watch?v=y8Gf4-eT3w0&list=UUEOhcOACopL42xyOBIv1ekg&index=4&feature=plcp
In chapter two of “Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life,” David Newman informs us on the magnitude those who surround us also have an impact on the lives we’ve lived, live and are going to live in the near future. In other words, everyone from family members, friends, fellow students and colleagues, all have a vital contribution to the configuration of our lives. Lil’ Wayne, who is widely known for his controversial music, reaffirms the idea behind social influence in his music video, “How to Love.”
The music video opens with a mother who becomes apprehensive about aborting her child and later gives birth to her daughter. However, while raising her daughter, the mother undergoes a variety of unfortunate events such as domestic abuse and visiting her incarcerated love one, all of which her daughter has to experience as a child. Furthermore, once the daughter gets sexually assaulted in the “safety” of her own home while her mother was asleep, the chain of ill-fated events begin to shape the life she lives as a teenager. Nonetheless, the daughter matures into a promiscuous teenager who shortly becomes a parent of what appears to be two children. She then “chooses” to become a nightclub dancer which eventually results into the use of drugs and alcohol in addition to prostitution. Above all, after years of witnessing and experiencing unfortunate situations, the daughter soon learns she has become affected with HIV.
On the other hand, when the daughter was raised in a stable home, assuming there weren’t any acts of violence, and witnesses a profound love between her mother and a man, her life takes an entire new course. The daughter becomes a studious teenager, prioritizes school over boys and “chooses” a career path in cosmetology. In short, everything we endure in life has a prolific way of determining the lives we live. Although it may not be as tragic as the example shown by Lil’ Wayne, but it will definitely play a significant role in the lives we “choose” to live.
