Carrie Underwood | "Blown Away" Era

[Deleted]

The more I watch the more I love it. The ending is a bit disappointing but overall it's great.

[Stephen]

It seemed like he was coming on to her at the beginning.

[neally]

Jul 30, 2012 18:00:47 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

I agree with a few of you. I wish we had actually seen the house go down. I also feel like the way the video is set up almost makes it seem like they fought because he wanted to help her with her homework and she didn't want it. I know we are supposed to infer a lot more happened, but it seemed like a bizarre scene to start a video where you are basically letting your Dad die.

Yes, that and the ending was relatively weak. I was expecting more given this video is one of a few per year that are given a red carpet release. It is still far better than 'Good Girl' and nearly every video from her collection to date.

[Typo]

Jul 30, 2012 18:04:38 GMT -5 Stephen said:

It seemed like he was coming on to her at the beginning.

Definitely.

[Love Plastic Love]

I thought that for a second, but then when he was grabbing for her he grabbed her notebook and started looking at it so I was like oh...he is REALLY interested in history homework. I don't know I guess they didn't want to be too explicit or obvious or take it any further because it would upset people. I would have loved to see them push the envelope just a little farther, but I can see why they didn't.

[neally]

Jul 30, 2012 18:09:28 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

I thought that for a second, but then when he was grabbing for her he grabbed her notebook and started looking at it so I was like oh...he is REALLY interested in history homework. I don't know I guess they didn't want to be too explicit or obvious or take it any further because it would upset people. I would have loved to see them push the envelope just a little farther, but I can see why they didn't.

I agree but in the scene where they are cutting to clips of the dad, all they show of him is rage and more alcoholism, if I'm not mistaken. They did not show any other suggestions of sexual abuse, which is why I only took physical abuse (presumably aggravated by his alcoholism) as his injustice to Carrie based on the video; however, based on the lyrics of the song, "there's not enough rain in Oklahoma to wash the sins out of that house", there is more suggestion of molestation, IMO.

That being said, she did make one attempt to wake him up, lol...

[adwem]

Her love of cows had to come into the video :)

[Stephen]

I think it worked better subtly because it's already a stereotype for "country folk" and incest. Sometimes social limitations flow into other things, like art. Carrie did very well in the scenes in the cellar - her laying down then pacing made it seem like the decision to leave her dad was killing her. I love, love, love it.

[neally]

Jul 30, 2012 18:17:12 GMT -5 Stephen said:

I think it worked better subtly because it's already a stereotype for "country folk" and incest. Sometimes social limitations flow into other things, like art. Carrie did very well in the scenes in the cellar - her laying down then pacing made it seem like the decision to leave her dad was killing her. I love, love, love it.

When was she pacing in the cellar ? If I recall, she was lying on the bed then sat up for a bit, then opened the cellar to leave, no ?

[CarrieUfan]

Absolutely incredible. I got chills the entire video. I love how epic it is, everything is just great. I actually love the sound effects.

And yeah, some things are shown in a subtle way. Some people will like it, some will not. I for one think it's clear that her dad is an agressive alcoholic.

[Stephen]

Doesn't she stand up? I swear she does, unless I got it in reverse. Either way, I found the cellar scenes mixed in with the dad raging and the house breaking the most compelling.

[Typo]

I think the opening scene is really effective. The dialogue and body language there suggested to me that 'homework time' was a regular occurrence in that house and it didn't involve notebooks and pencils.

And I can see why ppl don't care for the ending but I think it matches up well w/ the whole majestic vibe I get from the song.

[Deleted]

I would have preferred Carrie to be the narrator of the video, and then have like a 12-14 year old girl play the role of the daughter. I would've also liked to see more of the history between the father and daughter, and perhaps a reason why the mother is no longer in the picture (maybe cut to a scene where the daughter walks in on the father killing the mother, although I wouldn't expect Carrie to ever take it that far).

Still a great video and definitely one of her best. I'd give it a B+

[cufan7]

Really enjoyed it more on the 2nd and 3rd viewing. E definitely messed up the coloring on the tv. Where I would probably have preferred seeing the house being destroyed even more, the ending, to me, symbolizes a new beginning (the yellow brick road basically leading to the rainbow), inferring the father's death and the start of a new life for her.

