Compare the representations of gender and ethnicity in Beyonce's Run the World and Dizzie Rascal's Dream- (30 marks)
Beyonce and Dizzie Rascal both hold different focuses in their music videos through their narrative with Run the World overall being a women empowerment song through the war between women and men (gender) and Dream a musical work relating to the place of Black people in a white-dominated musical industry (ethnicity).
Beyonce represents women in a way that doesn't comply with the status quo positively, showing them as strong warriors. There are various scenes which indicate so, like the establishing wide shot of a woman riding a horse and the wide shot of Beyonce holding two dogs with chains. In both instances, animals are used as iconography to represent control and toughness, often associated with males, therefore she's defying gender roles in her song due to the binary oppositions between the women and the men, which supports Levi-Strauss' theory. Dizzie has a dominant woman as a consistent figure throughout his music video as well, however, she's not represented positively. This is denoted through her robotic-ness with close-ups of her disapproving facial expressions and the narration "He's such a rascal". She's not supposed to be likeable but rather controlling and judging, as she plays the song by which Dizzie has to come out and perform, a metaphor with a similar nature to Beyonce's as the woman is in power as well but in this case, it holds negative connotations.
On the other hand, you could argue both artists do stick to certain toxic expectations. Certain shots of Run the World appear to be sexualised, for instance, the various slow-motion close-ups of Beyonce's face and the quick shot of her hands, with jewellery. These denote seductiveness, through a very controlled fabricated image, signified by the jewellery on her hand, a prop to show the worry of society for acceptance through wealth and beauty which links to Barthes' theory of semiotics. Furthermore, this is hinted in 'Dream' as well, with the Dizzie saying : "This is too sensible for me man". It seems to be mimicking the idea of 'men don't cry', perhaps unintentionally as in the shots of violence there are only male puppets present, with female puppets only appearing in two shots, walking and strolling a baby, respectively.
Overall, both music videos contain stereotypical aspects. Stereotypes are represented through both videos' interpretation of street life. Run the World has props like cars and bins on fire along with riot shields and chains to depict rebellion, in a video dominated by black people, which it could be argued doesn't defy but complies with their association with criminality. 'Dream' also contains props such as stolen TVs, graffiti, and police cars, portraying the same stereotype, demonstrating both music videos follow Gilroy's theory of post-colonialism as this made-up idea is still common in the media of today. Nevertheless, both music videos also tackle these stereotypes in a challenging way, defying social ones as well. Through the lyrics "Help me raise a glass for the college grads" and "try to keep school part of your plans" both Beyonce and Dizzie acknowledge the cliche of young people dropping out, challenging it.
Power is outlined differently in the texts, with Run the World showing a black woman in power positively, as she's free. This is indicated in the mid-shot of her breaking out into dance, which opposes the rest of the people standing still, and the two men next to her following her every move, as if they were her puppets. In Dream, the black person is not in power, as the song's undertones suggests that Dizzie's freedom by which he can perform and be 'string-less' unlike the rest of the puppets around him, is only an illusion as he's being allowed to take that position. The difference of scale between him and the white lady juxtaposes the same scale of Beyonce and her male dancers, demonstrating Dizzie's place could be being threatened in the music industry, unlike Beyonce's. This is developed by the initial and final shots of the music videos, with Dream's having mid-shots of the white woman both times, and Run the World going from a shot of Beyonce to one of all the women. In this way, it is suggested Dream has negative representations in general, as it is very tightly focused on the reactions of the white woman, following a circular narrative structure, whereas Run the World has a linear one. This is perhaps due to the different time periods, as the early 2000s wasn't an era as progressive as the successive decade. Therefore, there's a link to Gaunlett's theory of identity. Nowadays there's more social awareness, hence the increasing diversity in the industries, and artists being able to develop their star persona regardless of their musical genre, unlike Dizzie.
Beyonce represents women in a way that doesn't comply with the status quo positively, showing them as strong warriors. There are various scenes which indicate so, like the establishing wide shot of a woman riding a horse and the wide shot of Beyonce holding two dogs with chains. In both instances, animals are used as iconography to represent control and toughness, often associated with males, therefore she's defying gender roles in her song due to the binary oppositions between the women and the men, which supports Levi-Strauss' theory. Dizzie has a dominant woman as a consistent figure throughout his music video as well, however, she's not represented positively. This is denoted through her robotic-ness with close-ups of her disapproving facial expressions and the narration "He's such a rascal". She's not supposed to be likeable but rather controlling and judging, as she plays the song by which Dizzie has to come out and perform, a metaphor with a similar nature to Beyonce's as the woman is in power as well but in this case, it holds negative connotations.
On the other hand, you could argue both artists do stick to certain toxic expectations. Certain shots of Run the World appear to be sexualised, for instance, the various slow-motion close-ups of Beyonce's face and the quick shot of her hands, with jewellery. These denote seductiveness, through a very controlled fabricated image, signified by the jewellery on her hand, a prop to show the worry of society for acceptance through wealth and beauty which links to Barthes' theory of semiotics. Furthermore, this is hinted in 'Dream' as well, with the Dizzie saying : "This is too sensible for me man". It seems to be mimicking the idea of 'men don't cry', perhaps unintentionally as in the shots of violence there are only male puppets present, with female puppets only appearing in two shots, walking and strolling a baby, respectively.
Overall, both music videos contain stereotypical aspects. Stereotypes are represented through both videos' interpretation of street life. Run the World has props like cars and bins on fire along with riot shields and chains to depict rebellion, in a video dominated by black people, which it could be argued doesn't defy but complies with their association with criminality. 'Dream' also contains props such as stolen TVs, graffiti, and police cars, portraying the same stereotype, demonstrating both music videos follow Gilroy's theory of post-colonialism as this made-up idea is still common in the media of today. Nevertheless, both music videos also tackle these stereotypes in a challenging way, defying social ones as well. Through the lyrics "Help me raise a glass for the college grads" and "try to keep school part of your plans" both Beyonce and Dizzie acknowledge the cliche of young people dropping out, challenging it.
Power is outlined differently in the texts, with Run the World showing a black woman in power positively, as she's free. This is indicated in the mid-shot of her breaking out into dance, which opposes the rest of the people standing still, and the two men next to her following her every move, as if they were her puppets. In Dream, the black person is not in power, as the song's undertones suggests that Dizzie's freedom by which he can perform and be 'string-less' unlike the rest of the puppets around him, is only an illusion as he's being allowed to take that position. The difference of scale between him and the white lady juxtaposes the same scale of Beyonce and her male dancers, demonstrating Dizzie's place could be being threatened in the music industry, unlike Beyonce's. This is developed by the initial and final shots of the music videos, with Dream's having mid-shots of the white woman both times, and Run the World going from a shot of Beyonce to one of all the women. In this way, it is suggested Dream has negative representations in general, as it is very tightly focused on the reactions of the white woman, following a circular narrative structure, whereas Run the World has a linear one. This is perhaps due to the different time periods, as the early 2000s wasn't an era as progressive as the successive decade. Therefore, there's a link to Gaunlett's theory of identity. Nowadays there's more social awareness, hence the increasing diversity in the industries, and artists being able to develop their star persona regardless of their musical genre, unlike Dizzie.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario