
In the music video “Where Is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas the question mark is used throughout as a poster signifying the simple question of “Where has the love gone”. The question mark is placed over many different objects, landmarks, and symbols that are of importance to American society today and are things that represent our past and development as a country. Two of the most important symbols in my opinion are the placement of the question mark over the Statue of Liberty and the placement over the Bible. The usage of the question mark on the Bible and the Statue of Liberty are important symbols to showing that love has been lost because the two objects are very familiar to us as well as represent something we can all come together to appreciate and relate to which as a result will lead us to see the similarities in one another and will restore the love in the world.

The scene showing the question mark being placed over the torch of the Statue of Liberty is important because it shows that the love and unity that we as a country once prided ourselves on has now been lost and we are now more separated than we have ever been due to race relations and political differences. While the question mark itself has a very simple meaning of asking where the love in the world specifically in the United States, the placement of it over the Statue of Liberty contains a much deeper and complicated meaning. It shows us how losing the unity that we once possessed as a country will result in how we were before we acquired the landmark which was a very weak and separated group of people ran by another country. The quote, “But we still got terrorists here living in the USA” (33-36 secs) is said to show how we are broken up as a country whether it be through gangs, police brutality, or other crimes we are doing to our fellow citizens. It emphasizes that we must not only focus on the evils outside of our country, but also focus on eliminating the domestic issues that we have. The Black Eyed Peas usage of the question mark is challenging us to come together and solve our differences and see each other for what we are as fellow Americans not regarding race, religion, or political affiliation.

The scene showing the question mark over the cover of the Bible is important because in a heavily Christian country, those who follow the Bible are taught to love all others no matter what. It seems as if in the United States a lot of people choose to only follow the teachings that are convenient for them and neglect the ones about loving all others as they see fit. The question mark is signifying the question of where has all of the love that the Bible has taught us to spread gone. The symbol goes for those who do not follow the teachings of Christianity as well. It is used as a universal symbol that no matter what belief system we follow, it is important for us all to show one another respect regardless of religion or skin color. The quote, “Can you practice what you preach, or would you turn the other cheek” (19-21 secs) exemplifies the fact that there are people in this country who hypocritically act as if they are perfect followers of their religion but many of those people do not respect the beliefs of others as well as mistreat people for their race, sexual orientation, etc. If we truly want to regain the love that has been lost from our country we must learn to accept the ways of others who do not share the same beliefs, race, sexual orientation, and any other differences we may have. This country was built on people from different backgrounds and we must realize that as a country before it all goes to waste because we could not settle our difference of opinions. The question mark on the cover of the Bible represents to us that we must accept our fellow citizen’s differences and beliefs if we want to restore the love.

The question marks placement over the Statue of Liberty and the Bible is used to represent two very well-known items in our society and how the meaning behind those items that has brought greatness to our world has been lost in the crazy and judgmental environment we live in. The Statue of Liberty’s representation of unity, hope, and strength and the Bible’s teachings of loving all others no matter what go hand in hand in the fact that to create a happy and thriving community we must all come together to understand that we will all always have differences and those differences are what makes our country great. The question mark over these two objects go hand in hand because of the unity displayed by the Statue of Liberty followed by the Bible which explains to us how we will become unified. The Black Eyed Peas wanted us to think about the many different ways we can better ourselves which will in turn better our society as a whole and these two examples are widely known by all to have brought people together and to teach people how they should treat others which is why they are great symbols for the question mark to be placed over in our search for the lost love in our world.

The question marks usage in “Where Is the Love” is a very easy to understand symbol that is placed over important objects in our society to signify that our main values and beliefs that created our successful country have been broken down over time. The usages of the question mark on the different objects shows us how separated our country has become and tells us where we may look to find the love that we desperately need back. To restore our morals and values and make our society great again we must look to the objects the question mark has been placed over like the Statue of Liberty and the Bible to remember how we became such a great community in the first place. The usage of the question mark over the Statue of Liberty and the Bible represents how we must restore unity and respect to all others in order to attain the great civilization we live in.