Post #15 Music Video

The video that I have chosen, “Falling Down,” by Atreyu, mocks the storyline of the famous book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. The members of the band portray the characters in the book who were called the greasers. Throughout the movie, the members of the band are shown doing many different acts that the kids who were considered rebels would do. They are smoking, stealing, and fighting. For the majority of the time you see the band actually playing they have set up their stage right in the middle of a drive-in movie. Obviously purposely trying to obstruct the movie-goer’s view, the band continues to play. While they are rocking out in front of the screen, the people seem to get more and more annoyed with them but the band doesn’t seem to care. Later in the video, we see one of the characters stealing alcohol from the general store while his friend distracts the cashier. Other aspects let the viewer know that these greasers are not the goody-goodies that the boys in the letterman jackets and the girls in the poodle skirts are. The band members are also linked together by their leather jackets, which they seem to wear with pride. At the highest tension point of the video, we see all of the greasers meeting up with the jocks in a large field at night. When they are confronted, the leader of the jocks taunts the leader of the greasers by saying, “Hey, Alex, long time no see!” From here we learn that they used to be friends back in the day and when they started fighting, the Alex character decided to join the greasers side while his old friend joined the jocks. At this point a huge fight breaks out and punches are thrown everywhere. The fight ends with the jocks’ faces in the mud and the greasers shouting victoriously.


These greasers were viewed somewhat as social outcasts in the public’s eye. But this was only the stereotype that they were given. They were also seen as the rebels of their era. I believe the members of Atreyu chose to replicate this setting for their music video because they were able to relate to the greasers in that book. All of the members of Atryeu had hard times fitting in when they were younger and all of their lyrics tend to attract kids who have struggled through the same problems. They group has always had a rebel tone to it, with all of the heavy music, screaming, piercings, and tattoos. Throughout the video, a light rain starts to come down on the band as they are playing. This creates a really cool effect when the drummer hits his cymbals but I believe it has a deeper meaning than just for looks. As the video continues, the rain gets harder and harder until the point when the fight breaks out and the tension is incredible. At that point, it isn’t just raining, it is straight down-pouring. The leather jacket that each of the band members wear shows a bond between them and also an acceptance to the rebel stereotype. A leather jacket has always been viewed as a rebel article of clothing, and by them all wearing it proudly, it seems as if they are proud of the stereotype that the rest of the town has created for them.