Benny Blanco, Calvin Harris, and Miguel- “I Found You/Nilda’s Story: Is This How Artist Should Use Their Platform?
Through compelling images and subtitles the music video “I found you” explains the life of a Honduran Girl named Nilda. It begins by giving background information about her and then highlights different events in her life. The Story starts off light hearted than the video shares that Nilda was sexually assaulted by a family member and how after that event she “started staying out late.” Within the first minute of the music video, the artist hits on an important issue in society, sexual assault/rape and the effect it has on the survivor. The video then moves to explain how Nilda becomes pregnant and receives no support from the father and alludes to how her community was not sympathetic to her pregnancy. Telling the audience she was beaten after becoming pregnant. However, the story doesn’t go into detail about how it happened.
There are a few lines in Nilda’s story that leave the audience to make assumptions about how Nilda’s feelings and details of what they’re going through which, to me is a good artistic choice. For example, one-line states she makes a promise to god but its never elaborated on. Once Nilda had her baby named Keyden, what their life is like together and how their community is changing. The images portray how even though Honduras has developed aspects (an upscale mall) and has nice aspects but people who live in poverty there are only able to experience that through a window.
The community Nilda is from becomes more violent and she and her son experience it first hand through hostage situation in her own home. This event leaves Nilda with no choice but to leave home for the safety and herself and her son. She decides to leave Honduras and travel to the border of the U.S. Where she tries to enter the U.S but is arrested. The rest of the video shows her experience in America as an “Alien” from her being separated from her son for a month while she waited in detention centers unsure of her or her sons’ fate in the United States, up to her being reunited with her son still unsure about her fate in the United States.
“This is what happens when you come to my country”
-Says ICE officer while separating Nilda and her son
Although the video only shows the outside of places like the detention center that she lived in it give enough to allow for the audience to imagine what their experience would have been like. The song titled “I found you” ties nicely to the reunion of Nilda’s family. Telling Nilda’s story they open the conversation to an audience that may not be familiar to the topic. One thing I find interesting is that the comment section for the video on YouTube is disabled which somewhat limits conversation that can be had about the topic. Overall Benny Blanco, Calvin Harris, and Director Jake Schrier used their artistic license to create a great thought, and emotion provoking video that also adds to an important conversation.
