Visual images, like paintings, photography pictures, or music videos, can launch symbolic meaning to a deeper dimension through symbolic meaning can portray a deeper meaning to its audience. With the contrasting of colors and shapes, an artist can send a more advanced message to the observer. With this insightful mechanism, everyday people have seen pictures “worth a thousand words” that can completely change one’s opinion on a specific subject. For example, a famous World War 2 picture sends chills down the spines of people when looking at a man trapped in a concentration camp. The photo drains the life out of the individual looking at the picture. Another example is well-known, authority-destroying defying musician Kurt Cobain created the music video in his music video, “Heart-Shaped Box” to stir array which produces a range of different emotions. The biggest message Cobain sends through the video is a sacrilegious motif. Through specific colors and objects Cobain uses in the music video: like dead babies, a Santa hat, crows, an outfit representing the many different religions, and an arrange of visually, unpleasant colors, this allows Cobain to send an anti-religious message to the observer that states how faith is a waste of a belief. 

With the director's use of a long shot, the observer sees a disturbing image of a man being crucified on an unsymmetrical, disgusting cross with three crows sitting on each different surface of the platform. The use of the long shot allows everyone to focus on the man’s entire body, the midground, and the background. Focusing on the man’s entire body portrays him as being nearly starved to death. Clearly, this is a representation of Jesus being hung on the cross.  Jesus was tortured and executed on a perfect cross; meaning, the cross Jesus was killed on appeared clean and symmetric. But, the cross in this music video is quite the opposite. Since religion appears to be perfect for the believer, the cross in Cobain’s video shows how imperfect religion truly is. Since Christianity is based on Christ being perfect, Cobain uses the misshaped object to spread how Christians believe in a lie; thus, wasting their time.  

Looking on top of the cross, three crows are sitting. In most literature pieces of work, crows are used to symbolize or foreshadow an array of negative exponents. Thus, with these crows sitting on the cross portrays religion as an adverse faith in present day society. The fact that there are three crows on the cross could also mock the holy trinity.  The last symbol on the man is the Santa Claus hat. Santa Claus is a mythological figure for children to believe in promoting good behavior in exchange for presents. For these kids to believe in Santa requires, the youth to have faith in Santa. But as these children leave childhood and grow maybe a better word than adapt into adulthood, they lose their beliefs in Santa. Thus, Cobain claims Jesus should be treated like Santa where people lose their faith and stop believing in Jesus; sending a sacrilegious message to the individual. Another meaning for the Santa hat is how Christmas, a religious holiday, has evolved into a commercial holiday for exchanging of gifts and honoring Santa. Because of this transformation of Christmas, it devalues Christianity on one of the holiest days ever. Thus, it proves how faith is taken less seriously and how people do not value the religion enough making it a waste of time. Besides the man himself, the background expands on the sacrilegious motif.

On the lower half of the background, one can see the red wave of roses. The color red, symbolically, can interpret considerable meanings like rage, strength, fire, or evil. In this video, the wave of red symbolizes fire. The collection of roses looks like a wave of fire. Since the man is being hanging from the cross, it appears that he is also being set on fire. This vision reflects the burning of witches during the Salem Witch trials. Since Cobian is stating how Jesus reflects the torturing of women who were falsely accused of witchcraft, it proves how religion is only worth a limited lifespan rather than existing throughout history. 

Looking behind the flowers at the barren environment shows how there is very little life and hope. This concludes how faith should have very little life left too. Above the barren land shows a blue sky. This independent blue highlights the man hanging from the cross making the symbols on him stand out and appear to be more important. Looking at another frame in this music video shows a girl in white clothing jumping up and down cheering at dead babies hanging from a tree. 

The dead bodies hanging from the tree is clearly dead fetus. The bodies resemble fetus due to the iconic positions they are hanging. That position is most typical related to how a baby looks in the womb. The color white has different meanings for different religions. The girl is laughing at the death of unborn children represents religion laughing at the most innocent of all. Fetuses are probably the most innocent identity because they have literally have not sinned. Because of the mocking this girl shows, it proves how faith fails the believers which conforms Cobain's belief  that faith is a waste of time.  The another important layer of this frame is the blue background in the back. The blue highlights the girl’s outfit, the tree, and the fetuses which are important because it emphasizes the message Cobain wants to send to the people viewing his music. 

Ultimately, religion is perceived as a perfection until man’s self-insertion into a religion that makes it imperfect. In the spiritual realm, religion would be visualized as perfection, but the distorted cross represents the humanity’s insertion which causes religion to be imperfect. The presence of the Santa Claus hat is fascinating; it seems that Cobain may be explaining if one is allowed account for the universe by faith, then everyone would have a right to determine their personal beliefs. Therefore, believing in Santa Claus is not different than the faith in a deity. 
