At first glance, Kanye West may seem like your everyday hip hop artist, but when you really analyze his work, you realize how talented and artistic he is. He is a music producer, rapper, songwriter, singer, fashion designer, and many other things. In 2010, Kanye directed and acted in a short film called, “Runaway”, that goes along with his album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, and there is no shortage of Kanye’s artistic ability in this film. In the beginning of the video, Kanye is driving through the woods when suddenly a flash of light occurs and a Phoenix is laying in the road in front of him, Kanye then proceeds to take this Phoenix home and care for it. Throughout the video, you learn that the Phoenix is Kanye’s alter ego. The bird is much different than the society it is around, and doesn’t care about being different, just like Kanye in the real world. Kanye is known for doing what his mind tells him, rather than what society tells him.  In the film, “Runaway”, Kanye West uses a Phoenix to represent his alter ego, while at the same time develops the overall theme of individualism. 

Shortly after Kanye takes the Phoenix home, there is a lady on the news talking about a comet that struck the earth that caused many forest fires. As a viewer, you know that this new report is not true. The camera angle shows the back of the Phoenix, where you can clearly see how damaged and broken its wings are; its wings are twitching and she’s missing many feathers.  When Kanye realizes the Phoenix is watching the news, he immediately turns off the television and looks at the Phoenix with a frustrated look on his face.  It is known that Kanye is not a fan of the mainstream media, but the real message Kanye is trying to convey here is to not let other people tell you what you should be. The media is always trying to persuade people into thinking a certain way, but Kanye has never let them do that to him, which is part of the reason as to why he is so successful. There have been multiple occasions where Kanye’s work has been criticized for being not mainstream enough, but he ignores the media. Kanye calls this idea of being too mainstream “mental prisons”. The Phoenix represents Kanye, just in a different life form. This allows Kanye to talk to himself and teach himself things that he wish he knew at the start of his career. He has a strange relationship with this bird, but he is learning so much through its behavior. 

Back at Kanye’s house, him and the Phoenix are sitting silently at a table. What appears to be happening is Kanye is trying to teach the Phoenix how to be civilized by teaching her proper table manners. The Phoenix really seems to be struggling with simple gestures, like properly drinking out of a cup. Also in this shot, you see how damaged the Phoenix is because the camera clearly shows that the bird is missing its talons. Also clearly visible are the broken wings of the Phoenix. Kanye uses this scene of trying to civilize the Phoenix to also develop the theme of individualism. The fact that the Phoenix struggles with civilized actions, like table manners, directly correlates to Kanye’s unorthodox actions in the real world. 

In one of the final scenes of the film, Kanye and the Phoenix are sitting on a cliff side talking about statues. Only the silhouettes of Kanye and the Phoenix are shown in the center of the shot during this conversation. This focuses the viewer's attention on what they are talking about, rather than what they look like and what they’re doing. This makes it clear right when this scene begins that whatever they are about to talk about is very important. The Phoenix mentions in this conversation that she “needs to burn”. In Greek mythology, a Phoenix’s life revolves around the concept of burning, and being reborn from its ashes. What the Phoenix is trying to express to Kanye is that all she wants to do is be itself, even if being herself goes against social norms. After this scene is over, a clip of a massive explosion is shown, and the Phoenix coming out the center of this explosion. In this scene, the Phoenix looks much different than it did prior to this scene. The Phoenix looks beautiful in this shot; its wings are healed and it’s souring freely and brightly through the air. At one point, the Phoenix is shown looking down, most likely on Kanye. What this scene is supposed to represent is Kanye looking down on the rest of the world, or other hip hop artist, sort of as a brag. The Phoenix is upset over the fact that it’s leaving this world, but knows that it is the right thing to do because it will be reborn in place of Kanye. The Phoenix is able to see flaws in society that nobody else seems to be able to see, like in one scene they are at a dinner and they serve a bird to the Phoenix. The only one who thought that serving a bird to another bird was a problem was the Phoenix. This is the most pivotal scene in this entire film, because it shows that the Phoenix became who it wanted to be, which is the theme of this film.  

Kanye is known for his unorthodox beats, lyrics, fashion ideas, and many other things. This desire to be different is what has made Kanye so successful. He invests everything he has into what interests him, and doesn’t let the media or anyone tell him that his ideas are crazy or a waste of time. This desire to be different has allowed him to create a brand for himself unlike any other artist. In this short film, Kanye learned so much from this bird, but most importantly that you must “burn”, like the Phoenix, metaphorically meaning to let your creative fire burn brightly. In the film, “Runaway”, Kanye West uses a Phoenix to develop the overall theme of individualism. 