All-Star Game for the All-Star Blog

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAg3uMlNyHA

Notes:

0:20 – Macklemore walks into a gym (the one which the NBA shot their 2013 All Star commercial in, commercial link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEz5mycFcLw )

0:22 – camera zooms in and focuses on his Jordans

0:36 – stops in the middle of the court and looks down as if he is thinking about something

0:39 – starts to sing

0: 44 – transitions into scene with little boy in Jordans and a Jordan jersey in the driveway of his house

0:57 – kid jumps to touch the net of the basketball hoop and hits the infamous Jordan pose

1:07 – in his room trying on another pair of Nikes

1:18 – in class with his Jordans on as opposed to the other kids who are wearing “Four stripes, some Adidas”

1:44 – adult Macklemore in a child’s room with photographs of places where people were either robbed or killed for their shoes

1:55 – transitions back to young Macklemore as he stands in front of an MJ poster

2:07 – all sorts of people playing and practicing basketball in Jordans

2:32 – adult Macklemore sitting in front of kids with a book teaching and giving them a lesson on consumerism

2:41 – young Macklemore obsessing over his Jordans

2:52 – transitions back to adult Macklemore as he continues to talk to kids of all ages about the same topic

2:57 – young Macklemore cleaning his Jordans

4:00 – young Macklemore gets robbed of his shoes and has to walk home in socks

4:26 – shows other people and their Jordan collections

4:30 – people waiting in line for Jordans

5:00 – young Macklemore pulls out another pair of Jordans and puts them on as if to show that even such an incident won’t stop him from wearing Jordans, or maybe Jordans are part of his identity that he can’t take them off

5:23 – ends the song with “And now I see it’s just another pair of shoes”

“Wings” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis is a song which challenges and debates the two sides to consumerism, which is the “social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts”(Wikipedia). Through the music video’s narrative and storytelling style, the two sides to the issue are each being represented by an individual. Both individuals are supposed to be Macklemore himself, him as an adult and a younger version of himself, who is being acted by another child. The adult Macklemore takes the negative side of consumerism as the young Macklemore depicts the positive, more naive side. The music video and lyrics take on a roller coaster of emotions as they bounce from the pros and cons of consumerism. As young Macklemore depicts the joys that may come from material possessions, Macklemore himself takes on the role as an educator to the youth, informing them on the dangers of consumerism and how these corporations successfully consume our minds. Despite his continuing obsession with Jordans and Nikes which stems from his childhood, he concludes the song with “and now I see it’s just another pair of shoes”. He has grown to accept that he fell victim to buying a dream and understands that those shoes with an air bubble are nothing more than just a pair of shoes.

 

Context:

In this blog post, I mentioned that the NBA used this song in the 2013 All-Star Game commercial but I didn’t mention how it was used. This song is centered around the dangers of consumerism and how large corporations consume our minds by selling us a dream. However, what makes this song so catchy is its chorus. The chorus goes as follows:

“I wanna fly

Can you take me far away

Gimmie a star to reach for

Tell me what it takes

And I’ll go so high

I’ll go so high

My feet won’t touch the ground

Stitch my wings

And pull the strings

I bought these dreams

That all fall down”

For the All -Star Game commercial, the NBA decided to use the chorus, however chose to exclude the last four lines. Essentially, they pulled snippets from the song which went along with their intentions of advertising the game and the products that they sell. Judging by the commercial, you would think the song is about how great these products make us feel, but when you give the whole song a listen, you will understand that Macklemore is actually condemning corporations such as the NBA. It is quite ironic to see that the NBA would use this song, but as long as Macklemore’s opinion was silenced, the NBA got what they wanted. This case does a great job portraying the importance of acknowledging all perspectives to their entirety. Many times voices are silenced or reduced for the sake of proving a point. If we took “Wing$” for what it was in the NBA commercial, our understanding for the song would be totally incorrect.