Runaway

Kanye West (2010)

Kanye rips his heart open in this lyrical rock opera. 

For my movie choice this week I took a look at Kanye West who after some time off in the woods has returned to us still a little too high for us to get on his level, so I thought I’d try to join him on his. I’m going to largely be focusing on the visual images that West provides us as I think the lyrics hold up on their own and need no explanation from me. 

The scene opens with power. We see West driving furiously through the woods as if he is being pursued while Mozart’s Lacrimosa plays in the background. Lacrimosa is a requiem and has a crushing Catholic presence. I wanted to know more about why West chose this song. Upon my research, I learned that this requiem’s text has the answer.

“Full of tears will be that day When from the ashes shall arise The guilty man to be judged; Therefore spare him, O God, Merciful Lord Jesus, Grant them eternal rest. Amen.”

I like the image of Kanye’s MTX Tatra V8 snaking through the dense forest while Dark Fantasy plays. It dances with a sense of nature against man-in-nature and it is in nature that he crashes his car in a violent accident but it is also in nature that he meets the “half-Phoenix” woman that comes from the explosion. If there was not one, there would not be the other. Hinting that his near-death gave him his desire to seek out something greater than life. It reminds me of a quote attributed to Hemingway (but actually was said by his wife, Willa Cather) “The heart of another is a dark forest”. The next shot is him carrying the half-Pheonix, Griffin (Selita Ebanks), away from the chaos he found her in. An attempt to make something beautiful out of its own suffering and brutal world.

The next shot is a stark contrast to the deep and dark forest we were just in. Here we see an awaking Griffin in a spruce minimalist apartment that is modern with sharp edges and large windows to let in light. Griffin is truly wild and confused by domesticity and becomes fixated on the TV when Kanye turns it off as if by magic from behind her and tells Griffin to “never pay attention to the news”. Eight years later and I’m fascinated by the consistency that Kanye has in reference to today’s political climate and his affinity for Donald Trump who echoes the same statement.

A fiery shot as smoke billows with a red undertone as Gorgeous begins to play and we see Griffin thriving in the “nature” that Kanye has provided for her in captivity. The music and song together give us a hint that he is not sorry for keeping her in this condition because he desires her, admitting a lust for power and domination. “Ain’t no question if I want it, I need it.” He tentatively watches to see what her reaction is.

During a remix of Power we see that she is able to channel her divinity through her body. She does this during music that Kanye is able to create for her. They begin playing off of each other creatively and there is an exchange between the two in a language that only they can understand. 

All of the Lights takes over and we see fireworks. A great celebration is being held by Kanye for the sole purpose of seeing Griffin smile and awing her. After the dance Kanye has a desire to provide for her in spectacular ways by displaying his own creative prowess. It is truly a masterpiece that shows who Kanye is and proves that her presence has pushed him to reach even greater heights. However, the smoke from the fireworks becomes menacing that both harkens to their fiery provenience and foreshadows man-made doom. 

The next shot is Griffin being introduced to social etiquette by Kanye. He has a desire to change her and mold her into something that he can use in a social setting. While he begins trying to change her by socializing her she endearingly smiles and tries to learn the nonsensical items that he has put in front of her.  

Devil in a New Dress plays as guests in all white arrive to a dinner that has tinges of Christian communion in a specifically black congregation. There is a reversal of power as milk white women serve them pink wine. The crowd, dressed symbolically,  begin to criticize and judge Kanye’s guest. The women become threatened and the men I am unable to read, but realize that might be a deliberate attempt on their part. Griffin who is so far removed from her element, to begin with, is awkwardly aware that something is amiss and tries to apply the knowledge that Kanye has been imparting, but it is not quite natural and misses the mark. A friend of Kanye’s compliments Griffin’s beauty but begins to ask him questions as if she is a spectacle that was brought solely to be used as ornamental entertainment. He pushes away from his desk and Runaway plays.

With some great works of art, we are drawn in by one specific point of beauty. We might be in love with part of it, but the entirety of it is missing to give the same impression. Kanye sings of his ability to find something wrong even with something so out of this world that seemingly no one could refuse. He urges her to “runaway” from him. The pain is evident on his face. When he makes a toast for the dinner party to raise their glasses, she is the only one he knows who is not a “douchebag” and does not raise her glass in unison. She instead watches him and smiles with a look of understanding and empathy to Kanye’s message which falls upon the world with deaf ears or with misunderstanding. Something I think Kanye wanted to make very clear by using these images. The dancers are synced to the music that follows but in an organic way which makes it look like it if is happening by accident, after the last note, the dancer stops in a pose that shows complete exhaustion.  

Even if an object or work of art (in this case Griffin) does not completely satisfy you it is in those supporting features that help you stick through those difficulties. The notes during a crescendo or a refrain are an example of what I mean. In Griffin’s case, while she is far from perfect, Kanye realizes that her inherent goodness is a supporting feature which makes her valuable enough to be protected from the “Douchebags” which includes even himself. 

During the dinner, she realizes that the food being served was once alive and she recoils from Kanye’s world in horror. Hell of a Life is introduced. Griffin’s moral framework is intrinsically different and at odd’s with Kanye’s. Her grief is palpable and she has been introduced to the cruelty that she was not aware of before, or not aware that he had before. The scene is ended with an explosion and the next song, Blame Game begins. We are transported back to her old environment where she now cannot enjoy herself with the same wild abandon that she had before. 

The clouds change and we see Kanye and Griffin outside. Griffin tries to get Kanye to understand the world through her eyes. She tells him that his society has turned living works of art into cold stone sculptures. She says that the people in great sculptures were once half-phoenixes’ like herself but those great men cut their wings off and without the ability to be themselves, they withered and died and could not be reborn. She tells Kanye that she must burn up so that she can change and return to her own natural state. She cannot continue to live in the world that Kanye has made for her but Kanye refuses to let her go and instead acquiesces to changing in order to keep her by his side. He decides to abandon trying to capture power and harness it and instead of letting it flow through him. Lost in the World plays and we see from Kanye’s POV a euphoric vision of sexual ecstasy. There is an explosion as a symbol of release that reminds me of a quote from Song to Song. “We played with the flame of life”.

Daylight is the next scene symbolizing a clear mind and vision. Kanye is relaxing in a state of nature for the first time. He is lost in himself when he realizes that Griffin is gone. Knowing her desire to be her own person he furiously runs towards the woods. A full 180 degrees from the opening sequence where he himself was a “runaway”. She is found burning in ascension with a mournful expression as she looks back to her old lover who cannot follow her. We hear Gil Scott-Heron ask us the question as we watch her leave, “Who will survive in America”? 

the credits roll as the song continues and we hear a surprising admission from Kanye through Scott-Heron, 

“All I want is a good home and a wife and a children And some food to feed them every night”