Gym Class Heroes – Cupid’s Chokehold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiiU-Fky18s

What is this video?

• Gym Class Heroes created an ‘alternative rap / rock song with the vocalist of Fall Out Boy, Patrick Stump.

• Despite the song being different to the image Travis Mccoy (the vocalist of Gym Class Heroes) the song was catchy and appealed to a lot of audiences, it became #3 in the UK charts in 2005.

• The music video is about Travis struggling to find love with the help of cupid. In the end Travis finds the girl he’s been looking for (Katy Perry) who was his actual girlfriend at the time and wrote about her. This may be the reason the song got media amplification.

Applying this video to Goodwin’s theoryVoyeuristic

When watching the video I realised when looking out for Goodwin’s theory that Travis only seems to fall for women that are wearing either low cut or short items of clothing. Travis is also seen looking at the women’s body in the shots rather than her face when falling for her.

The way Travis is looking at the women could be seen as objectifying, especially when you apply this video to Goodwin’s theory.

Lyrics and Visuals

The music video pretty much follows the narration on screen throughout the whole song. The rhyhem of the song also is connected to the visuals on the screen aswell, for example when he’s talking about on the phone to his Dad and he says ‘I’m tryin’ hard not to talk fast’.

“This is gonna sound like a bad jokeBut momma I fell in love again”

“I mean she even cooks me pancakesAnd Alka Seltzer when my tummy aches”

“I’m tryin’ hard not to talk fast but dad I'm finally thinkin' I may have found the one”

“She’s got a smile that would make the most senile” “Annoying old man bite

his tounge”

“She’s got eyes comparable to sunrise” “We could be on the phone for three hours”

Genre Characteristics

The song is romantic as it is about finding love and him meeting different girls. The video contains cupid following him about which is an iconic stereotype of love.

Later on in the music video we see the band performing their song to a crowd. This is to show the audience that they are a band and it’s just not Travis who performs live. The use of showing instruments on stage shows that other songs may be more upbeat than this one.

How the Record Label is portrayed

The song features Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy who are also signed by the same record label as Gym Class Heroes. The record label is Fueled by Ramen and I feel like the label is trying to portray a close connection between all the artists and bands they have signed.

Although in the music video Patrick Stump is only a cameo who watches over Travis struggling to find love. The two vocalists are not seen together.