If you haven’t seen Katy Perry’s new music video for her most recent single ‘Part of Me,’ you’ve most likely have heard about it. It has made quite a splash, especially for those in the Marine Corps. For those of you who live under a rock, the premise of the video is essentially this:
Perry finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with some bimbo at his office. She furiously confronts him, tossing a heart shaped locket and a pile of papers at his face, before furiously driving away to buy a can of Arizona Green Tea. While at the convenience store, she sees a bumper sticker on the corkboard that states, “All women are created equal, then some become Marines.” Perry then proceeds to go completely moto and tapes her chest (all female Marines are required to tape their chest or wear sports bras under their work uniforms), cuts off her hair and enlists in the Marine Corps. The rest of the video consists of what is perceived to be Basic Training (a 13 week training program all enlisted Marines must go through).
Let me start off by saying that being a part of the Marine Corps is a huge responsibility and that those of you who are reading this article should not just run off and join the Marines because your ass of a boyfriend is cheating on you with some leggy blonde. Despite what the video shows, it is not a good idea unless you’ve thought it through extensively. It is a huge life changing decision.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, the actual music video itself is both motivating and hilarious. I respect the fact that Perry actually participated in some of the training that Marines have to go through during Basic. For example, the portion of the video where Perry is lying in the edge of the ocean with her arms locked with her fellow Marines is called “wet and sandy” and is an actual exercise. In fact, the music video took three days to film at Camp Pendleton, which is located in San Diego, CA.
However, it is hard to disregard the fact that during the march, Perry’s pack is significantly smaller than what it actually should be. Some of my Marine friends have joked that they’d rather carry me during marches rather than their actual packs. Also, a significant portion of the video shows Perry frolicking under a giant American flag held by a large group of Marines. Although this can be viewed comical at times, it is clear that she was going for more of a patriotic theme than anything else, which I can respect.
The fact that Perry actually wore proper woodlands and respected the uniform was a huge check plus for me. For a celebrity who likes to show off her girls, Perry did not try to make the uniform “sexy” or “chic,” which my female friends in various branches of service hugely appreciated.
The video’s premise may be hilarious and a little off, but Perry showed respect to the Marine Corps through her new music video. That is good enough to win me over. Plus the song itself is really catchy.