#holdin him like the matrix

[lyndaxy]

Baby cheetah in Waltmart📹🐆

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[csilarry]

some As It Was thoughts

My initial reading of the music video is that it is a chronological reenactment of Harry’s life and his experience being closeted.

[0:00]-  He bangs on the glass to get out (glass closet)

[0:06]- He is walking forward with a bunch of people dressed in business attire. Harry is wearing a bright red coat. The shade they picked reminds me of the red carpet, symbolizing stardom.

[0:15]- The people with “normal” jobs get to keep going forward and be with who they want (there’s a girl waiting for someone by the wall, and he catches up to her and hold her shoulder and they walk forward together), while Harry gets dragged back (into the closet of the entertainment industry).  

Holdin' me back Gravity's holdin' me back

Gravity is the force of the whole world. The pressure of the world holds him back from coming out of the closet & out of his public performer persona.

[0:27]- Inside, he and Blue/Lou are both dressed as performers, just out of reach from each other.  

Their red and blue outfits combined with "What kind of pills are you on?" may refer to the red and blue pills in the Matrix: a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill. 

This symbolism would represent that he is contemplating between changing his life by telling the truth and keeping things in a state of blissful ignorance. It seems to me GP is content but he is devastated.

[0:29]- He brushes Blue’s hand when he first gets on stage (similar to the touches they shared during one direction) but then they move away to “perform” on their own parts of the stage.

[0:42]- reenactment of the last public hug between Harry and Louis at their last 1D concert.

[0:48]- He lets blue go, she shrinks in on herself, then he comes up behind her and gives her a reassuring hug (and she touches his hands as if she feels his support), then he leaves her and she is able to walk up tall. Maybe this is Louis being scared/lonely to start his career by himself/without Harry, so Harry gives him the support and courage he needs to walk tall and proud.

[1:05]- Blue gets knocked off the stage and Harry keeps going. Symbolizing Louis getting screwed over & his career delayed.

[1:06]- When H strips his clothing, he is shedding of layers of the performance industry and the brand that he’s made for himself. Once he strips all that away, he is able to truly hug blue.

The business people stripping off their clothes might symbolize society’s new openness. Homophobia has changed a lot in the 12 years Harry has been in the spotlight. Society is not the same as it was. When he shows himself others are able to as well.

[1:32]- When H and Louis are together, the drawing is in color.

[1:32]- Bars are placed over them, and they are trapped to the colored surface. this may symbolize them being forced into a "box" (society's expectation of them).

[1:47]- T Swift crawls all over Harry and another person (beard) over Blue.

[1:54]- When they dragged apart, life/the drawing becomes black and white.

[1:58]- Trying to make it work as performers together, they are stuck running in circles, not going anywhere, just out of reach of each other

[2:16]- Harry is alone on the stage again. He's defeated and has given up running. He decides to run away from the stage.

[2:17]- Harry watches birds fly, symbolizing freedom. (Louis has the birds flying tattoo and Harry has the closed birdcage with no door)

[2:18]- Harry makes "yes/success" motion. He is elated, jumps off the stage, and starts dancing freely.

[2:20] *Some shots from above of him spinning just like Louis’ Walls music video, H's TPWK mv, and their bff Liam Gallagher from Oasis.*

[2:26] H suddenly finds himself outside. He realizes he doesn’t have his coat on and he’s in public showing his true self. Once he checks himself and realizes, he is able to truly break free.