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Timothy Folkers
Rhiannon Catherwood
Media Analysis
24 November 2014
Rooftops
Family has been portrayed in every piece of media at some point. Specifically, the
stereotypical family of a heterosexual couple, married, with around two kids and the husband
works while the wife stays at home. This is viewed as a traditional family in all kinds of media
like the news, commercials, and even music videos. Music videos are a excellent way of sending
information and persuading the youth population. Teenagers can see the artists expressing their
thoughts which then get engraved into the thoughts of the youth. With a band like Lostprophets,
they influence the minds of teenagers with their style of clothing and their message of breaking
away from the mainstream. Their message shows us that we should go against the traditional
family lifestyle and create a life that we want for ourselves.
In Lostprophets music video, Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast), it starts off with
showing all of the band members one at a time. It then cuts to a traditional family at a dinner in
their home. The dad is a middle-aged businessman, the wife is a stay at home mom, and the
daughter is a teenager that dresses in the emo/punk scene. The wife gets into an argument with
the husband and he slams the table startling the daughter. The mother tries to defend her. Then it
cuts to a business-like father yelling at his son who also dresses like a punk. The dad yells at him
and the son rolls his eyes. After that, it cuts to a teenager working in a restaurant. He is trying to

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frantically prepare all the dishes. He does a poor job and the manager yells at him. It pans back
to the band jamming on the rooftop of a building then it cuts to back to the family having dinner.
The parents continue arguing and the daughter is trying to ignore it. The camera switches to the
father yelling at his son in the car and then back to the teenager working at the restaurant. It then
cuts back to the band for the final chorus then it pans over to the daughter screaming her heart
out and shattering the wine glasses at the table. It then pans over to the working teenager
screaming and shattering the plates in the kitchen. Then it cuts to the son in the car screaming
and breaking the windows. It finally shows the band as well as other teenagers on the same
rooftop that are dressed like the punk style. Then it finishes with the band playing the final chord
and fading out.
This music video targets those in the youth population, specifically those in their teenage
years. In addition, the genre of this music directs its audience to those that listen to this style,
mainly the punk scene. The way that the people dress in the music video also display who it is
directed to because the teenagers are wearing very dark clothing and have long hair with
highlights. However, their message is very specific to those living in a traditional family. In the
teenage years, teenagers do not always obey everything that their parents say. Teenagers try to
identify themselves as individuals that can do what they please and this music video emphasizes
that as well as encourages it. Kids this age are increasingly aware of how others, especially their
peers, see them and are desperately trying to fit in (A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Teen
Years). So those that associate themselves with the out-casted group tend to try and fit in with
them.
The lifestyle of a stereotypical family makes it difficult for people to express how they
want to be. This lifestyle focuses on sticking with what is the mainstream and criticizes those

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who are different from them. What can be considered mainstream would be someone who lives a
lifestyle where everyone accepts them. They follow the popular trend of today so that they can fit
into the crowd. People who try to fit in do anything by trying to get acceptance from others
which can vary from wearing certain clothes or doing what everyone does. Those who do not
follow into what is mainstream get out-casted by everyone because they do not fit in; those outcasted try to fit in with their own group that is against the norms of the mainstream. The support
that non-mainstream teenagers receive is little especially with a stereotypical family because they
want you to become what they see fit for you even if it means trying to get acceptance from the
mainstream. But by becoming with what your parents want you to be limits the freedom one has
to be different and those who go against tradition are oppressed. Some parents perceive
themselves as having total responsibility for their children's fate (The Perfect Family). In a
stereotypical family where the father works and the mother stays home, kids that go against the
tradition are seen as failures to the family.
After watching the music video, people who are oppressed for going against the values of
the stereotypical family should create a new life. The teenagers in the video have the choice to
live how they want to live but, it is oppression they receive for choosing something different then
what your parents want of you. The Lostprophets music video really emphasizes that you should
live with no regrets. Non-mainstream teenagers who are oppressed should do whatever pleases
them and those who scream their heart out and rise above from their family can achieve it. The
teenagers in the video disassociate themselves from what the mainstream is. Throughout the
video it showed the parents of the teenagers. Those parents represent what would be the
stereotypical parents and how they are the opposite of what their kid is. They want their kid to be
like them and live a lifestyle that they think suits them when really they ostracize them by the

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route they created for themselves. This really impacts the audience by having them examine their
lifestyle and see the situation that they live in.
Music videos have a powerful effect on the minds of the youth. The lyrics in the song
along with the visuals in the video have the power to influence those who feel oppressed like in
Lostprophets music video Rooftops. These messages can show how certain people wish to be
different from the values that they grew up with and to strive away from the mainstream. People
can tell you how to live your life for so long, but if you are subjugated in a family that forces
their tradition upon you, it is ultimately up to you whether you choose to go against tradition and
create a new life for yourself.

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Works Cited
"A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Teen Years." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about
Children's Health. Ed. Heidi M. Sallee. The Nemours Foundation, 01 Jan. 2011. Web. 12
Nov. 2014. <http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/growing/adolescence.html>.
"The "Perfect" Family." HealthyChildren.org. N.p., 10 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/family-dynamics/Pages/ThePerfect-Family.aspx>.

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