In my last post, I decided that I would be making a video for Human Interest by Carol Ann Duffy. This poem is a personal favourite of mine, and I am very excited to make a video for it. I chose this poem because it describes a different perspective of a difficult situation. To further explain this point, I chose to analyse the poem itself. This will also let m have a better understanding on what happens and how this person is describing his actions. Here is the poem itself:
Fifteen years minimum, banged up inside
for what took thirty seconds to complete.
She turned away. I stabbed.Ā I felt this heat
burn through my skull until reason had died.
Iād slogged my guts out for her, but she lied
when I knew different.Ā She used to meet
some prick after work.Ā She stank of deceit.
I loved her.Ā When I accused her, she cried
andĀ deniedĀ it. Straight up,Ā she tore me apart.
On the Monday,Ā I foundĀ the other bloke
had bought her aĀ chainĀ with aĀ silver heart.
When I think about her now,Ā I near choke
with grief.Ā My baby.Ā She wasnāt a tart
or nothing.Ā I wouldnāt harm a fly,Ā no joke.
‘Fifteen years minimum, banged up inside for what took thirty seconds to complete.’ This crime that the narrator committed is juxtaposed with the amount of time it took for him to commit the murder. Banged up is usually slang for being locked up in prison.
‘She turned away. I stabbed‘ This line is interesting to me because it takes the phrase “being stabbed in the back” literally. Because of her infidelity, this lead the person to murder her and stab her in the back, like what she did to him metaphorically.
‘I felt this heat burn through my skull until reason had died‘ In a way, this person sounds like he is justifying the murder he committed to what she did to him. To any stable person, we know that what he did wasn’t justified at all.
‘I slogged my guts out for her‘ He explains that he would’ve done anything for this girl, and is basically blaming her for her murder.
‘But she lied when I knew different’ This man knew that she was having an affair and saw through the lies she told.
‘She used to meet some prick after work, she stank of deceit‘ She met up with a lover after work behind his back. The word ‘stank’ is used harshly and could imply that when she eventually came home, he could smell the other persons perfume on her.
‘I loved her‘ makes me feel as though he’s trying to justify himself further by attempting to gain sympathy from the reader.
‘When I accused her, she cried and denied it‘ This tells us that they argued about the subject frequently. Looking at the words he uses in the sentence, it feels as though he didn’t have any strong evidence to prove that she really was unfaithful to him.
‘Straight up, she tore me apart‘ further suggests that he’s trying to get the reader to sympathize with him. Her infidelity made him doubt the relationship and in return made him obsessive and unhealthy for her.
‘On the Monday I found the bloke had bought her a chain with a silver heart‘ I find this line interesting because silver is a very cheap metal. Normally people in relationships give each other gold or platinum, so this raises the question of if the other man did get her the necklace, or if it was actually gifted by a friend or family member.
‘When I think about her now, I near choke with grief‘ This could be interpreted in a few ways. Either hes still trying to gain sympathy for his crime, he regrets his decision or he is still hurt over the fact that she may or may not have cheated on him.
‘My baby‘ showcases this persons possessive behavior. The term ‘baby’ makes me think that she was vulnerable to the attack against her. She knew about his jealousy through the arguments they had together, so she must’ve known about his possessive and aggressive behaviour.
‘She wasn’t a tart or nothing‘ Having murdered her for her supposed infidelity, he kind of praises her for not being too obvious about it. Yet this could also be some of his guilty persona talking.
‘I wouldn’t harm a fly, no joke‘ Is my favourite line of the poem. This is very ironic considering that he just murdered his girlfriend over speculation that she was cheating. There was no hard evidence of her affair. The fact that he compares her to a fly makes me think about the saying “fly on the wall”, an unnoticed observer. He was secretly trying to catch her cheating on him. It could also mean that he now consider her as less than a fly.
After analysing this poem, I definitely believe that I have a clearer image in my mind on how I would make this video. I may even experiment with makeup and special effects makeup to really nail the context of the lyrics through the video.
I find that analysing poems helps me understand the text better and allows me to develop a story line easier. These words tell a story that can easily be portrayed through a video.Ā Ā
In the meantime I just need to figure out what kind of characters I need, who will be willing to be in my video, if I can figure out an inventive way to tell the story and maybe figure out a way to experiment with special effects makeup.
FINAL MAJOR PROJECT 2019 