Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Teenage Dream Analysis


To take a break from ads, our group chose the song "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry.
Specifically in the video, we see Katy Perry riding in a car with a man. She seems happy and excited for wherever they are going, and a few friends in cars adjacent from them feel the same way. These cars stop at a beach and the passengers get out. They all begin to strip and run toward the water. Katy is still singing with this man and never leaves his side. We then see them enter what looks to be a hotel room and begin to strip further, to which one can assume they are going to have sex. We also are brought to a party and a pool with this lovely couple before the video ends.

An interesting part I noticed while watching this a second time, is that you see the two presumably meet for the first time, when she is staring at him from afar at the lockers. I'm still not sure why he is punching a punching bag alone in what looks to be a school gym, but I guess it's not that unheard of. It just seems random, but whatever. It's almost like she is gazing at him while they are in their high school/teenage years, and while the song is taking place, they are slightly older, passed the "teenage dream".

The video is a representation of (most likely) Katy's "teenage dream", with careless weekend trips to the beach, sex, and plenty of partying to follow. In the actual lyrics, Katy describes how this boy that she is refering to, and who we see in the video, makes her feel youthful and carefree. The lyrics tell the listener how much this boy cares about her, by thinking shes pretty "without any makeup on" and other innocent romantic traits within their relationship. Here are the lyrics to gather a better understanding:
You think I'm pretty
Without any makeup on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punchline wrong
I know you get me
So I let my walls come down, down

Before you met me
I was alright but things
Were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February
You'll be my Valentine, Valentine

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance, until we die
You and I, will be young forever

[Chorus]
You make me feel
Like I'm livin' a
Teenage dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's run away and
Don't ever look back,
Don't ever look back

My heart stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This is real
So take a chance and
Don't ever look back,
Don't ever look back

We drove to Cali
And got drunk on the beach
Got a motel and
Built a fort out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I'm complete

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance, until we die
You and I, will be young forever

[Chorus]

I'mma get your heart racing
In my skin tights jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

[Chorus]

I'mma get your heart racing
In my skin tights jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
(Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight)
The song itself is about romance, young love but what can it say about sexuality?

1.) If the analysis of the "meeting" scene is correct, and the song/ video represents the present, slightly older couple, what does this song assume about teenage sexuality and relationships?

2.) Even though most of this video involves people taking off clothes, the exact styles of the actors seem very important to the message. What can someone pick up about sexuality simply based on the wardrobe chosen (or lack there of) for this video?

3.) Katy Perry refers to the "teenage dream" alot. But what exactly is it? Based on this video.

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10 comments:

  1. paigeheckerNovember 30, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    I think "teenage dream" is to have a carefree life. In the video, it doesn't seem like she has to worry about anything and she's just dancing and having a good time with the important people in her life. I think all teenagers want romance too and she has this in her life with the guy she's crazy about it.

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  2. Nan YangNovember 30, 2011 at 11:17 AM

    As indicated in the video, teenage dream is often related to carefree parties and having sex without taking serious responsibility. High school students always want to spend their weekend along the beach having as much fun as they can with people they love. If the “meeting” scene in the video is correctly analyzed, I assume teenage relationships are started in one moment when the girl or the boy just gets flipped by the other at the first sight like Katy Perry sees the guy in school gym. However they can get crazy and sometimes even desperate when talking about teenage love and sexuality.

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  3. 456123November 30, 2011 at 1:46 PM

    Actually, I am not sure what you mean by asking“The song itself is about romance, young love but what can it say about sexuality?” Do you mean that romance or young love has nothing to do with sexuality? Personally, I think one of the aspects of sexuality is the affection between a man and a woman, so they talked the romance and young love, these are connected to sexuality. Besides, I think we can tell from the lyrics that man and woman holding different feeling and attitude in the young love. For example, for the man “you think…you think..” but for the woman “I want….I want”.
    And I think the teenage dream refer to their pure and innocent love in high school even though they were not actually together.

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  4. calebmihalikNovember 30, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    I agree with Paige, the teenage dream is having no worries in life and being free and courageous and carefree. I think there is a lot of stripping and clothes coming off because when you're naked, you're free of everything and hey! isn't being free the teenage dream? also i think it's older actors and actressed for the simple fact that maybe since she didn't get her teenage dream when she was a teen, now she's getting it while she still can.

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  5. VirajNovember 30, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    I think what Katy Perry is trying to say through the words "you make me feel like i'm living a teenage dream" is that she feels that man in the relationship makes her feel like a "typical" teenage relationship ; carefree, fun and partying on the beaches ( cuz thats obviously what we all do )

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  6. JohnRossNovember 30, 2011 at 2:38 PM

    I believe the teenage dream Ms. Perry is referring to is the idea of having carefree fun with someone who likes you for you, but you can also be sexual with. The carefree part of this comes from Katy and her friends going to swim together, but stripped down, which adds to the sexual aspect of the song. The lyrics point to the fact that the teenage dream is about having someone like you for your when she sings, "you think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong." What she is saying here is that the guy likes her for her, and that is fun. Later on though she says "Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love." This again implies the fun of being sexual with said person.

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  7. JingxianNovember 30, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    I agree that teenage dream in this music video is having fun right now without caring for what happens next, like driving somewhere for a trip, dancing and walking along the beach, singing and dancing at parties, having sex with someone you love. These scenes all talk about the happy young life. I think the "meeting scene" the blogger is interested in conveys the idea that teenagers have the chance to fell in love with someone at the first glance. In the music video, they meet in a gym while the boy is working out, the girl comes in and somewhere in her heart tells her “this is the right man”. It represents a kind of romantic teenager dream.

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  8. Nadiah AzmiDecember 1, 2011 at 1:02 AM

    I feel like Katy Perry's teenage dream represents what most teenagers would want which is freedom. The video itself projects a carefree lifestyle of enjoying life and falling love without any restrictions. Its evident that Teenage Dream reflects what a teenager would experience throughout their life and that Katy Perry wants to emphasize that life has its ups and downs, and you should have no regrets doing so.

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  9. Joel LasnerDecember 4, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    I think the old couple shows a true teenage dream. That is, a couple that falls in love during high school and stays together and gets married and lives happily ever after. The women never leaves the mans side and vis versa because they are in love. They are happy and basically live the American Dream, but since it started when they were in their teens then it is a teenage dream.
    The teenage dream Katy Perry references a lot seems like a dream of freedom and happiness. The actors not only have freedom and are also carefree. They are just living their life being happy. Lines like "no regrets, just love" are great examples of the teenage dreams freedoms, which in the case of the lyrics can be taken as sexual freedom. But, this also can mean just living in the moment and not thinking back to past times and worrying. While all the aspects of the teenage dream Katy Perry sings about not looking back on the past seems to be the most important, lines like "Don't ever look back,Don't ever look back" very well show how much emphasis Perry puts on not having any regrets.

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  10. Ian RowlandDecember 7, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    Obviously, according to Katy Perry, her definition of a teenage dream is that of falling in love with someone in high school and then "going all the way" or having sex with that person. I feel like you stated the answer in the second question in that the lack of clothes or lack of fully covering clothes greatly contributes to the sexuality of the video and the message that Katy Perry is trying to convey to her listeners. Most people I know, don't where those type of clothes, and those who do, aren't my friends. But hey, it's Katy's teenage dream. She can have people wearing whatever she wants. As I previously described, the teenage dream to Katy is falling in love and having sex with that person and living that sort of unrelenting party life as seen in the video. Katy Perry's teenage dream is one giant party which I guess is supposed to cover all realms of teenagers out there. Sorry Katy Perry, I'm not sure that's every teenagers dream.

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