In Kanye Wests music video Monster, the representations of gender and race characterise the text, and makes the audience take into consideration the approaches in which ethnicity and sex are conventionally conveyed. Men are shown to be tough, staunch and independent, though the women are represented by body parts scattered around the set.. Similarly, blacks are shown to be the dominant, potent race, though Caucasians are represented largely by dead bodies and parts thereof. This causes viewers to contemplate the gender roles and racial stereotypes inherent in todays society and how they are illustrated by way of media, judging for themselves no matter whether this is a realistic portrayal of society.
The two predominant identities represented in the music video are those of race and gender. Gill Branston states that some media re-present, ever and more than once again, specific pictures, stories, scenarios. This can make them seem natural or familiar (Branston et al, 25). This is extremely prevalent in this video, not only due to the racial stereotypes and gender roles, but given that of a well-publicised media event centred on Kanye Wests actions at the Grammys. West received an unprecedented quantity of bad press right after interrupting Taylor Swifts acceptance speech right after winning the award for ideal female video, jumping on stage and announcing that Beyonce was a additional deserving candidate. The media continued to show clips of the event and write about it, and it has now become somewhat of a operating joke in gossip magazines. They re-present[ed], more than and more than once again this incident, and now, in a lot of instances, when Kanye West is mentioned , it is accompanied by a reference to the event. This makes it painless to assume the worst in the singer, one thing consciously referred to in both the style of the video and the lyrics of the song. The video as a result can be noticed almost as a counter-text to this event, as it expands on the original source and illustrates the publics perception of him. Representation is not accountable for 1 correct, solid meaning, but rather presents a refracted view on the globe and events by the conventions and demands of the type of media it is (Branston et al, 26). West has been painted as a monster of sorts by way of a number of media, which guides us to the assumption that he is not a decent individual. Nevertheless, I argue that these assumptions were helped along by the fact that West is a black man and given that of the method of categorization or framing (Branston et al, 28) accomplished by the media, he is noticed as predisposed to crime and violence. People today reacted s o badly towards the event given that a black man in a sense attacked a white woman, to defend a black woman. The music video takes full benefit of this, utilizing the buck stereotype of the robust, more than-sexed, violent black man in an ironic way to try to shoot down this theory.
Racism is not the only predominant theme in this text gender is also a important theme inherent. As Jackson Katz notes on his YouTube video Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity, males are brought up with the belief that to be a actual man to be tough, robust, independent [and] respected like those depicted in the pervasive media program which provides a steady stream of pictures which define manhood as connected with dominance, power and manage, they must assert their dominance by way of violence and attitude. He then goes on to add that it is even additional pronounced amongst males of colour given that there are little diversities of pictures of them in the media. Byron Hurt discovered that for a lot of black males, respect is gained by way of how a lot of guns they had, how quickly they could pull the trigger, how a lot drugs they sold, what type of vehicle they drive, how a lot of girls they was with. It was never about intellect. Kanye West, Jay-Z an d [insert name of other back guy here] all encompass the tough, robust, independent values of what it indicates to be a man. Every single is solitary- we never see the artists together- indicating their independence. They stand tall and present themselves as staunchin an I couldnt care less what you believe of me way. It is by way of this presentation of themselves that they think they will acquire respect from the viewers. Nevertheless, in reality it is feeding the idea further into the ideologies of young males that this is the way they will acquire respect and be noticed as a actual man.
Females are also involved in the video, and by way of observation of other hip-hop videos, it is evident that they play a somewhat typical function. In a lot of music videos, the body is separated from the womans face by way of camera shots and angles, so she either appears as a sex-object (close-ups of her scantily-clad body) or a individual (her face), never both. This identifies woman as sex-object, and she is sometimes treated in a degrading manner. This is exemplified to extremes in Monster, as shots of female body parts lie littered all more than the residence. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that each body part (a hand, a head etc) has white skin. This is possibly a reference to the Taylor Swift incident mentioned ahead of- the way the media went on about it was as if he had torn her to pieces so to speak. Dead white women lay in a bed with West, the contrast of the skin colour highlighted by way of the use of lighting. This is another reference to the buck st ereotype of the black man who lusts right after the white woman. Nicki Minaj, who also collaborated on the song, is the only female shown in this video alive and potent. We see part of women who are alive, but they are only hands grabbing at West, asserting his typical hip-hop video function as pimp. Minaj takes the function of robust, independent woman as the only black female in the video.
