Same Love: Music Video

I've been a fan of Macklemore since I first heard "Thrift Shop" last November, but when I heard "Same Love," I realized his true talent as a rapper. The song argues for marriage equality eloquently, which has been such a taboo topic in pop culture for a long time and is only just now being discussed somewhat openly. The music video adds beauty to an already powerful message, and has already gone far in the fight for gay rights both politically and socially. Hopefully the stir over the song and video is only just beginning.
The video, directed by Ryan Lewis and Jon Jon Augustavo, incorporates a myriad of rhetorical devices, ranging from a chronological arrangement with a full-circle ending to several allusions to pop culture and American history. The full circle ending, which uses the setting of a hospital and the image of people holding hands as (beginning) a baby is born and (end) a beloved husband passes away, makes the audience connect the beautiful moments and realize that the love (portrayed by the similarity of holding hands) really is the " same" no matter the couple, and that every human being alive should be allowed the privledge of being with their beloved in the hospital. The audience might then start thinking about the fact that this basic right is denied to gay couples in states where they are incapable of marriage, and thus the audience wouldst pathetic towards couples in this situation and therefore  feel angry about the laws in place.
Another important rhetorical device used in the video, and several other music videos as well, is the cultural references made to connect with the audience and make them reflect on their own lives. Macklemore references YouTube and Little League for their roles in promoting intolerance to gays, and to make his audience think about if they have ever said or done something derogatory in an Internet comment or the like. By incorporating aspects of cultural memory, Macklemore might be stopping (even just a few) of his listeners from writing "that's gay" the next time they want to insult someone or something. Furthermore, the song and video reference the American Civil Rights Movement, by incorporating lyrics such as "the same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins/ It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!" This makes an extremely effective argument, as there are few Americans today who would argue that blacks deserve less rights or that Martin Luther King Jr was a bad influence on American history. Thus, the audience would realize that one day when Americans look back at the country's current state of intolerance, it will seem like a giant, stupid mistake. To achieve equality though, the video reminds the audience that they need to take a stand in the same way Rosa Parks did half a century ago. And after watching this powerful video, the audience might feel compelled to do that. Or at least approve Ref 74, the "place to start" that the video very simply asks in the last seconds of the video. While "Same Love" will by no means single-handedly gain equal rights for the LBGT community, it has effectively brought the issue to the rap and pop culture community, where most of the intolerance is seeded most deeply, and makes an extremely compelling argument that a) gays deserve rights and b) the audience should support the effort to give gays these rights.