Klaas1 Essays - Child Welfare, Social Work, Childhood, Child Abuse

Klaas1 Riley Klaas Professor Jessica Wedemeyer June 25, 2018 ENG 101 Child Abuse: A Social Injustice The song Blown Away by Carrie Underwood is the perfect song to show the social injustice of child abuse. The imagery in the video, the words in the chorus and the verses Carrie uses are powerful and bring to light the abuse of power some adults hold over children. Child abuse, whether emotional, physical, sexual or all of the above is a social injustice that is done to the most vulnerable of our society. It is a societal issue that crosses all races, creeds, religions and regions. The injustice done to children and the continued failure of our society to protect them is like a blight on the fabric of humanity. The camera's opening shot is in black and white. The image seems slightly blurred and shows us a father and college aged daughter in a small, old fashioned kitchen. The song actually opens with dialog between them instead of music. The dad pours some whisky into his coffee cup and the daughter notice s yet says nothing . At first it seems as if the dad is concerned and offers to help his daughter with her homework, but she quickly rejects his offer and the scene rapidly turns to violence. He grabs her arm and tries to pull at her. She forcibly escapes and he yells at her "Hey, I am your father!" This all happens before the music actually begins. The Klaas2 camera is moving all around the two people and the people are also moving. The effect is haunting ; it appears as if he is exerting his "Fatherly Authority" over her. When the music begins, there is a storm brewing, wind, lightening , and thunder is heard. A perfect Oklahoma storm . As the music begins, the wind is blowing and the storm is coming. I believe that in the second line of the song, where Carrie Underwood sings, "Those storm clouds gather in her eyes , " the girl is indicating that she is finished with being abused. Next, she describes her dad as " mean " and indicates that her m other ha d passed away. Carrie Underwood uses the line, "her daddy was a mean old mister - Mama was an angel in the ground." These words , along with the visual , allow the listener to understand the theme of this song , which child abuse . Towards the end of the first verse, Carrie sings , "She prayed blow it down." Th is line leads into the second verse , which continues to give the listener an idea of how awful and long lasting the abuse has been. She uses the word "sin" saying, "there is not enough rain-to wash the sins out , " and refers to, "There's not enough wind- to rip the nails out of the past." She knows that unless something supernatural or God helps her, she may never escape. The third verse and the chorus allow us to see the victim ' s point of view on this situation. In the video, t he dad is passed out on the couch, and the twister is coming. The words, "shutter every wind, -every brick, every board, every slamming door," then, "till there's nothing left of yesterday- every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away, Blown away.". This chorus indicates the importance of the storm and twister taking everything and leaving nothing. Klaas3 Repeating the words "blown away," is a way to emphasize that the wants nothing left, absolutely nothing left. Returning to the visual aspect of the song, the viewer watches as s he leaves him there passed out, to face wha tever may come , while she seeks safety in the storm cellar. The words, "some people call it taking shelter, she called it sweet revenge,." is telling of her feelings. By using the words, "sweet revenge" she uses dramatic irony. The image in the video is her memories of her father's past violence, the storm, the wind whipping and the tornado wiping everything away. The tempo is fast and the camera switches from people and past memories to the present moment and