Rebekah Honaker

English comp II

2/20/22

The Impact of ‘All for Us’

In the song ' All for love,' you come to understand the negative impact of drugs and are

provided a new understanding of the stereotypes black people face and how detrimental

people's assumptions are to the mental health of black youth. Both videos that accompany the

song use the same lyrics, but the purpose of both changes when put with visuals. The video

both heavily explores the impact that emotions and words have on the audiences to make

them understand the people in each video face. Both videos have a deep and powerful

meaning, but when you look at who they are meant for and how both audiences will be

impacted, you see how dynamic the lyrics are. The first video breaks down how drugs affect rue

and her recovery, and the second one looks at the stress of a young boy to grow into the world

expectations of him.

The first video for the song ' all for us' looks at the main character of the show, euphoria. This

song is used to end the first season of a gut-wrenching show that shows you can't just see

people in black and white, good and bad. We all are some of both. The show depicts a girl who

losses her father at 14 and becomes addicted to pills. It's sad to see her fall into the aftermath

of rehab and try to stay sober. At the end of the show, she is at a low point and starts using

again, and this song walks you through her story and shows you some of her thoughts and

feelings.
We see the main character, rue, go through the pain of losing her father, how that affects her

growing up, and how she felt closer to him than she did with her mom and the song looks at

how she feels like she is held to a standard she can't keep by her mom. The music video is a

fantastic way for her to showcase some of the reasons she struggles and uses to cope with the

reality she doesn't want to face. The show does a great job of opening up a conversation about

the struggles that frequently come with the misuse of drugs and what it looks like in a family.

The song provokes feelings of a power imbalance and a never-ending challenge that cant be

won no matter how hard you try, giving you an emotional connection to the people in the

show.

The second music video is a much different style as it is animated and shows the struggles that

a young black boy walks through as he grows up in a world that stereotypes him and makes

growing up even harder for anyone who has gone through racial struggles. You see in the video.

He grows up without a father, which impacts how he lives as the shift is on him to be the man

of the household while still young. This makes him have to choose between being a child and an

adult. And to help make money for his family's well-being, the pressures to do things he once

saw as wrong change his mind over time, causing an identity struggle.

The pain and struggle to want to be " good enough" are present in both videos. You can clearly

see how the emotions evoked in both videos make you feel new sympathy for the struggles of

both prominent people when your intention reaction might have been to see the issues in a

negative light. Both videos open the conversation about how groups of people in both videos

are looked down on by society for the things they chose to do without looking at them as

people and seeing the person behind the struggle.

The video that made me feel the most for the words behind the video was the first one, with

rue and her drug abuse. She is played really well, and I think that performance made the most

impact on the viewer. I loved both the impact and the message behind both videos and the

issues they both shed light on. But if you are looking at the weight of the emotional impact, the

first video pulls your heartstrings most.

“euphoria | official song by labrinth & zendaya - “all for us” full song (s1 ep8) | HBO”

youtube.com uploaded by, Euphoria. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-9DOwrLdkg

Accessed on February 18th 2022

“Labrinth - All For Us (Official Animated Video)” youtube.com uploaded by, Labrinth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcF60CKr5m4

Accessed on February 18th 2022