families worldwide (Online Merriam Webster Dictionary). In the beginning of the music video, the camera pans to a scene in which the mother and father of two children fight and argue while a young boy attempts to comfort his sister. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, approximately 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. The boy obviously wishes for an end to their fighting but is too afraid to do anything. The sister of the boy covers her ears and shakes her head in fright, displaying that she too is displeased with her parents quarreling. This scene illustrates domestic violence’s impact on its victims witnessing and suffering from it, especially the children. Domestic violence tends to tear families apart, affecting everyone involved in it.
Preceding that scenario, an overweight, teenage girl is sitting alone at an outdoor pool party where everyone is having a blast and wearing revealing swimsuits. Her friend that is in the pool gestures to her to join the fun with everyone else, but the girl shakes her head, signaling refusal. Because of her appearance, along with low self-esteem and insecurity, she cannot find the courage to reveal herself and enter the pool. To prevent derision and mortification, she does not want everyone at the party to see her half nude body. This is one of the problems many adolescents face, which is low-esteem due to the fear of negative perceptions of peers. Approximately two-thirds of Americans are overweight; therefore, obesity is a widely prevalent issue (Floyd and Parke 211-217).
Cancer is also a challenge and a struggle that...