Compare and Contrast Essay: Roar by Katy Perry and Destino Film

We live in an era where social media is very prevalent and it consumes us. Social media holds everyone up to a certain standard because if you portray your best self you will get more likes, more comments, and more followers. People want nothing more in society than to be liked and sometimes the only way to do that is to be like everyone else; however, you can’t truly be successful and happy in life if you are trying to be someone else. This is similar to Destino. We see through our main character that she was not happy living through someone else and she only became happy when she started expressing herself. By comparing “Roar” by Katy Perry to the film Destino audiences can learn that being yourself is more important than trying to be someone else and through trials you can find who you are. 

The strange, dream-like world in Destino is full of cracks along the floor. The cracks look as though the ground was shaken by thunder. A girl waltzes around in search of her voice, and who she is. She walks up a tall steep mountain that is aligned with stone statues of a man; he has the voice she is striving to have; she evy’s him, so she is walking around admiring the life he has created for himself. The cracks in this mountain represent his voice shaking the ground like in Kate Perry’s “Roar” lyrics, she says, “You hear my voice, you hear that sound like thunder, gonna shake the ground.” This is Kate Perry finding her voice; she will be heard. Kate Perry has found herself through this song, the same way the man has; by being themselves. This is something the girl struggles with; she gets so focused on trying to be like the man she loses sight of who she truly is. 

The girl in Destino gets this sudden realization after she falls off a steep mountain, floating down hiding in a shell, which represents her not being her true self, because she is curled up in a ball cowardly. Her eyes widen, but then sadness takes over, because she realizes she has spent so much time trying to be like this man that she has stopped focusing on herself. After this realization, she sees the shadow of a bell on the ground, she submerges herself into the ground and the shadow of the bell. The bell represents freedom; she twirls in the air with joy, because she has just freed her true self, and is ready to take on the world through trials to live up to her true self. This moment is like the lyrics, “Now I’m floatin’ like a butterfly stinging like a bee, I earned my stripes,'' from “Roar.” Katy Perry has earned her spot in the music industry, which is not easy to do. You can’t make it in the music world being just like everyone else, you have to be yourself and stand out. She made her mark fast like a bee sting, and is proud of the work she put in, because she truly feels like she earned it. The girl in Destino wants to become a dancer, so not only was the shadow a bell, it was also shaped like a dancer. This is her following her dreams like Katy Perry, to really earn what she’s been working hard for. 

When things finally begin to look up for the girl in Destino her eyes meet the man again, and she remembers the comfort she felt from trying to be like him. This distracts her from following her dreams and she begins to question if this is what she really wants. She quickly realizes as the ground caves in separating the two again by tall building walls, that being herself is more important even if it takes many trials, it is much more rewarding. Finally, two faces come together forming her in a dancing costume meaning her hard work paid off and she is living her dream. One face has a tear dripping down its face representing her sad insecure self looking at her new true self with pride, because she reflects on the long path she took to achieve her dream, and she is proud of who she has become. The faces coming together are like the lyrics, “Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar.” This is Katy Perry owning who she is and not apologizing for being loud, outgoing, and wearing what she wants. She is known for her over the top outfits that turn heads the second she walks in the room. At the Met Gala, which is a big deal for the fashion world, she wore a hamburger dress.  It wasn’t just a patterned dress it was shaped like a hamburger, round and bulky. The girl in Destino twirls around in happiness throwing her arms around not apologizing, because she is comfortable with herself. 

Despite social media being a big influence on our generation; it is a way for people, like Katy Perry, to express themselves the way they feel comfortable. Both Katy Perry through “Roar,” and the girl in Destino through many trials, both accept themselves, and are proud of who they are. This kind of confidence is often hidden behind social media; they act so perfect on social media, but behind the screen are insecure. The movie Destino is so real, because it shows how hard it is to find yourself, and “Roar” shows how you can be happier by being yourself.