Music video: Theory
1) How does the This Is America video meet the key conventions of a music video? Look back at last week's introduction to music video if you're not sure.
Movement- There is quite a lot of movement throughout the whole music video. The frequent movement behind the artist and the dance routine which goes with the beat. The camera also follows the subject which creates a sense of the audience being part of the movement.
narrative- For the narrative Gambino plays the complex role of America from violence to the use of entertainment as a distraction. Playing both the character and ringleader.
band/artist- The artist is featured as the main subject and he is acting and dancing. His movements are used as a literal distinction from the chaos in the background
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?
Shows the issues relating to racism and gun violence in America and the dancing is to show how the violence is covered with entertainment and forces people to be distracted by what is happening
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson. Write a short paragraph for each theory.
Paul Gilroy: The Black Atlantic
“Gilroy’s ‘black Atlantic’ delineates a distinctively modern, cultural-political space that is not specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British, but is, rather, a hybrid mix of all of these at once.”
Rose suggested that hip hop initially gave audiences an insight into the lives of young, black, urban Americans and also gave them a voice (including empowering female artists). However, Rose has since criticised commercial hip hop and suggests black culture has been appropriated and exploited by capitalism.
Hall
He suggests that western cultures are still white-dominated and that ethnic minority in the media are misinterpreted due to underlying racist tendencies. BAME people are often represented as ‘the other’.
Hall outlined three black characterisations in American media:
The Slave figure: “the faithful fieldhand… attached and devoted to ‘his’ master.” (Hall 1995)
The Native: primitive, cheating, savage, barbarian, criminal.
The Clown/Entertainer: a performer – “implying ‘innate’ humour in the black man.” (Hall 1995)
This is America shows how black people are done justice in the entertainment industry and are being used as a distraction for the struggles other black people are forced to face.
Now read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
He’s playing Jim Crow
He’s duping us with dance
He’s taking on the police
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'? Choose two and explain what the comments are suggesting.
Movement- There is quite a lot of movement throughout the whole music video. The frequent movement behind the artist and the dance routine which goes with the beat. The camera also follows the subject which creates a sense of the audience being part of the movement.
narrative- For the narrative Gambino plays the complex role of America from violence to the use of entertainment as a distraction. Playing both the character and ringleader.
band/artist- The artist is featured as the main subject and he is acting and dancing. His movements are used as a literal distinction from the chaos in the background
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?
Shows the issues relating to racism and gun violence in America and the dancing is to show how the violence is covered with entertainment and forces people to be distracted by what is happening
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson. Write a short paragraph for each theory.
Paul Gilroy: The Black Atlantic
“Gilroy’s ‘black Atlantic’ delineates a distinctively modern, cultural-political space that is not specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British, but is, rather, a hybrid mix of all of these at once.”
Gilroy is particularly interested in the idea of black diasporic identity – the feeling of never quite belonging or being accepted in western societies even to this day.
For example, Gilroy points to the slave trade as having a huge cultural influence on modern America – as highlighted by Common’s Letter to the Free. This is America implies the racism and shows the injustice done to African Americans
Rose and Dyson
Hall
He suggests that western cultures are still white-dominated and that ethnic minority in the media are misinterpreted due to underlying racist tendencies. BAME people are often represented as ‘the other’.
Hall outlined three black characterisations in American media:
The Slave figure: “the faithful fieldhand… attached and devoted to ‘his’ master.” (Hall 1995)
The Native: primitive, cheating, savage, barbarian, criminal.
The Clown/Entertainer: a performer – “implying ‘innate’ humour in the black man.” (Hall 1995)
This is America shows how black people are done justice in the entertainment industry and are being used as a distraction for the struggles other black people are forced to face.
Now read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
He’s playing Jim Crow
He’s duping us with dance
He’s taking on the police
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'? Choose two and explain what the comments are suggesting.
"I'm surprised that this movie isn't 30 seconds long, with him walking on set and then some police shooting him. That would be a more accurate description of the US."
Extension task:
Media Magazine - This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest
Read This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest in MM65 (p14). You can find this in our Media Magazine archive. Answer the following questions:
1) The article offers an excellent textual analysis of the opening of the video. What are some of the suggested meanings and references the writer discusses? Can you link this analysis to any of the theorists we have studied?
2) What does the writer suggest are the main political themes in the video - and why is the message unclear?
3) What meanings and suggestions does the writer highlight in Beyonce's video for Formation?
4) What is notable about Glover's comedy-drama TV show Atlanta?
5) What examples does the writer provide of hip hop as a political genre? What theorist can we link this to?
Media Magazine - This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest
Read This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest in MM65 (p14). You can find this in our Media Magazine archive. Answer the following questions:
1) The article offers an excellent textual analysis of the opening of the video. What are some of the suggested meanings and references the writer discusses? Can you link this analysis to any of the theorists we have studied?
2) What does the writer suggest are the main political themes in the video - and why is the message unclear?
3) What meanings and suggestions does the writer highlight in Beyonce's video for Formation?
4) What is notable about Glover's comedy-drama TV show Atlanta?
5) What examples does the writer provide of hip hop as a political genre? What theorist can we link this to?
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