An analysis of Katy Perry's 'Roar'.

1. AlexandraWells
The music videothatI am analysingis‘Roar’byKatyPerry and is directedbyGradyHall andMark
Kudsi.
Thismusicvideobelongstothe popgenre andthiscan be portrayed
throughthe use of differentgenericconventionssuchasthe use of
the brightand cartoonishsetting.Atthe beginningof the music
video,the word‘ROAR’flashesupontothe screenincartoonwriting.
Afterthis,the screenappearstoburn off fromthe cartoon effectto
the realisticpointof view. The representationof popisshownhere
throughhowKaty Perryhas distinguishedthe difference between
realityandthe imagination. Aswellasthis,the light-heartednature
withinthe videocanalsoportraythe conventionsof popas the man
withinthe videoisessentially“eaten”byatigera few secondsintothe video. We cansee thatKaty
Perryisthe centre of attentionwithinthe musicvideoasthe majorityof the camera shots are close
upsand are of KatyPerry. Thismay alsobe depictedthroughthe vague amountof dancinginthe
videoandhowit’supbeatand appealingtothe popaudience.
The relationshipbetweenthe lyricsandthe visualsinthe musicvideo
can be somewhatillustrated.Thisisportrayedthroughthe line “You’re
gonnahear me roar” andthe diegeticsoundand image of atiger
roaringbeingpresentedon-screenthroughKatyPerry’sreflectionin
the water. Thisrepresentationshows KatyPerrytobe a fighterand a
strongcharacter. As well asthis,firefliescanbe seentomake this
image of a tigerwhenKatyrepeatsthisline again. Althoughthiscanbe
the case,the musicvideocanbe seenas more amplifiedthan
illustratedaswhenKatyPerrysings,“Youhearmy voice,youhearthat
sound,like thundergonnashake the ground”,the visualsof KatyPerry
lookingscaredasspiderscrawl overherappear on-screen. These
visualsdon’treallyhave anythingtodowiththe lyricswhichcan
stronglysupportthis.
Katy Perry latersingsthe line “Iwentfromzero,to my ownhero”as
she standsin a confidentpose inamediumframedshot. Thispresents
heras beinganindependentwomanwhodoesn’tneedtobe savedby
anyone. She producedthissonglateroninher career,whichcan show
that herrise of star statuscontributedtoherbecomingthispowerful woman.
The relationshipbetweenthe musicandthe visualsisverystrongas
some of the cutsare fast pacedwhichmirrorsthe upbeatpersonality
and rhythmof the music. The soundof drums can be heardand are in
beatwiththe editingof the musicvideo. Forexample,nearthe endof

2. AlexandraWells
the musicvideo,the simple yetquickcutsare intime withthe basic beat
of the music. The shotof KatyPerry holdingaparrot cuts to herpainting
an elephantsnailswhichthencutstothe face of the elephant.These
shotsare intime withthe diegeticbeatof the musicwhichrepresents
Katy Perryas an upbeatandlivelycharacter.
There isa vague reference tothe notionof looking althoughitdoesn’t
seemtobe the intentiontoputKatyPerryon ‘display’,however,her
costume andcertainscenesinthe musicvideomaycontradictthis. Her
crop top and skirtmade outof leavessupportsLauraMulvey’stheoryon
the male gaze as she’sput herbodyon show for the audience. Also,her
stance whenshe’ssittingcanalsoportraythis theory. The scene where the
elephantiswashingherdownwithwatercansupportthe male gaze
theoryas she can be shownto be sexualisedas the view of herisrestricted
by a leaf if the foreground. These shotsisgeneral places the audience as
voyeuras we are somewhat‘lurking’and‘spying’onher. These shotsalso
portray herattractivenessandthatshe’snotafraid to wearnextto nothingtoprove this.She’salso
not afraidto showhertarget audience whoshe is,byusinghersexualitytopersuade heraudience
to buyher music.
The image of KatyPerryin thismusicvideoisthatshe’s firstportrayedas
vulnerable,althoughshe laterprovesthe audience wrongasshe becomes
independentandthe “champion”. She’spresentingherself tobe free and
to have literally builtherwayupto the top of the music industry,which
can be reflected throughherstandingontopof a waterfall. Thismusic
videocanrelate to some of herother musicvideosas,forexample,‘ThisIsHow We Do’ and ‘Dark
Horse’ are veryupbeatandcatchy and the musicvideoforeach songappearsto be suitable forthe
style of the musicand type of lyrics.
There appearsto be some intertextualreferencesinthismusicvideo. One
that significantlystandsout tome is the reference toTarzan.The settingof
the jungle,animalsandhowKatyPerryadaptsto that life remindsme of
this. Also,the factthat the beginningandendof the videotransferstoa
cartoon lookis like the animationversionof Tarzan. The image of Katy Perryswingingfromthe vine,
to me,isthe mainreminderof thisTV animation. ItisstereotypicalthatTarzanis a male and he’sthe
‘king’of the jungle andsavesthe women,soitseemsthatKaty Perryissuggestingthateventhough
she’sa woman,she doesn’tneedtobe savedandshe worksherway up to be the ‘king’of the
jungle.
As well asthe visuals,the intertextual lyricsremindme of certainsongs.KatyPerryusesthe phrase
“I’ve got the eye of the tiger”multiple timesinthissongwhichappearstobe takenfrom the song

3. AlexandraWells
‘Eye of the Tiger’bysurvivor. Thiscouldhave possiblybeendone topromote hersongas the
majorityof people appeartorememberthe line‘the eye of the tiger’.Thissongisusedinthe film
‘Rocky’inthe scene where he’strainingforafight. Thiscan connote that KatyPerry herself is
trainingforthe survival inthe jungle.
Anotherline,“Iamthe champion”,couldpossiblylinktothe song‘We Are the Champions’by
Queen. Again,thiscouldhave beendone tofurtherpromote KatyPerry’ssong andtoprove that
womencan be strongand dependentonthemselves.
In conclusion,thismusicvideoisapop genre musicvideowhichisportrayedthroughKatyPerry’s
bubblypersonalityandthe songsupbeattune. The dominantreading,shownthroughStuartHall’s
ReceptionTheory,displaysthat we asthe audience acceptKatyPerry’ssuccessandenjoythe
narrative andperformance basedmusicvideo asitis.