Kiera's Tumblr

How the aforementioned theorists' ideas can be applied to music videos such as Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" and Rage Against the Machine's "Sleep Now in the Fire"

Another Brick in the Wall

Pink Floyd's music video for "Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2" offers a powerful critique of societal structures and the education system, making it ripe for analysis through the lenses of Marx and Engels' theory of ruling ideas, Althusser's construction of the state apparatus, and Benjamin's musings on mechanical reproduction. From the beginning of the video, it’s clear that Pink Floyd is criticizing the educational system of the United Kingdom. The first lyrics of the song, “we don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control” play over a panning shot of a dull and gray city at 0:09 before zooming into a schoolyard of children playing at 0:26. At 0:36, the video cuts to an animation of a ‘teacher’ figure on strings, like a puppet; he is a clear caricature of a scholar that is meant to represent the bottom rung of the educational system, a mere puppet through which the ruling class’s ‘ruling ideas’ may be expressed. This caricature and the way that education is represented throughout the entire music video ties back to Althusser’s description of what he calls the State Apparatus. This theory suggests that institutions such as schools serve to maintain the dominance of the ruling class by perpetuating ideologies that justify the existing social order. This teacher puppet enforces conformity and punishes deviation from the norm. The school is depicted as a repressive institution that indoctrinates students to accept their place within the hierarchical structure of society, thus perpetuating the status quo.

At 0:48, the ‘teacher’ shoves the children into a meat grinder shaped like a school, suggesting that the children are being taken apart and melded into the status quo. The teacher then morphs into a hammer surrounded by a brick wall as the lyrics “all in all it’s just another brick in the wall, all in all you’re just another brick in the wall” play. These lyrics can be interpreted in a few different ways that correlate to the theory we have been reading about; the first ‘wall’ could be Roger Waters’ countless negative experiences with the establishment and school in general, while the second mention of the wall could be interpreted as the proletariat, made up of ‘bricks’ that have been perfectly molded to be exactly the same; to fit together and build a wall of class hierarchy. The next section is made up of a group of children, singing as a chorus that they “don’t need no education” at 1:15. The lights dim and fade to red as they sing, further emphasizing the dangers of indoctrination from educational systems that uphold the ruling ideas.

Remember how the teacher turned into a hammer earlier? Yeah, well now everyone’s a hammer! Around 2:34, the music video shifts focus to older children walking around what could be assumed to be a school. These shots are intercut with personified hammers walking in single file lines together, almost like an army. The hammer could represent many things, but to me, it most obviously highlights the next generation that is ready to ‘hammer’ the ruling ideas of the status quo into the next generation. The hammers continue to move as a unit, scoping out anything that may be out of line. Benjamin’s theories of mechanical reproduction are not so applicable in this video, but it could be argued that a commodification of art is present within the classroom from a historical perspective.

Sleep Now in the Fire

Rage Against The Machine's music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire" offers a scathing critique of capitalism, corporate greed, and the collusion between government and big business. The very beginning of the video starts with a message about Wall Street’s “record profits” and “record layoffs”, highlighting the connection between the two. It then is stated that Rage Against the Machine have been told to not play on Wall Street, so the next day they do!

via GIPHY

At 0:30, the camera cuts to the back of a police officer’s head. Rage Against the Machine is known for being against the police, as they are a part of the ‘machine.’ This greatly aligns with Althusser’s theory of the state apparatus, with police making up part of the repressive state apparatus. The RSA functions through explicit coercion and the threat of physical force to uphold the law and enforce compliance with the dominant ideology. Police are a perfect personification of this part of the apparatus. At 0:34, the camera cuts to a presumably fake game show for which the title flashes on the screen above the ‘host’ : “Who Wants To Be Filthy F#&%ing Rich?” The host then points at the camera before a contestant eagerly runs onstage to participate. This piece of the music video represents a different but just as interesting piece of the ideological state apparatus; the communications and arts ISA. Things like game shows cement the want for money and shifting your class position, the classic ‘American dream’ type of message (that to Marx, as well as likely to the rest of these thinkers we have been reading about, is impossible). This game show could also be used to argue for Benjamin’s theories of mechanical reproduction, as mass media and the subliminal imagery within it takes away from its artistry and works to serve the ruling class.

