Music videos are apart of humans visual language, they are an artform and although they are arguably on the decline, music videos are an important factor of an artists career. Due to new technologies music is consumed on the internet and forgotten about daily. So from a record label point of view, an artist needs something bigger than an a song to get noticed; artists need strong creative visuals to give them a substantial competitive advantage over their peers (Boardman). A music video takes the artists voice and gives them a visual language to connect to their listener, and gives the listener a chance to connect with a wider audience. There are risks associated with music videos, they can either turn out really good and be a cultural phenomenon …show more content…
"DAMN" contains fourteen songs, each with powerful messages. Kendrick Lamar uses his song LOYALTY, as a platform to discuss the “value and necessity of complete trust, faithfulness, and dedication in both platonic and romantic relationships” (cite). Through the repetition of the lyrics “tell me who you are loyal to”, not only gets stuck in the listeners head but it causes them to question the songs deeper meaning. When the video was released it became clear that the song is about a volatile relationship between man and women; portraying the power each one of them holds. Most rap songs about relationships are used as a way to preach about power, money and status. What makes Lamar’s video LOYALTY unique is that he took a different approach on the overused narrative. Kendrick Lamar’s video LOYALTY is a creative platform which uses movement through visual effects and camera angles to demonstrate hypermasculinity and active female roles through the scenes which together, tell a story of power and loyalty within a …show more content…
The passive female role is used briefly at the beginning of the scene described earlier. In the red-lit room Lamar is surrounded by essentially naked women; the camera does not show these women’s faces. By only showing the body, the viewer can sense that these women are “unimportant”. Within the “parade of butts” is Lamar’s love interest, played by Rihanna. She demonstrates characteristics associated with an active female, which is seen within seconds. Unlike the other women, the camera goes directly to her face and is at a level angle, which in cinematology creates the feeling of power or equality for the viewer. Her active female presence continues throughout the video. The next scene she appears in is when Kendrick Lamar and a bigger male are fighting over her, as they fight she stands behind and watches, then eventually interferes while laughing splitting up the fight (TDE Films). Which then leads into her taking Lamar's hand, and them “melting” into the road (TDE Films). This scene demonstrates the power a women holds over a man, and the use of visual effects emphasises the active female’s power. And again demonstrates Lamar’s overall point that both men and women in the relationship have power, and power over one
In 1996, the Wachowskis wrote and directed the noir crime thriller, Bound. In this film, the directors turned some of the archetypes of film noir on its head. Most notably, the role of women in film. Film theorist, Laura Mulvey, claims that the main role of women in film is to function as a source of pleasure, to be objectified, to be passive and at the command of male fantasy. This relationship of looking and being looked at causes each gender to have a particular presence within film; the male is active and the female is passive (Mulvey, 1975). However, in Bound, the character Violet, who is obviously objectified by the gaze of the male characters, does not hold a passive role within the film itself. Violet is a force that acts upon the narrative, manipulating events and scenes to her favor, along with actively controlling male gaze and using it to her advantage. Film theorist, Tania Modleski argues that there are passive and active roles within films that have connotations with “femininity” and “masculinity”, but these roles do not have to apply to the gender or outward appearance of characters that they align with. Modleski focuses more on the actions, not the outward appearances, of the film
when a pillow is used as a prop and as Ashanti sings 'hug my pillow'
It is no secret that there is an obvious difference of how women are portrayed in the media versus men. This movie discussed female characters never having lead roles and stated that when they did it ended in the women depending on, loving, or having to have a man. One young high school girl said, “Women never play the protagonist. The girls are
The case is made that woman are more noticed by men when they have the big butts and fake hair. The female actors in the movie do not make much attempt to discredit this accusation, furthermore accepting the rhetoric that all males like the fake girls they see in the magazine and that’s the reason all women do this. This is a seamless example of how popular culture has continued to view woman and how woman continue to fall victim to the stereotypes of popular culture. During the exchange of ideas about the female stereotypes there are references made about famous Hollywood elites such as Beyoncé which places more light on the fact that popular culture plays a huge role in female
Today I will be describing my design for a music video set in ancient Sumer. My video will depict elements from the Hymns of Inanna and the video of “Blurred Lines.” These two elements will allow a reflection of the cultural metanarrative and the sexual script of ancient Sumer. The video will play out between two gods and a priestess. My video will have four main sections that will breakdown what the video consists of and how it all comes together. These sections will be my main characters, setting, imagery, and lastly the theme of the video. There will be subsections that serve to only expand on each of my main sections and to give clarity to them.
