Runaway love is a song written by an artist called Ludacris featuring Mary J Blige. The song is about young girls, who are fragile and are having problems at home with family and therefore they they result in running away from home. The girls are all aged from 9-11, Lisa (9), Nicole (10) and Erica (11). All three girls are shown as vulnerable throughout the video.
The main target audience for this video is mainly teenagers themselves and even more parents, carers and guardians. The reason for this is because parents and guardians need to be more aware of the day to day lives that their children are going through and the possibilities of the risks that young children may be facing. This may in some ways lead to more cautious behaviour by adults in order to prevent any harm or danger befalling on the children. As well as this Parents and carers need to be aware so that they can give more and show love and affection and also take into consideration and into account what the child tells them.
An example where this should occur, but is completely ignored by the parent is in 9 year old Lisa's case. In this situation her mum was a druggie and therefore not a stable mother. the mother's boyfriend abuses the young girl, however the mother refuses to listen and take into mind what her daughter is telling her.
The characters in the video are all mainly sad and unhappy, as the music video and lyrics is covering a sensitive topic, where all three young girls are having to go through child abuse. This is nothing compared to the actual figures of child abuse that goes on in actual real life. The actual statistics, making it a fact are incredibly higher than just the three examples that are shown in this video.
Nicole, the second young girl, aged only just 10 in the video also suffers from child abuse. The only comfort she received was from telling her best friend about her situation and the troubles that she faces at home until, as said in the lyrics and the video, "one day she got shot." Then one day she decides that she is going to run away from home and escape her life.
The final scenario in the video is of Erica. an 11 year girl that is having sex with a 16 year old boy that gets her pregnant. The boy throughout their relationship is shown as having sex with other girls, even when he finds out that she is pregnant. this shows how little he cares and "loves" her. However, when she realises the truth, even though late, but better late than never, she also decides to run away from home. There is a long shot of Nicole running away and looking behind as she is leaving her family and home.
Expressions on Ludacris's and Mary J Blige's face looks deeply thoughtful and focused throughout the video while narrating the stories of these three young girls. There are mainly closeups of the expression to show the deep intimate feelings and emotions of the characters. Also the characters in the video live in a materialistic deprived environment and in the "ghetto". These areas are known to have higher rates of sensitive topics such as child abuse. The people living in these areas are stereotypically seen as lower class and of black African ethnicity mainly, even though in the video not everyone is of this race and ethnic origin.
In the video the environment and the setting looks rough. For example, under the bridge, where there are lots of graffiti and the walls that have posters of missing girls. Also, the scene where the candles are lit, it makes the scenario look spiritual and deep.
Along with this music video, as a class we also looked at other music videos such as Nas " I Can" and Pink "Family Portrait", and we analysed them through a discussion in class.
