14 DAY TRIAL // 30 Seconds to Mars is again out to provoke thought and make art by juxtaposing contradicting notions, with a brand new video for the song “This Is War.” Shot over a year ago, the video ends up proving the exact contrary of the name of the song: this is actually peace.
The video opens with a quote from H.G. Wells on how “if we don’t end this war, it will end us,” and sees the three members of the band dressed up in camouflage military clothes, driving a Humvee in the desert.
They’re all heavily armed and they certainly mean business, as a single look at their stern faces proves. Yet, as ironic as it may sound, their message is one of peace.
Interspersed with actual footage of world’s greatest and worst leaders, the ultimate message of the video is that war can’t be seen as a thing in itself, but rather in direct connection with the people who wage it or, depending on the case, who oppose it.
In the end, war is a lesson too, since it can’t be avoided, MTV says.
“As Jared Leto told MTV News last year, the clip and the song are about ‘the inevitability of conflict, the blessing of conflict and what we can all learn from it’,” MTV says.
“It seems that, no matter how inhumane the outcome, humankind is practically predestined for war – a fact that roughly 2,000 years of our existence has sadly proven time and time again,” the e-zine further notes.
In the video, all war machines, from helicopters to cars and tanks, are being gathered into a structure that looks like a pyramid, floating high up in the air, supported by unknown and unseen forces.
The meaning of the end of the videos is not an apparent one.
“The image is clearly meant to provoke, but does it also provoke thought? Ultimately, that’s up to you. Though, it bears mention that much like conflict itself, thought is a decidedly human condition. And it’s also more powerful than any bomb could ever be,” MTV says.
Check out the 30 Seconds to Mars video for “This Is War” below. You decide.
