Bennett 1

Isabella Bennett

Professor Blouch

English Composition II

February 6 2020

The Ignition of Empowerment

“I am titanium.” A phrase that people subconsciously try to remember as they fight their

daily battles. When they’re tiptoeing alongside the path of rejection and failure, this phrase

carries them through and gives them the strength they need to survive. Sometimes this strength

initiates from another person reaching out their arm and picking someone up when they fall

down. But in the other times, the deeper, darker times, there’s the person that pushes others

down. Those people somehow decide to pick themselves up and let it add to their strength, rather

than take it away. Whether the confidence comes from a new found love someone has for

themself, or it comes from someone else lifting them up, having self-confidence is extremely

important. Both “You Say” by LAuren Daigle and “Titanium” by David Guetta and Sia conquer

the difficult topic of self-empowerment; however, Lauren Daigle focuses on how the actions of

others lift people up, while David Guetta and Sia hone in on how others can tear people down,

essentially trying to enslave them. Both videos do this by appealing to the viewers’ pathos.

To begin, “You Say” by Lauren Daigle is a song that conveys the story of how it only

takes one person telling someone they are enough in order to lift that person’s spirits and boost

their self-esteem and their self-image. In this video, Daigle appears in the video seated in a

gloomy, lifeless room. This image reflects the “voices in [her] mind that say [she’s] not enough”

that she is fighting. The dreary aura of the room Daigle is sitting in allows the viewer to feel for

her and empathize for what she is going through on a deeper level. Continuing on throughout the
 Bennett 2

video, the atmosphere around Daigle begins to change. Gradually, the sun begins to creep out

from behind the clouds and protrude into Daigle’s room. This correlates to the vibe of the song

because as the video progresses, the mood of the room with Daigle embodies how the song

makes the audience feel more and more. This is displayed in the fully lit room at the end of the

video, when Daigle feels the most empowered. The whole reason that Daigle begins to feel better

about herself isn’t because of anything she personally did. But rather, she started to feel worthy

after something/someone told her she was. This message implies that the positivity of someone

else can be so powerful that it can completely alter someone else’s mood. And this is why the

intended audience of this particular video would be someone who is most likely a female. This is

because often times females need to feel empowered more than males, so this video would speak

to that.

Furthermore, the atmosphere of the room with Daigle appeals to the viewer’s pathos or

emotions, because the video shows someone who is very personable experiencing a whirlwind of

emotions. When the viewer sees a woman who is undergoing an intramural conflict, it causes the

reader to feel a certain emotion and begin to feel sympathetic towards Lauren Daigle. This

causes the viewer to feel sad, and may even make them begin to question their self-worth in

certain situations. But, when they see Daigle being motivated by an external force, this can cause

the viewer to look for, or possibly even become that external force in their own, or someone

else’s life. Additionally, the music video of “You Say” by Lauren Daigle appeals to the viewers’

emotions by showing someone in a situation that is extremely realistic. Many people face times

in their lives where they feel like they have no worth or like they have no purpose to their life.

So, the choice to show someone going through that and overcoming it is something that many
 Bennett 3

audience members can connect to on a personal level, since it is likely that they experienced it at

some point in their own life.

On the other hand, the song “Titanium” by David Guetta ft. Sia does cover the same

theme of self-worth and empowerment, but the cause for said empowerment could not be more

different. This video opens with a female heroine who is clearly dealing with some obstacles in

her life. She is seen storming out of a building at the beginning of the video, which allows the

viewer to notice how upset she is. She proceeds to hop on her bike and push herself past her

limits. Since this song is all about people pushing other people down, the scene of the main

character allowing the negativity of others to only make her stronger allows the audience to

connect with her on a much deeper level. It is quite likely that this scene would motivate the

viewer to not let what others say get them down. This is why it can be inferred that the audience

of this video would be someone who is the victim of some sort of bullying or harassment,

perhaps someone who belongs to a minority group in society.

Furthermore, David Guetta and Sia appeal to the viewers’ pathos or emotions. They do

this by making certain strategic choice throughout the video that allow the audience to feel ana

emotional connection to the character in the video. A specific example of this connection of

pathos between the video and the audience occurs when the male police officer is beating up the

main female protagonist in this video. This scene fosters the emotion of anger in the audience

towards the male antagonist, because he is beating up an innocent girl and is trying to tear her

down. To continue, another instance of this pathological connection between the audience and

the main female character in the video is when she doesn’t let this encounter with the police

officer knock her down. This gives the viewer the motivation and courage to be able to make the

same kind of decision in their own life.

 Bennett 4

Conclusively, both the song “You Say” by Lauren Daigle and the song “Titanium” by

David Guetta ft. Sia carry a very valuable message along with them. They both convey the

strength of self-empowerment; however, Lauren Daigle conveys this message by displaying how

another person instigates this empowerment, whereas David Guetta and Sia imply that the

empowerment comes from someone tearing someone else down, but that person chooses to not

let it affect them. Both songs appeal to the audience’s pathos by depicting personal and real

scenes, in which the main character is working through some sort of conflict. Eventually, once

that character overcomes that conflict and allows it to empower them, it allows the viewer to also

feel empowered and blur that idea into their own life. Additionally, the audiences of each video

vary slightly. While both videos have audiences made up of people who are in need of

empowerment, Daigle’s video would appeal more to someone who has a positive support system

in their life, whereas Guetta and Sia’s would likely appeal more to someone who is trying to

overcome a weight put upon them by another person.

Works Cited

“You Say” by Lauren Daigle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaT8Jl2zpI
 Bennett 5

“Titanium” by David Guetta ft. Sia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfuAukYTKg