REPRESENTATIONS IN MUSIC VIDEOS 

What is a representation? How the artist or band is potrayed within a music video (including their gender, race or class) and how it potrays other elements found within the video.

Music videos depict aspects of reality found within the society which they reshape in order to make the media product more appealing to current audience. In order to succeed the producers use stereotypical assocciations as it makes the videos easier to understand for the audince. 

This is a music video titled 'Only' by Nicki Minaj ft. Drake , Lil Wayne, Chris Brown. The video focuses on the genre of hip hop. The media product significantly demonstrates various stereotypical assocciations of black and white people as well as stereotypes based upon this genre of music. Within this task I will be discusing gathered examples supported by screen shots from the video. 

 

Already at the beginning of the video the representation of gender is quite unsual demonstrating a strong countertype. Nicki Minaj is potrayed as a dominant woman within the scene. The stereotypical idea of females being seen as vulnerable and weak is completly contrasted. Her role first involved seducing the man. This can be considered as stereotypical assocciation of woman particulary within the hip hop genre due to the idea of woman being sexually objectified. This is supported through confident costume which is exposing her female characteristics, revealing woman's 'real nature'. However, At the same time these features reeinforce the power which she has gained over the male character. The scene is followed by a potrayal of a white man who is demonstrating weak, fragile characteristics by giving up to a woman. The fact that the woman is draging the man also shows strong female characteristics which again supports the idea of countertype.

The representation of woman dominance and sexuality is shown throughout the clip. This is strongly supported through the mise-en-scene, particulary seductive clothing including high hills, exposing outfits, masks, feathers and tights. Stereotypically, this would be specifically aimed at black coloured woman as suggested by Bell Hooks theory 'colour codes' in which black woman are objectified and sexualised particulary within this music genre. Whereas the lighter skinned woman are considered as more desirable. This video supports the stereotypical representation of black woman, however at the same time the video demonstrates a clear conutertype as lighter skinned woman are also sexually objectfied throughout the video.  This shows that the attractivness of woman is based on John Berger theory ''Men look, woman appear'', as this idea is not aimed at any specific races but genre. 

This is another screen shot which supporting the theory of John Berger. It's demonstrating the man's nature of objectifiying woman as well as the stereotypical association of black race man being quite sexual,  Besides, from that this representation demonstrates the idea of a 'male gaze' ( Laura Mulvey theory) where woman are potrayed as passive objects of a male desire. The audience is forced to look view woman from the point of view of a heterosexual male. This can be supported even further through the woman's dance and postures which also signify that they are submissive to the man's sexual wants and desires. 

The next representation is focused around the male genre and black race. The music video demonstrates stereotypical associations of black people in particular due to the mise-en-scene but also body language. The scenes found within the video portray typical raper associations due to their costumes including hoodies and caps which can be comsidered as symbol of crime. This negative represantation can be often seen and found within the youth community, casuing theorical threat to the socity. Another elements such as gold teeth and chains are very characteristic to this genre as well as race, suggesting wealth and power due to gold's high price. However, the overall representation can cause confusion within the audience as people tend to blur race and class (Stuart Hall). This can be applied to this example in particular as black people are often associated with low class due to the stereotypical associations and hard historial background (link to archaeology theory giving a sense of 'history being the present'). 

Furthermore, the final character Lil Wayne suits also very well with the stereotypical image of a raper due to similar reasons as mentioned above for Chris Brown including physical appearance, mise-en-scene and props. However, another association focused around black male characters is their use of body language which is very specific. The confidance in their poses and agression in facial expressions allows them to feel more powerful and dominant, creating a sense of agression, violance but also hyper-muscularity. 

Another music video which I will be analysing is  Miley Cyrus song titled 'We Can't Stop', representing a pop genre and associations associated with this particular music genre.

The beginning of the video already introduces the audience to Miley's character but also controversial representations. The scene starts by the singer applying a gold tooth implant. At the same time the close up shot is exposing the artists jewellery found all around her hands, ears and neck. This particular feature implies unclear characteristics of pop genre, as the use of these props is often associated with hip-hop genre and black race. The fact that the singer is quite aggressive and confident reinforces this idea even further. At the same time the gold jewellery can be considered as a symbol of blurring class and race. The artist is strongly associated with Western beauty characteristics due to her physical appearance while the gold jewellery can be considered as a symbol of wealth suggesting the high hierarchy of white race. Moreover, this idea can be quite controversial as the character is showing stereotypical ideas of black culture, through confident poses and aggressive facial expressions.

