I felt that Katy Perry's "California Gurls" provided a great representation of the California dream as well as the dangers of chasing it. Furthermore, I've heard this song so many times that I almost have the lyrics memorized, and as such, it was easier to relate the song to the assignment.
Before this assignment was assigned, I had rarely ever watched the video. But, upon watching it, I realized that it reinforces the ideas of the California dream and its dangers. For example, most of the video expresses California as the game of Candyland and shows the rolling of dice, thereby suggesting that California, like Candyland, is a game of chance. And, although the video is all Candyland and fun, there are gummy bears that flip Katy Perry off near the start of the video. Also, throughout the video, there are short scenes that deviate from the very happy theme of the song and portray difficulties (eg. crossing the bridge, candy canes turning into snakes, gummy bears injured and dying at the end...). Nevertheless, the song and the video still focus on the actual California dream, i.e. beautiful people, great weather, awesome scenery, fun and upbeat music, etc. The song also portrays a sense of recreating oneself (eg. "go for a journey" to California "where the grass is really greener" to become like the desired and stereotypical "California girls.")
Before this assignment was assigned, I had rarely ever watched the video. But, upon watching it, I realized that it reinforces the ideas of the California dream and its dangers. For example, most of the video expresses California as the game of Candyland and shows the rolling of dice, thereby suggesting that California, like Candyland, is a game of chance. And, although the video is all Candyland and fun, there are gummy bears that flip Katy Perry off near the start of the video. Also, throughout the video, there are short scenes that deviate from the very happy theme of the song and portray difficulties (eg. crossing the bridge, candy canes turning into snakes, gummy bears injured and dying at the end...). Nevertheless, the song and the video still focus on the actual California dream, i.e. beautiful people, great weather, awesome scenery, fun and upbeat music, etc. The song also portrays a sense of recreating oneself (eg. "go for a journey" to California "where the grass is really greener" to become like the desired and stereotypical "California girls.")
This is a great song to analyze the California Dream. Especially the video associated with it. As a child I had a lot of candy, and seeing all the sweets in the video makes me sick to my stomach. It would seem that this is precisely the emotion that California evokes on some. So much good and opportunity that you don't know where to begin and once you do it makes you sick to your stomach. Once again great choice!!
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