
Media has become a double edge sword. While it can corrupt the minds of people, it can also be used to convey a positive message to people young and old. Musical artists, professional athletes, and actors have used videos, tweets, and rallies to push a positive message. Too often, kids become caught up in societal pressures to fit in and be a part of the latest trend. In Wings by Macklemore, he uses his personal experience to show how unnecessary it is to give into society. He uses the music video for Wings to depict how trends and pressure from society can consume a person needlessly. The images match up with the lyrics to show how the craze for Jordans consumed the lives of many.

Macklemore expresses his concern with young people being caught up in society through a series of shots depicting him talking to different groups of young people in different situations. At 3:04 of the music video, Macklemore is shown with a book in his hand, presumably his story, telling a group of kids how Air Jordans consumed his childhood. The shot is a medium shot. Even though we can see all of Macklemore’s body, the shot does not isolate him. It is very intimate. We can see multiple people in a small space. The distance and spacing from this shot makes the viewer feel very close and as if they are a part of the conversation. There is a touch of a bugs eye view perspective since the plane of the camera is tilted up, but only slightly. Also, by Macklemore’s head being in the top of the frame, above his audience we can tell he is being powerful. In this part of the song, the lyrics go “Strangled by these laces, laces I can barely talk.” These lyrics tell his audience that his obsession with his shoes “strangled” him, or took control of his life. He is holding his book to show his audience the truth in what he is saying. While the image does not show a young boy being strangled, the audience still feels a connection between the lyrics and the visual through the children who are understanding the conversation and the intimacy of the shot. The cinematography is done so well so that the viewer feels part of the video and connects the lyrics to the imaging even if the imaging does not show what the lyrics are saying. The visual of the book helps him show everyone the truth in his words. Seconds before this shot the lyrics read “See it consumed my thoughts.” The visual of the children all looking intently is powerful. Macklemore is telling the younger generation about how powerful a trend can be. 

Macklemore manages to tell a story of his childhood through the motif of Air Jordan shoes. While they are never the most obvious thing in the frame, they constantly appear to remind the viewer of Macklemore’s story. In the first shot of the video, :07 of the movie, Macklemore walks into a gym with the camera focused on his feet. This is an establishing shot, not only for the setting, but the story. The technique of “rack focus,” where the camera man changes focus from one depth of the shot to another, is used in this shot to foreshadow what the video will be about. The viewer can wonder why the opening shot is one of Macklemore’s shoes, but he quickly answers this when the first lyrics of the song are “I was seven years old when I got my first pair.” The lyrics now let the audience know this is a story about shoes, and they can appreciate the progression from the opening shots to the first lyrics. In addition to being an establishing shot, it is also a long shot. Although we can not see all of the person’s body, the camera is set probably sixty feet from where he is. This shot is an example of bugs eye view, where the camera is placed on the ground. Instead of gazing up, this shot has a gaze that goes straight ahead. So instead of seeing Macklemore’s whole body, we just see his lower half. This is to place emphasis on the shoes, the point of the story. 

Both of the frames discussed above provide vivid imagery to make this both an interesting story to follow and convey a message. In the shots where Macklemore is telling a story to the groups of kids of all ages, it can be seen he does not want the young people he is speaking to, to make the mistake he did of becoming consumed in societal pressures. Macklemore became caught up in having the coolest shoes no one else would have. At the time he thought having the newest shoes would put him on the map and make him “cool.” The images in the video however, show a kid who is sitting in class looking bewildered as to why no one is coming up to him and telling him how awesome his shoes are. The lyrics in these moments say “A hundred dollars for a pair of shoes I would never hoop in. Look at me, look at me, I’m a cool kid.” These lyrics are representation of what he thought having these shoes would mean. Now that he has realized they meant nothing in the big picture, he is making it a point to tell the younger generation how he thought so they will not think the same way just because they have expensive material goods. In the same sequence of shots, he continues reading the book to the children, and he speaks about how consuming trends can be. The lyrics go “They told me to ‘Just do It,’ I listened to what that swoosh said, look at what that swoosh did. See, it consumed my thoughts.” Macklemore understands how easy it can be to become consumed by trendy clothing and society because it happened to him. While these lyrics are being sung we see a flashback to a young boy who is scrubbing his Nikes with a toothbrush to keep them pristine. He is clearly caught up in keeping his possessions as good as possible. The point he is trying to make is not to let society make you who you are. Be your own person and find your place in society. He knows how hard it can be to miss out on something someone wants, but there is no point in stressing about it because the concept of we are what we wear and we wear what are is a cruel trick. You are who you want to be. In these shots there are constant flashbacks to a young Macklemore who starts to realize the shoes he wears might help define him as part of his style, but they are just shoes. The epiphany comes in a flashback where the kid sees another boy with the same shoes. This makes him realize that he is not the only one with expensive shoes. The lyrics go “These Nikes helped me define me, but I’m trying to take mine off.” Macklemore preaches that if anyone ever finds themselves to be too consumed in society, they should take a step back and slow down in order to understand and think about what they are doing with themselves. He is not literally taking his shoes off, he is trying to say all they are is shoes. His shoe game cannot be the only thing he cares about. The young generations need to understand they do not have to have the best material possessions but a good concept of who they are.

With the ever present media in today’s day and age, it can be hard for adolescents to become an individual in a main stream society. Macklemore understands these pressures since he was once one who did. His obsession with Nikes, he realized, was unhealthy. With so much social networking and media, teens see so much of their idols and can learn things from them. Many of these famous people use their power to convey positive messages. In Wings by Macklemore, he uses his personal experience to tell the young generations not to become caught up in needless societal pressures and to become their own people. 
