Music Video: Seventeen Forever by Metro Station

Argument:

Watco- What are the advantages of being young and seventeen on choices one can make?

Claim- Being young and seventeen allows one to make choices without having to be responsible for those choices.

Reason- Because by being young and seventeen allows us to get away with making bad choices.

Assumption- Whatever allows us to get away with making bad choices also allows us to be free of responsibility from those choices.


Audience: The specified target audience, are the teenagers in the world who feel as if its time for them to grow up and quit making spontaneous decisions.


Goal: To remind the younger generation that we should remember to take advantage of every opportunity to have fun while we can because we wont be “seventeen forever”.

How?:

Pathos- The rave-like setting of the music video draws on the emotions of its viewers as it shows the ecstasy and freedom that the teenagers are enjoying. The music video also displays the teens competing in different attractions the amusement park has to offer, drawing on the viewers emotions of remembering their experiences riding bumper cars, cuddling with a girl on the ferris wheel, etc.

Logos- The amusement park is set in what seems like the middle of nowhere, and the safety of being hidden in the foggy conditions of the night hints to viewers that the teens picked a place and setting where they wouldn’t have to worry about being caught. I also feel as if logic is being used when the lyrics of, “and we can get away with this tonight,” are used correspondingly with the image of a couple making-out alone on the ferris wheel. They obviously are secluded from the rest of the group partying below, and even though they are at a big social gathering, they’ve been able to find their own private place where, “they can get away with anything tonight”.

Relevance- I can see the relevance the band tries to use by shooting the music video in a party-like setting that teens could relate too. For many teens, trying to party without getting in trouble with parents and adults is a regular issue that they must deal with.


Effective?: Although many teens will realize the video is just a creative way to portray the lyrics of the song, the images portrayed in the music video may have an impact on giving viewers the idea that they can get away with more than they previously imagined.