In the article “ From Fly to Bitches and Hoes” by Joan Morgan, she often speaks about the positive and negative ideas associated with hip-hop music. Black men display their manhood with full on violence, crime, hidden guilt, and secret escapes through drugs and alcohol. Joan Morgan’s article views the root causes of the advantage of misogyny in rap music lyrics. In the beginning of the incitement her desires shift to focus on from rap culture condemnation to a deeper analysis of the root causes. She shows the hidden causes of unpleasant sexism in rap music and argues that we need to look deeper into understanding misogyny. I agree with Joan Morgan with the stance that black men show their emotions in a different way that is seen a different perspective.
Music is a big part of our lives, it’s in everything whether it be dance, film, ads and much more. But music isn’t just sound, most famous artists produce films for their music to show the artists interpretation of the lyrics and/or music and this is called a music video. These music videos can range from animation to dance to short films and can have a very big budget.
...ality between males in females. They have succeeded in a lot of issues; but there is still a lot of work hat needs to be done to create a better world for women. The images we receive from the media clearly downgrade the capabilities of women by only focusing on their physical appearance. Hip-hop videos teach us that women are inferior to men, which is something many females have fought to end. The way in which women are portrayed in music videos influence the decisions we make every day. When young girls see those women dressed with provocative clothing, dancing in a seductive ways, and hear the names they are called, they create the ideology that those behaviors are acceptable. There is still a lot to do to end with the stereotypes that hip-hop videos have created, but if women unite to end this inequality and misrepresentation everything is possible.
The film Klute, directed by Alan J. Pakula attempts to subvert this theory, but ultimately proves Mulvey correct in the system of the active male and passive female, that the male controls the film and drives the story forward. Jane Fonda’s character, Bree Daniels, sees herself at the
Will sexism ever come to an end in today’s society? Are women going to let men step all over them? Jennifer Mclune discusses in her article, Hip-Hops Betrayal on Black Women, how black male singers objectify and degrade black females in the music industry. The purpose of this article is to show how black women are being deceived in the hip hop industry and being used as sex symbols instead of showing them for their true colors. Mclune (2015) voices her strong argument in attracting her audience by using ethos, tones, and the use of word choices.
... their authenticity because she is so easily able to adapt and assume a gender. By destroying film literally in the “Love is a Stranger” video Lennox critiques the commercialized images of women in the media. This is another example of how her performance was deliberate and sought to evoke certain references and images in to popular culture.
Also, the film revealed women empowerment and how superior they can be compared to men. While demonstrating sexual objectification, empowerment, there was also sexual exploitation of the women, shown through the film. Throughout this essay, gender based issues that were associated with the film character will be demonstrated while connecting to the real world and popular culture.
It has been played in many other countries and is listed in many major hit charts in those countries. It became one of her best-selling singles. Beyoncé has been singing about women’s independence since she was in the hit group “Destiny’s Child”. Many of her songs support women’s lifestyle and keep cheering up girls with her powerful and expressive vocals (Armstrong). In addition to her songs and lyrics, her beautiful appearance fascinates many female audiences and influences from teenagers to grown-ups as if she was a role model. A negative side of the video is that the video gives the impression that men are always to be blamed and women are always “victims” of the relationships, which is not
Beyoncé starts the video laying on top of a submerged New Orleans police car. This takes one back to the 2008 Hurricane Katrina disaster in Louisiana. The video’s main focus is on African-Americans and their living conditions. The video switches from flickering lights to flooded homes and ghetto streets. Throughout the video, Beyoncé is shown in multiple eras, ranging from the victorian era to the present 2000s.
Feminism is a movement that supports women equality within society. In relation to film, feminism is what pushes the equal representation of females in mainstream films. Laura Mulvey is a feminist theorist that is famous for touching on this particular issue of how men and women are represented in movies. Through her studies, she discovered that many films were portraying men and women very differently from reality. She came up with a theory that best described why there is such as huge misrepresentation of the social status quos of male and female characters. She believed that mainstream film is used to maintain the status quo and prevent the realization of gender equality. This is why films are continuously following the old tradition that males are dominant and females are submissive. This is the ideology that is always present when we watch a movie. This is evident in the films from the past but also currently. It is as if the film industry is still catering to the male viewers of each generation in the same way. Laura Mulvey points out that women are constantly being seen as sexual objects, whether it is the outfits they wear or do not wear or the way they behave, or secondary characters with no symbolic cause. She states that, “in traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote it-be-looked-at-ness.”(Mulvey pg. 715). Thus, women are nevertheless displayed as nothing more than passive objects for the viewing pleasure of the audience. Mulvey also points out through her research that in every mainstream movie, there is ...