"Til it Happens to You"

While scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed this past week multiple of my friends were sharing Lady Gaga’s newest music video. It is entitled “Til it Happens to You”, and it depicts several victims of sexual assault on college campuses, and it was created for a new documentary that will be released in February called, “ The Hunting Ground, ” which is about campus rape. Just a days after this video was released it climbed the charts, taking the number one spot on the Billboard and Twitter Trending 140 chart, and it currently has more than seven million views with the number growing every day.  Lady Gaga’s music video has also captured the attention of numerous high profile individuals, such as Oprah Winfrey who has tweeted about the newest release giving it even more attention.

            This video is by no means easy to watch, the video opens with a warning stating that, “The following contains graphic content that may be emotionally unsettling, but reflects the reality of what is happening daily on college campuses.” This statement proved very true, for there were multiple times throughout the video where I cringed, and at some points I even had to turn away from the screen. In a short five minutes the viewer sees before, during, and the aftermath of victims of campus rape. Although this video shows the horrors of campus rape, its conclusion shows the victims overcome these tragic events, and it is truly inspiring. But what really drives the message home in this jarring music video is the ending credit stating, “One in five college women will be sexually assaulted this year unless something changes.” The hope and intent behind this music video is to try to put an end to these horrible events. With social media, this video can be shared on numerous fronts, such as Facebook and Instagram. And hopefully with this video going viral, it will create awareness, and its goal to put an end to campus rape will be achieved.

            Although the hope with this new music video is to spread awareness, some argue that videos like this and other media is actually desensitizing society. Myriad people have argued that media containing violence such as video games have actually had a negative affect for it may lead to the downplay of the situation. Constantly seeing violent images and it becoming a part of everyday life may in fact start to take a toll and make things such as war or in this case a video portraying a rape scene, seem not as extreme as they really are. Researchers have found that violent images can lead to viewers becoming less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, demonstrating aggressive or harmful behavior to others, and can even result in the viewer having enjoyment towards violent images and not experience the usual anxiety that would be expected.

            Even though some may argue that violent videos like this may lead to the downplay of the situation, I strongly disagree. After watching this short five minute film, the affect it had on me was astounding. It made me feel sick to my stomach, while moments later it truly inspired me. With this video, and others like it, it is helping take a step in the right direction and will hopefully spread awareness so that we can eventually put an end to campus rape.