Thought the first half was a bit clunky, but I'd say Carrie's best video and a solid A-/A.

I hope there is going to go on all the video sites ASAP and on iTunes at midnight tonight with some nice promotion and it would be really smart to discount the album at like $7.99 along with it.

[neally]

Jul 30, 2012 17:57:28 GMT -5 neally said:

#33 on iTunes USA pre-release officially.

Top 30 now: #30 !

[adwem]

The album has climbed #26

[zaclord 🌈]

Here is my review of the video, I know it's long, but my main issues are #3 and #4. Overall I give it a B+ though.

Good music video. It definitely isn't perfect, and could have been a whole lot better. Here are the couple of things I didn't like:

1. There were a couple lip-synching issues, the main one at "mama was an angel in the ground." I don't understand at all how this happens in music videos. It isn't hard to tell when someone's mouth is not in synch with the words. I don't understand how this happens, how no one catches it, and why no one fixes it. Luckily for 98% of the music video it is in synch, unlike the "Jesus Take The Wheel" video where 98% of it was NOT in synch.

2. The intro could have been better. If I had never heard the song before, I would have thought from that intro alone that the father was a caring father who was trying to help his daughter with her homework and that Carrie was just a misbehaving, moody teenager. This scene could have still worked if the father had done something more than just grab her wrist and go all Darth Vader and yell "I am your father" at here. Yeah, that always gets them. A push, a slap, SOMETHING that shows that he is actually a disgusting, awful man.

3. The scenes of father as a crazed drunk. These would have worked better if they were scenes of him and how he treated Carrie. Him throwing beer bottles and kitchen furniture just pose him as a crazed drunk. Nothing that this man does makes me feel any kind of sorrow for the character Carrie is playing. That is my main problem with this video - the father just looks like an angry drunk when the line "there's not enough rain in Oklahoma to wash the sins out of that house" clearly is implying much, much more in the relationship between the father and daughter.

4. The line "she called it sweet revenge." This line is key in this song. It is what the entire song embodies. The girl is getting revenge on her abusive father by leaving him to die in a house that is about to be taken away by a twister. We don't see that in the video. We see a girl who is torn whether to leave her father or not because she can't wake him up. I imagined this scene having Carrie running to flee the house to head for the cellar and stopping when she sees her dad passed out drunk; then she gets a smirk on her face and continues to run out the door. That to me would be "sweet revenge". I see no vengeance here where she tries to wake her father up, and when she can't she runs to the cellar and then lies there and looks like she is regretting her decision to leave her dad there to die.

5. You don't see the tornado destroying anything... You don't even see the wrecked house at the end! We just get some small debris flying in the window on top of the dad. How exciting. I know this is a minor detail, but I know we all wanted to see that house torn to shreds.

6. Lastly, the end is super cheesy. What I get from the end is that the tornado came by and magically wiped all her pain away and now there's a cute puppy and a rainbow and the whole world is a happy place now. The End. I get the symbolism of it being bright and sunny now, but I would have liked to just see Carrie emerge and it still be dark and cloudy with the house and yard torn apart. Then Carrie turn away and walk towards the camera, then flip and show Carrie's back walking towards a sunnier sky where it's clearing up now. Much more realistic. Much less cheesy.

On a positive note, I really liked how they incorporated the Wizard of Oz references. Plaid shirt on Carrie, red shoes, yellow brick road, scarecrow in the cellar, and even her adorable puppy, Penny, as Toto. That made it pretty neat. And of course Carrie looks stunning, as usual.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great video, I'm just a huge critic when it comes to music videos, especially Carrie's; and especially when songs have the ability of being turned into masterpiece music videos, like "Blown Away" did. Great video, but it could have been ten times better with some slight adjustments.

[neally]

^^ Loved your review. Would you mind cutting and pasting this into the Polling Booth thread for others to read ?

[adwem]

The song doesn't go into great detail about the abuse so Carrie may not of felt comfortable going that route. The symbolism that is used in the video leaves it up to the listener as what really happened.

[zaclord 🌈]

Jul 30, 2012 19:53:33 GMT -5 neally said:

^^ Loved your review. Would you mind cutting and pasting this into the Polling Booth thread for others to read ?

Thanks! And yup, no problem!