The Frankfurt school considered well known culture a tool to be utilized by those in power to reproduce the unequal social relations that are the hallmark of capitalism, and works its ideological magic by way of giving the viewer or listener a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment (Schirato et al, 94). In this distinct text, I would have to argue that this statement is simultaneously correct and untrue. As with a lot of rap songs, the lyrics are particularly a lot centred on how decent the rapper believes himself to be, and serves as self-gratification to the artist. Lyrically, it is an ago-fest, each trying to out-do the other in their achievements, exemplified by the lines all I see is niggers I created millionaires and my presence is a present kiss my ass. This massages the ego of the artist, rather than that of the consumer. Nevertheless, the style of the video does give the viewer a sense of pleasure, as it takes the conventions normally reserved for horror films and ar eas them in new territory. For the reason that in the culture market music videos are made on such a scale that they beg[in] to resemble 1 another (Schirato et al, 94) we are all familiar with the usual conventions of a rap music video, so this mixing of expectations is thrilling for us.
The utilizes and gratifications model and the media effects argument come up with opposing viewpoints about what the viewer does with the texts they consume. The media effects argument says that men and women adjust their behaviour according to what they see in the media- it suggests men and women basically take in an unmediated view of whats around them, believing whatever they see to be wholly truthful and acceptable. Conversely, the utilizes and gratifications model states that rather than basically being fed the media, men and women use it to fulfil distinct requirements (Schirato et al, 95). Monster is obviously meant to be believed about, deciphered and utilized for the objective of escapism and entertainment. Believed is necessary to recognize the rappers are sarcastic in their manner, and wish us to know that. They suggest they are noticed as monsters given that of their skin colour. They play up to this in fact, by acting out the part of the buck, in such a way that viewers are encouraged to believe about what they are saying. The preferred reading of the text is these guys are not monsters, still the negated reading is but Kanye West was particularly rude to Taylor Swift. The negotiated reading, as a result, is despite the fact that Kanye West was nasty to Taylor Swift, it is unfair that we are nevertheless portraying him in a beastly manner. In saying this, still, it is troublesome to say exactly what a viewer will read into the text, as the meaning of a text to an individual is made by way of their own private experiences this is called reception theory, and is explained by Stuart Hall as the decoding part of a media text (Schirato et al, 98). Hall theorises that meaning is not basically contained in the text itself, but rather attained by way of literacies, and so elements such as age, race, class, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation affect our reading of a text (Schirato et al, 99).
A great number of mainstream artists, specifically rap artists, harmfully manipulate the way we perceive and treat women by way of their music videos. Similarly, males in the videos represent power and dominance, playing the pimp and giving the impression that to be a man you must treat women as inferior sex-objects. It is by way of mediums such as this that women have learnt to see themselves as being looked at (Berger et al, 36), and leads women to believe the liberation of the feminist movement has turned into retro-sexism (Branston et al, 37). Race is also a huge factor in videos, as a lot of dark-skinned men and women have tried to dispel the widespread stereotypes of their race by way of overly-positive pictures of themselves. West et al ironically use the buck stereotype to demonstrate how ridiculous it is to believe men and women are predisposed to specific behaviours basically given that of their colour. As Branston notes, [t]here are a lot of examples of the media systematically narrowing imagery of distinct groups, and this has a negative impact on those exposed to it.
Functions Cited:
Branston, Gill and Roy Stafford. Representations Course Reader (2011):25-48. Print.
Schirato, Tony, Anji Buettner, Thierry Jutel and Geoff Stahl. Media Audiences Understanding Media Scientific studies. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, (2010):92-110. Print.
Hurt, Byron. /watch?v=nOQZqCGHctE&function=related
Katz, Jackson. Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity. /watch?v=3xzMPT4nGI
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