Symbolism In Tropico

Yulisa Cerezo

Engl 001B

Dr. Richard Hunt

15 May 2017

Tropico

In today’s pop culture, one can see how many artists are trying to create memorable performances to garner an audience in order to convey a message. Typically, artist like to create music videos that have subliminal or explicit video content to get their message across, or they create performances that has a lot of symbolism incorporated. However, other’s like to create short film because they feel that their thoughts or ideas need a more time to be understood and go further in depth rather than a four minute music video. Lana del Rey’s “Tropico” is a thirty-minute long short film that exemplifies the phases of life by incorporating music to detail the narrative she is describing.

Del Rey (Eve) working as a stripper and Ross (Adam) is a clerk at a convenience store and a gang member. Del Rey begins to recite Walt Whitman 's “I Sing the Body Electric.” She recites “ Womanhood, and all that is woman - and the man comes from the woman.” in which it seems it is a defiance to God. In the bible, the woman originates from one of the ribs of man. Yet, it seems that Del Rey uses this quote to state that man originates from a woman and it should be acknowledged; inciting more her need to be glorified. After, she finishes reciting this poem, Del Rey’s song “Gods and Monsters” beings to play. One of her verses, “In the land of Gods and Monsters I was an angel, living in the garden of evil.” She is saying, that she is angel compared to everything that Los Angeles is given that it is land of evil. She wanted perfection and to be glorified and she is in the city that can give her that. Also, she sings “Me and God, we don’t get along, so now I sing.” and “God’s dead.” symbolizing how God is now non-existential to her and as a result she is doing everything she desired. However, it seems she is realizing her mistake because after the song “Gods and Monster” finishes, she begins to recite Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”. Del Rey quotes, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…” This causes for the viewer to see that Del Rey is finally seeing her need to be perfect or adored is foolish when she is starts to see what the effects of it on other people. Once people achieve that level of “highness” it made them lose themselves completely. Furthermore, she her own epiphany which develops when she has her own monologue in which she states, “And so, from being created in his likeness, to being banished for wanting to be too much like him, we were cast out and the garden of Eden transformed in the garden of Evil, Los Angeles…” Del Rey states that being in the modern garden of Eden is