Shots of people dancing as they listen to RATM’s music (as they’re surrounded by cops no less) are intercut with the game show participants answering questions about the US government. At 1:24, the question “Number of Americans with no health care?” is on screen, and the two options for an answer are “A: 45 million” or “B: A few old people.” The answer is, of course, “45 million” and I’m sure the number is even higher today… However, this clip reinforces the idea that the ruling class enforces ruling ideas through conditioning. People may assume that healthcare isn’t as much of an issue as it is due to the conditioning from the State Apparatus. More questions, like those about the top 10%, the wealth gap, and even more are shown on screen throughout the duration of the video. There’s a lot more I could say about this video, but I’ll keep it short and sweet so that you can watch it and make judgments for yourself!

Discussion Questions

How do the music videos for Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" and Rage Against The Machine's "Sleep Now in the Fire" utilize visual imagery and symbolism to critique capitalist structures? What specific scenes or symbols stand out to you, and how do they contribute to the overall message of each video? Did you find these forms of imagery effective?

How does “Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2” imply the acknowledgement of the entire ideological state apparatus along with education? In what ways can you connect the message of this song and music video to other elements of Althusser’s theory?

In RATM’s music video, they disregard Wall Street’s declaration that they shall not play music on Wall Street, and yet they do anyways. This shows a very blatant protest against the rules, but it made me think about Marx and Engels’ thoughts on false consciousness; could this be an example of just that? Especially considering that this song and music video were mechanically reproduced, monetized and turned into consumable products in one way or another?

Althusser, Louis. 2006. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation).” In The Anthropology of the State. N.p.: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Benjamin, Walter. 2009. “THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION.” In FILM THEORY AND CRITICISM Introductory Readings. N.p.: Oxford University Press.

Pink Floyd: Nothing but the Machine

Young students run around causing a ruckus, complaining about their evil teacher who traps them with the masses. Being a hundred times the size of the students who are ants in comparison, the teacher has an easy time putting the kids into the roof of a standard British home that appears to be a funnel and are turned into spaghetti as he watches through his glasses where one lens enlarges into a magnifying glass. The students' lack of individuality reigns supreme in Pink Floyd’s, “Another Brick in the Wall, Part Two,” they are just another noodle. In “The Ruling Class and The Ruling Ideas,” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels make the point that the ruling class, the teachers, control the means of material and mental labor, which is divided for one half to appear as thinkers while the other stays passive and grounded in reality. This allows for one class to rule all just like a teacher runs a classroom in 1970s England (Pg. 59-60). Marx and Engels discuss how ideas are not independent of politics, just as music and art are intertwined with politics. Pink Floyd were one of the most influential bands to criticize the education system and how teachers back then put kids in a box as seen in the imagery of a white brick wall encasing a student sitting on the dirt ground. In “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses,” Louis Althusser writes:

“School (but also other State institutions like the Church, or other apparatuses like the Army) teaches ‘knowhow’, but in forms which ensure subjection to the ruling ideology or the mastery of its ‘practice’. ‘professionals of ideology’ (Marx), – the tasks of the exploited (the proletarians), of the exploiters (the capitalists), of the exploiters’ auxiliaries (the managers), or of the high priests of the ruling ideology (its ‘functionaries’), etc” (Pg.88).

Pink Floyd paints a picture of the ruling class quite literally trapping a child inside a brick wall by the high priest Althusser speaks of, the teacher. Keeping the youth trapped without hope of living their dreams only will force them into the wall of never contradicting their superiors and never accomplishing anything. Instead, the children will end up in the workforce where they will be miserable.

