Here's a good video to illustrate launch trajectories of rockets, this example being the Falcon Heavy.
I guess a lot of people assume they just fight gravity and shoot straight up.
Here's bonus video, last week's launch of our new weather-sat on top of an Atlas V. It includes a simpler animation showing how it uses the added velocity of the earth's rotation to climb into orbit.
I try not to read the YouTube comments, but it's like the proverbial train wreck, hard not to look and cringe.