Born to die
The music video of Lana Del Ray’s Born to Die, depicts the failure of the “American Dream”. It begins with a couple holding each other by the American flag, suggesting they are a couple trying to make the American dream a reality, however as they are holding each other tightly, could imply that they are struggling to achieve the dream.
In the opening of the video, there is an establishing master of a church where Lana is sitting on a throne guarded by two tigers. Throughout the film there are subliminal images of a Christian atmosphere in the video. In this part, the surrounding is like a European Catholic Church, symbolising she is worthy of a superior heaven. However this links with the man in the video, as he appears like a rebellious character with his tattoos and extreme hairstyle and clothing. It hinders that if she stays with him, he could drag her down from heaven.
Throughout the video, there are hinders to what type of person the man in the video is. His car is a second hand 80s sports car which is featured in films such as Dukes of Hazard, where most of the characters are violent. Also there is one part where he has his hand round Lana’s neck, suggesting his intentions for her, which are true because at the end of the video, it results in him killing her in a car accident, we think.
At the end when the man and Lana eventually die, they are both separated to the realms that belong. Lana goes to Heaven, which implies that she is pure and good. It also shows that the man has ruined her life because his evilness which has sent him to Hell has ended it so early in her life. There is lots of imagery displayed in the scene where the man is holding Lana’s dead body. The dead body implies he is a sinful person as murder is against the Ten Commandments. The tattoos on his body and dark panda eyes make him look very evil and dark, much like a grim reaper. And finally, the fire in the background is suggesting that he is currently in hell. All of these factors make his presence seem very evil and deathly, showing that Lana has been taken away from him because he is evil. Also the hell implies that he is living ‘hell on Earth’ as he has just killed his lover, so he must carry his torment and frustration on the fact that he murdered the person he most cared about.