The sad reality is presented in the shot of silver hammers with red and black handles marching like the military in a dark and cloudy night. Each hammer represents a different child who the high priests trapped into our established system, even if that means the children are unhappy because they grew up to work meaningless jobs. Pink Floyd, Marx, Engels and Althusser all agree that the system's hierarchy is oppressive as the ruling class subjects everyone else into a working majority that builds the infrastructure that keeps the upper class afloat and in power. It's a cycle where the high priests manipulate the children to be the same as everyone else so they stay and grow up to work the same jobs as their parents just like their own kids will.

Thom Yorke and the Aura of Surrealism

Thom Yorke from Radiohead and The Smile made a solo album titled “Anima” and a short film with Paul Thomas Anderson of the same title to go along with it. The film features the songs, “Not the News,” “Traffic” and “Dawn Chorus.” In Walter Benjamin's essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," he discussed mechanical reproduction and how it depleted the uniqueness of works of art, writing “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (Pg. 667). Thom Yorke is one of the few modern musicians who proves Benjamin's critique of artistic authenticity wrong. “Anima” exists outside of time and space. Benjamin’s comments on retakes in film and music is that it depletes the aura of the piece. Maybe multiple takes does make a work of art less organic, but Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction appears natural in its own right as the film begins with a location all too familiar for many people, the train.

To perfect something, or rather to record something numerous times can only benefit the artwork at hand, but that's just my opinion. Benjamin does speak on the meaning of aura relating to authenticity and Yorke and Anderson show the inside of a subway where everyone is wearing the same coat and flips it over with a choreographed dance sequence of each person moving their body in a bizarre lifeless way. Yorke and Anderson make their point that authenticity and surrealism can go hand and hand.

After the dance sequence, Thom Yorke picks up a woman's briefcase and proceeds to exit the train to give it back to her. Instead, he loses her and wanders around in a dream-like dystopian world. He is searching for answers but nothing is received. There's a point where he tries to exit the station but the turnstile won't move. The same people in identical trench coats continue to walk through the turnstile right next to him, but his still won't budge. The audience is left to ponder the question of what it meant. This is exactly what I want out of art, displaying an ambiguous critique of society. Art becomes repetitive when the answers are given to the viewer instead of the filmmakers forcing the audience to think critically about the film and its meaning. Thom Yorke and Paul Thomas Anderson let the viewer experience a dream-like state so they can apply it to an everyday event such as taking the train to work. Yorke and Anderson are breaking the laws of time and space in the film with surreal imaginary and bizarre and striking choreography. “Anima” created its own aura that is not aligned with the idea that a piece needs to be viewed in a specific way or the authenticity will be lost. The authenticity of “Anima” is its unique and uncanny perspective on reality. Maybe Walter Benjamin wouldn’t mind retakes if films were as inventive as “Anima.”

Critical Thinking Questions

According to Marx and Engels, ideas are not independent from politics. Do you think art and politics should be grouped together or can the two be separate?

Is Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part Two” overly cynical towards capitalism that's perpetuated by what Althusser describes as “high priests,” or is it justified?

Do you agree with Walter Benjamin's opinion that retakes deplete the aura of films?

Marx, Karl. Marx and Engels Collected Works Volume 5: Marx and Engels 1845-47. Lawrence & Wishart Limited, 1976. 

Sharma, Aradhana, and Akhil Gupta. The anthropology of the state: A reader. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 

I can think of one way; the in-sync people might represent a middle class. Someone (a ruling class) must be influencing them to perform these movements. Afterall, Marx writes that the ruling class has mental and material control over a society. And anyone that doesn't conform, like Thom Yorke, is an outsider. This might make him part of a lower class, but it also gives him the potential to think outside the box, somehow become part of the ruling class, and change society.