[CarrieUfan]

Jul 30, 2012 19:56:21 GMT -5 adwem said:

The song doesn't go into great detail about the abuse so Carrie may not of felt comfortable going that route. The symbolism that is used in the video leaves it up to the listener as what really happened.

This. Just like the song leaves it up to the listener with it's lyrics. The song never states what those sins are, either. I get that some people wanted to see more of the abuse because of the song, but how he threw things, slammed doors etc. really showed how aggressive he was. It's just a different way of showing it. And it's a music video. The symbolic ending showed how everything was much brighter once he was blown away.

[adwem]

Did anyone notice there was wooden rocking horse in the cellar? Makes me almost wonder if she lived down there or stayed there from his abuse

[cufan7]

Jul 30, 2012 20:55:46 GMT -5 adwem said:

Did anyone notice there was wooden rocking horse in the cellar? Makes me almost wonder if she lived down there or stayed there from his abuse

Interesting and the fact that there was a bed down there that was made and everything.

[countryfan1985]

I love the Blown Away video and that's all folks.

[elementd5]

Love the attempt at a story and the fact that Carrie looked gorgeous. But, honestly, the video was lacking. Way too many holes for "interpretation" when it wasn't really necessary.

[carrieidol1]

Is the last scene with the brightness supposed to be as bright as it was shown on E? I thought there was something wrong with the network, honestly. I loved the entire video, but was almost squinting at the end because of the brightness. I love the literal storyline... They literally added illustration to the song, and it worked perfectly!

[desertfloods]

Jul 30, 2012 19:47:05 GMT -5 zaclord 🌈 said:

4. The line "she called it sweet revenge." This line is key in this song. It is what the entire song embodies. The girl is getting revenge on her abusive father by leaving him to die in a house that is about to be taken away by a twister. We don't see that in the video. We see a girl who is torn whether to leave her father or not because she can't wake him up. I imagined this scene having Carrie running to flee the house to head for the cellar and stopping when she sees her dad passed out drunk; then she gets a smirk on her face and continues to run out the door. That to me would be "sweet revenge". I see no vengeance here where she tries to wake her father up, and when she can't she runs to the cellar and then lies there and looks like she is regretting her decision to leave her dad there to die.

While I completely agree with you that I would have wished to see more scenes between Carrie and her father, I totally disagree with this part of your comment.

A smirk on the face, full hatred and a mind of vengeance are not the things implied in the song at all, imo. That would totally change the meaning of the song for me. Showing all these in the music video will actually take away the sadness I feel for the girl. Plus, if she's strong enough with all those hatred, she would have left the father years ago. At the end of the day, the girl is just a daughter who wishes to have a better father, and no matter what horrible things he had done, she still has a kind heart and it still kills her to make a decision like that.

I have a small comment about the wardrobe though... in the opening scene, Carrie seemed too dressed up. lol

[leilamaurizia]

The music video is already available for download on iTunes.

[bornfearless2000]

The video itself is a bit disappointment for me.

I expected more fight/abuse.
I expected to see that her mother or the grave or whatever from the 'mama was an angel' line.
I expected that Carrie would have this fierce 'Go to hell you dad' face.
I expected more dramatic 'shattered every window' like the BHC window thing.

BUT

I love how Carrie keeps it simple with the cloth (although i have to agree that the first dress was too much) and her make up was not over the top.

I love the story line overall.

I hope this will blow up the charts.

[carrieidol1]

Jul 30, 2012 23:22:16 GMT -5 bornfearless2000 said:

The video itself is a bit disappointment for me.

I expected more fight/abuse.
I expected to see that her mother or the grave or whatever from the 'mama was an angel' line.
I expected that Carrie would have this fierce 'Go to hell you dad' face.
I expected more dramatic 'shattered every window' like the BHC window thing.

BUT

I love how Carrie keeps it simple with the cloth (although i have to agree that the first dress was too much) and her make up was not over the top.

I love the story line overall.

I hope this will blow up the charts.

At the very moment she sings those words, she's walking through what appears to be a cemetery. Also, in BHC, Carrie was shattering the windows with a bat, in this video, the tornado/storm is doing all the work. They show plenty of broken windows, shattered glass, etc... If they had used the effects utilized in BHC, this entire video would look over-the-top fake.