THREAD:

exploring some of the symbolism & meanings behind Katy Perry’s Unconditionally music video

first part of the thread will be going over the basics & what most people already know or what is easy to understand.

***not everything might be included since this is just what I noticed or know about the visuals & storyline

here’s a little trailer clip for the overall view of the music video:

so the lyrics are basically about unconditional love & acceptance. no matter the race, orientation, situation, relations, or any kind of boundaries. this plays over into the video as well

the video utilizes different aspects of nature such as water, fire, snow, & flowers.

director (Brent Bonacorso):
“This love that she speaks of is like a force of nature, epic storm and a tempest, and that's definitely something I wanted to capture.”

notice how she’s alone? all of a sudden dancers appear out of nowhere. they keep flashing in & out throughout the video.

her surroundings are just her imaginations (confirmed by director). she’s asking herself what unconditional love means to her.

for a lot of the video, she’s moving but the dancers are frozen. OR the dancers are moving but she isn’t. further showing that it’s all an illusion

this combines elements of “bullet time/flow motion” & “time freeze effect” (kinda similar to mannequin challenge )

love can be interracial

sexual orientation can’t limit love

it doesn’t necessarily have to be within a romantic relationship. unconditional love can be between a parent & child or between siblings, best friends, etc.

***katy was partially inspired by her UNICEF trip to Madagascar to write this song as she explains in the video.

she says that even without material possessions, the community has a strong bond with each other

left half of the picture:

guy resting his hand on the older woman, girl behind him serving the lady wine, man behind her physically being present for her.

the guy & girl are lady’s kids. they are taking care of her during needed times while she lies on the chair possibly ill

right side of the frame:
woman in the back is trying to control her partner while he’s handling the situation of his ill mother very differently. he’s angry and starts kicking the chair over.

although the little girl has little to almost no emotional attachment to the woman, she expresses some form of sorrow by turning away from her.

the man in the front (who’s possibly her father) hands her a sword. it symbolizes that he’s providing his full protection over her

[according to behind the scenes clips & interview]

the visuals represent the elegant yet dramatic tone of the song. the choreography incorporates all forms of dance styles that make it feel like an “epic storm”. it’s not a soft song throughout & explodes at various parts.

the owl represents freedom & wisdom. it reinforces her lyrics of “let go and just be free” which is derived from an old saying “if you love something let it go”

director: “She lets it (the owl) go into the world and that literally letting this force within her go wild.”

side note:

just like the scene in the snow, the ballroom is also inside her imagination. (this is explained by the director)

katy not having a love interest in the video is for a reason. in an interview, she explains that self-love is the most important love to exist.

she had to learn how to love herself before loving someone else. (also talked about in her song “Love Me”)

the bed on fire represents how strong and powerful intimacy can be

this scene shows the people completely still while she’s running towards something. the whole world feels like its on a *pause* when she is focused on one particular thing & nothing else.

a person falls into the water & begins drowning. (metaphorically it can mean depression/anxiety or the phrase “head under water”) also a reference to her song “By The Grace Of God”

however, someone provides support for the person & they form an unconditional bond

in case some people don’t know katy was battling depression & su*cidal thoughts following her divorce in 2012.

in this song (by the grace of god) she sings “I thank my sister for keeping my head above the waters”

“the car crash obviously represents the sudden almost violent nature of love when it really gets its hooks into you and really changes your world. And then the flowers kind of represent that joyous and wonderful, yet still forceful impact of that love when it enters your life”

from beginning to the end, she was on a “psychological journey” to find out what LOVE is. she was observing various forms of love all around her. people slowly start leaving her imagination & she is left alone yet again.

when she finally regains her consciousness at the end, that’s when she realizes what it means to love unconditionally

Unconditionally music video:

music video behind the scenes:

director’s MTV interview: http://www.mtv.com/news/1717850/katy-perry-unconditionally-video-director-explains/

katy’s UNICEF interview:

interview about self-love: