[YeezyStan]

its pretty straightforward IMO

 

[king.]

the general public is slow

 

[kettlebanned]

too sloww

 

[T. Houze]

you gotta be really slow to not get it. It's not that hard to get especially with the dinner scene when they were talking about the phoneix

 

[battleborn]

I got it, but I just want to clarify - the ballerinas' dance represents the pheonix turning into statues yeh? Also what were the meaning behind the deers. Somebody told me that they represented the devil or something because of the horns lol (I hope it's not that simple a connection) but I read somewhere that they just represent the public and how they watch but do nothing..?

 

[AlexW]

Personally, I think that the deers/animals and the ballerinas didn't necessary need to represent anything.
It was actually the painter's wife of the album cover who said that Runaway reminded her of ballerinas.
Sometimes things don't have to make sense.

I'm still a bit puzzled about the whole MJ part though.

EDIT: However, they did pan over the ballerinas when Kanye & Selita talked about statues and Phoenix turned to stone.

 

[eleanor jones]

what plot?

 

[IceandRain]

Please enlighten me, because I had no idea what the fuck was going on...

I catch that the pheonix crashed to the earth and he was showing her the world, and people hated her because she's different, and that she fucked Kanye, burnt herself, and flew back to her planet/world

But that being said, WTF?

 

[battleborn]

There is a plot - especially if you take note of how Kanye draws parallels between the film and his career/life. It's art that requires latteral thinking.
This is an interpretation I read on another forum - I agree with most of it.

The start: Him driving in a fast car symbolises his life in the fast lane, doing what he wants, but what he doesn't realise is that he's on a collision coarse, which is shown with the comet (Phoenix) and his car. The random animals, dears and !! symbolise "us" the public on lookers just witnessing his life/career.

lyrics: "Can we get much higher?".... he's at the peak of his career, but then !! comes crashing down.

He discovers a pheonix that hasn't rose from flames but crashed in flames, much like his life it isn't how he percieved things would go... essentially the opposite of the cliche'.

The Phoenix awakes to the news and then explores the back yard... if you are able to see the Phoenix as an extension of kanyes emotions he is "re-awaking" after the "fall from grace" and starts by "exploring his own backyard". The forrest animals symbolise his perception of his own unique mind, he begins rediscovering himself.

The MPC scene, although extremely hot the Phoenix is simply kanye's soul gainning life and inspiration as he hits each button on the MPC. He begins to feel what he needs to do... "create" pretty much what kanye has said in interviews.

Little Kid with red flare: Kanye showing the pheonix all of the lights and a statue of MJ.... i dont really know, paying homage to the man that started the whole "music video" thing and realising that there is alot of greatness and special !! in the world that gain your attention and deserve appreciation, but prolly don't get what they deserve? then the random KKK dude with the flare... possibly means that despite all the wonder of the world theres still hate and evil in this world leading ppl in the wrong direction.

Pheonix learning to use a cup with the claws... simply kanyes just learning to do !! again but with different tools.

The dinner scene is most probably kanye expressing how he feels when he enters a room. Although he appears normal he is judged for his accessories and everything connected to him.

The ballerina scene confuses me in trying analyses what he was trying to achieve, perhaps trying to show that although he makes the music we all listen to, beauty is still defined as a white ballerina? Although kanye puts his soul into what he does, the attention is always focused on the pretty ballerinas? i dont know.

After the phoenix spaz's out at dinner shes in the backyard again, and the animals (public) are no longer paying attention, they are eating going about their business, not caring about the phoenix... she's been shun.

His discussions with the phoenix are to show that he has questions his thoughts, ideas and perceptions internally, and has wrestled with his desires knowing the truth "that the he has to burn (suffer) to be set free otherwise he will turn to stone (become irrelevant)".

the secks scene is about kanye comming to peace with his soul? becoming one and becoming complete, at the same time letting go of his problems that intially brought his world crashing down,.

kanye awakes in a peaceful garden knowing that he has to chase the dream he was originally on, he was always lost, but now he knows what he's chasing, but still doesn't know where he is.

The end: at the start we see kanye driving aimlessly, but by the end of the film he has shed all the material things "car" and is running with purpose with a cause to what he feels is his destiny, representing his new outlook on life.... pink diamond teeth and all.

In regards to the MJ bit, Kanye explained on MTV how MJ is essentially the world's biggest cultural figure (excluding Jesus). I assume in not wanting to single out a religion and also to pay homage to MJ, he used him, a marching band and KKK followers to suggest a rigid, mechanical cult-like society.
At the start of the scene that little kid is running free with a burning torch (ambition, expression, indiviualism), but then at the end of the scene you see him also wearing a hood and his torch is dying. The point (more or less) that Kanye was trying to make is that people are raised so that we as a society are controlled - subsequently everybody is the same and devoid of true unique expression .etc. That really serves to give an outlook of the world which the 'different' Pheonix has entered.

The ballerina scene (how I interpret it) is what I wrote a few posts above..

 

[T. Houze]

I think the people at the dinner scene could represent "the douchebags" that he associates himself within his social circle. When he was playing Runaway, I noticed how they all raised there glasses when he said "lets have a toast..."
Also how the Phoenix helped him break away from his normal way of living and those he surrounds himself around.