In the next few scenes, the singer Miley Cyrus can be strongly considered as being sexually objectified. Even though she is exposing her body by wearing tight clothing and a crop top, her  posing is very confident and sexual. This shows a clear link to Bell Hooks theory of black woman being sexually objectified in music videos, however in this case demonstrating a strong countertype of this stereotypical representation. At the same time this shows unclear characteristic of white woman as lighter skinned females are considered to be more desirable and fit better in the ideology of beauty, whereas this kind of intimidating posing makes it seem unsuitable in relation to her class and race but also the music genre.

The idea of Western beauty is strongly reinforced through this screen shot representing Miley Cyrus holding a Barbie doll. This creates mixed interpretations as both the singer and the Barbie doll are almost identical. This represents the singers approach to beauty, which is stimulated by the media over the world. At the same time this idea shows a clear link to colour code theory of white woman being more desirable, by fitting more into the Western ideologies of beaty. This idea can be also linked to Zeitgeist theory, as Barbie doll representation of beaty and size has been quite controversial over last few years, suggesting strong approaches to what attractiveness is and how we should define it. Miley Cyrus is clearly passing on this trend, making the audience think about the image of beauty. 

Another screen shot focuses around two representations - representation of black woman and youth cuture. In terms of the youth culture, the video represents young people as sociable characters who like to have fun. The video is based around partying and enjoying the moment giving a sense of carpe diem. This representation of youth can be linked to Dick Hebdige theory of young people being seen in a colour picture. He defines them as fun and playful. This representation can be seen throughout the video. 

In terms of other representations, the black woman figures found within the video are sexually objectified (Bell Hooks). This can be considered as a stereotypical representation of black woman who are often dressed in tight, revealing clothing which makes them seem as passive objects of male desire. This is often seen in hip-hop music genre, which can be seen as a countertype for pop music genre.

Furthermore, looking closely at this screen shot the black female is characterised with the blond hair stylisation. This caught my attention as the music video brings a lot of focus to the subject of beauty and it's ideologies. The representation of the black figure strongly suggests she has been influanced by the ideologies promoted by mass media. As a result of this the hair stylisation and colour might give her more confidance, at the same time allowing her to feel more accepted and 'beautiful'.

The next representation focuses on the black male characters, who are demonstrating clear hip-hop characteristics. This is strongly suggested through the stereotypical appearance including gold jewellery (chains, rings), tattoos, dark sunglasses and vest exposing mascular build. All these props create an image of a stereotypical rapper associated with negative events including crime and violance. This can be supported through the confident and aggressive poses as well as serious facial expressions, causing negative reaction in the audience. At the same time this representation can be linked to commodified blackness,creating mediated view of black culture.

This is another controversial representation of youth culture which is focused around the theme of money. The character within the screen shot is eating a sandwich filled with money notes. His facial expression is very confident and aggresive ( relation to stereotypical potrayal of black man). This creates negative thought around youth culture, who are represented as people who like to spent money without important purpose. The young culture is strongly seen as materialistic rather than altruistic, creating a negative representation of 'cultural rebels' (Michael Brake).

Another understanding of this scene can be focused on blurring class with race, as black culture is often associated with a low class due to their historical background. This can be treated as a metaphor, trying to face this stereotype. 

Final association to youth culture found within the video is based around 'twerking' - a recent trend which has been very popular within young people. It's another representation of female gender, where woman are sexually objectified through exposing their body. This is particulary directed towards male desires as woman are exposed as sexual objects. At the same time this can be linked to the Zeitgeist theory as twerking has been considered as recent trend which can be seen within mass media all around the world including magazines, music videos and movies. These associations create negative interpretations of young woman, who are seen in negative light by older age groups. 

In conclusion, both music videos demonstrate various representations of class, race and age depending on the music genre, although the modern videos are often overlapping similar characteristics. The trends of present are often influancing the views of the socity as they are spread all around mass media including music videos. Within both videos the representations were often negative, reeinforcing the stereotypical representation of all- gender, race, age and class.