By now, you should know that Justin Bieber has recently released “Purpose,” a 19-song album that has even the biggest anti-Bieber fans declaring themselves Beliebers. The pop star took it a step further in mid-November when he put out a 13-part series of music videos entitled “Purpose: The Movement,” dedicated to the art of dance. Each video has its own unique style, and the movement of the dancers impeccably reflects the rhythm and lyrics of each song. Though each video is visually interesting in its own way, I chose to highlight three of my favorites: “Sorry,” “Life is Worth Living,” and “Children.”
Sorry
My first thought after watching this video was simply, “Who are these girls and why can’t I dance like they can?” For those of you who have yet to see this video, “Sorry” consists of about 12 girls dressed in vibrant, crazy, mismatching outfits paired with bright red lipstick and funky sunglasses. If their appearance alone doesn’t amuse you, their dance moves certainly will. Mirroring the steady beat of the song, the dancers’ bodies often move robotically – either that or their hips are moving in ways that I can’t even fathom. Although this video seems to relate less to the song’s lyrics than in other videos, the words, “I’m missing more than just your body” are almost ironic because I don’t think anyone would be saying that after seeing how these girls can move. This video is extremely upbeat and makes for a great dance party.
Life is Worth Living
This video takes the cake for being by far the most moving. It begins with a simple head-on shot of the female protagonist. There’s no music playing or dancing, it just simply starts off with her staring into the camera. Her hair is pulled back, her face is makeup-less and her reddened eyes hint at recent tears. Simultaneously, her eyes close, the screen goes black, and a gunshot sounds. When the music begins to play and the camera focuses back onto the female dancer, we see the result of the gunshot, which left a gory mark directly over her heart. Unlike “Sorry,” the tone of this video is more somber and muted. There are no bright colors — the two dancers in this video are dressed in black — and the dancer’s movements, though often fast paced, are fluid and graceful. There is a sense of rawness in the video that can’t be ignored; the woman is clearly struggling with emotional pain that has quite possibly left her to believe that life isn’t worth living. As she moves with the male dancer, it appears as though he is helping her to get rid of her pain, until the very end when after a long embrace between the dancers, the woman’s wounds have disappeared.
Children
It is often said that children are the ones who will define what is to come in the future. “Children” features a large group of, well, children, whose goal as it appears in the video is to better the world. In the beginning, as they watch a video portraying the suffering of children just like themselves, looks of fear and anguish fall over their faces. As a result, the kids are shown running through the woods, and they end up gathering in a field to do what every other dancer in the series has proven to do effortlessly: dance. Their movements are very rough and powerful, highlighting the fact that though they are young, they have the power to make a difference. Not only does this video show that children recognize changes that need to be made in our world, it gives the viewer a wake up call, one that proves how we need to recognize the youths of this generation.
Feature Image: Vanessa Naylon Photo, Courtesy of Flickr URL
