Anklebiters music video analysis

The music video for 'Anklebiters' is up now on youtube, illustrated and directed by the awesome Jordan Bruner. 

I enjoy writing about the meaning of music videos, so I thought I'd write a post on what the message behind the video is.

We start off with a series of black dots (I'm going to go ahead and call these the anklebiters) chasing a dot that stands out from the  rest.

I think that the black dots represent the more negative members of society, so full of hatred that they'll quite happily single out and attack those that are different. Black has always been symbolic of mourning and death, so perhaps their colour is a nod to the death of individuality.

All of the anklebiters are somewhat different, and yet, you can clearly identify them as a group. They don't make any attempt to stand out from the crowd, they merely conform and blindly follow the person in front as they chase this poor outcast around. I'm sure we all know someone (or at least, know of someone) who would be quite happy to do this.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the dot being chased is painted with a target like print, implying that is being targeted by the rest of society purely because it is different.

The anklebiters chase the target through several mazes (various trials that could see the target being cornered and turned into an anklebiter itself) before landing in a triangular maze.

It looks as if it's all over for this little target, seen as there is no visible escape route... but just as we begin to think it's all over? It makes it's very own escape route.

The struggle that it just faced (the struggle of being rejected by society, with no visible escape from this ostracisation) causes the target to flourish into this wonderfully odd, and completely unique creature. In other words, the struggle that it just faced allowed it to grow.

It breaks off the leash that still binds the anklebiters to their judgemental misery, and heads off on a journey of growth and discovery.

The anklebiters are still in hot pursuit, but the creature has evolved to such a degree, the anklebiters don't have a hope in catching it. In other words, accepting it's individuality has allowed the target to rise above the hatred and spite of the others, and made it happier for doing so. It dances, happy in the knowledge that there is not a single thing that the anklebiters can do to it now.

The next creature we come across is a hand.

It seems to be hesitant to move, dancing backwards and forwards on it's platform, apparently scared of moving forward for fear of the anklebiters waiting below.

It finally decides that it cannot stay still on the safety of it's platform, and that it must move forward, even if that means putting itself in danger of the anklebiter's attack. It manages to stay on top of all the anklebiters however, until it begins to tumble to its apparent doom...

It is caught by another creature however, who saves it from being torn apart by the snarling mouths of the anklebiters waiting patiently below.

The next creature meets the same fate as the original one. It is being chased through mazes by the anklebiters. This creature however hits a sort of  wormhole, which causes it to immediately blossom into a beautiful flower, but destroys the ankelbiters on contact.

I think that this symbolises a positive life event that causes people to become more confident with who they are in their own skin. More anklebiters come out from the holes on the ground and continue to chase the creature, which just goes to show that no matter where you are in this world, or what part of your life you are experiencing right now, you'll never be able to rid yourself of the existence of these hateful beings.

The creature then falls through one of the holes on the ground, plummeting to the ground in a free-fall, only to be caught by two of the other creatures that we have previously encountered.

This represents the unexpected nature of life, and how you can never be sure what's around the corner, but you can always count on the experience to bring people closer together, and allow you to become more confident in who you are as an individual.

Next, we see some of the anklebiters turn into guys like these, right before our eyes:

This is a reminder that even if you're judgemental right now, you always have the potential to change. The hatred in your heart can change into positivity and love, but you've got to give it the chance, and you've got to start loving yourself. Because how can you truly accept others if you cannot even accept yourself?

The last scene of the video is of all of the creatures dancing on top of the anklebiters, proudly using them as a platform for their individuality. The anklebiters have accepted that their hatred cannot affect these creatures, and remain stationary from then on, unsure what to do with themselves considering that they cannot affect others.

I seriously love the message of the video, and I'm really glad that 'Anklebiters' was honoured in this way.