By Sophie Goldberg

"Telephone" by Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé

The music video Telephone by Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé serves as a continuation of "Paparazzi", where Gaga was arrested for killing her abusive boyfriend by poisoning his drink. It features a storyline where Lady Gaga is imprisoned but eventually escapes with Beyoncé's help, and they then go on to poison Beyoncé’s boyfriend and others in a diner and run from the police.  

 Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”

 Mulvey discusses the concept of the male gaze, where the camera represents the perspective of a heterosexual male viewer, objectifying female characters for the pleasure of the male audience. Beyonces and Lady Gaga’s portrayal aligns with certain aspects of the male gaze. The music video inevitably attracts male attention as the camera frequently lingers on their bodies and costumes, emphasizing their sexuality and allure.  Mulvey states “Traditionally, the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium” (716). For example, when Lady Gaga first enters the prison everyone is wearing revealing clothes, and as she's pushed into her cell officers strip her down, leaving her with nothing but fishnets. Another instance occurs when Lady Gaga and three other women wear studded bikinis and engage in a provocative dance down the prison corridors. Spectators also see them through the lens of a security camera, furthering the voyeuristic aspect. 

However in "Telephone," both Lady Gaga and Beyoncé also challenge traditional notions of passive femininity by taking on assertive, dominant roles. Mulvey states that “pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (715). Women are presented as spectacle as the man's role is “the active one of forwarding the story,” (716) Lady Gaga and Beyoncé disrupt traditional narrative conventions  by defying societal expectations of female passivity and instead taking control of their own narrative. Gaga and Beyoncé portray themselves as empowered and even dangerous figures as in the music video there are depicted acts of violence against men.   

 Bell Hooks, “Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators”

Hooks discusses how Black female spectators often engage with media representations critically as  “ mass media was a system of knowledge and power reproducing and maintaining white supremacy. To stare at the television, or mainstream movies, to engage its images, was to engage its negation of black representation.” (308) In "Telephone," Beyoncé's confident demeanor, assertive actions, and her role as the one with more agency than Lady Gaga—having the power to bail her out of jail—can be viewed as empowering examples of Black women asserting their autonomy within mainstream media.

Furthermore, Hooks critiques mainstream media for its tendency to eroticize and objectify Black women's bodies. In the video, there is a moment in which there is a high angle shot of Beyoncé's cleavage as she sits across from her boyfriend in the diner. Although, within the framework of the oppositional gaze, Beyoncé's character adopts a rebellious stance, refusing to conform to the gaze of desire and possession. Instead, she asserts her power by poisoning her misogynistic boyfriend and evading the police.   

 Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”

In Lorde's essay, she states “As women, we must root out internalized patterns of oppression within ourselves if we are to move beyond the most superficial aspects of social change.” (122) One such pattern is internalized misogyny, where women devalue themselves and others, which can lead to judgmental attitudes towards different lifestyles and choices. In "Telephone," Beyoncé exemplifies Lorde's words by not passing judgment on Lady Gaga's choices when she bails her out of jail. Despite their differing lifestyles, they unite against a common oppressor. Furthermore, societal expectations surrounding gender roles can also be internalized forms of oppression, such as conforming to domestic responsibilities. In the video Lady Gaga challenge these norms when she incorporates the stereotype of women in the kitchen within a segment titled  “Lets Make a Sandwich”, but instead of adhering to these norms she instead puts poison in all of the food. 

Furthermore, Lorde underscores  the need to recognize differences among women as equals , relate across the differences, and utilize them to enrich collective visions and struggles. This is shown in the music video through the camaraderie and alliance depicted between Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. The video embraces diversity within feminism, showcasing representations of differences in sexuality and race, yet emphasizing a shared goal of empowerment. This sentiment is also echoed in the lyrics, “Boy, the way you blowin' up my phone , Won't make me leave no faster, Put my coat on faster, Leave my girls no faster” 

"Q.U.E.E.N." by Janelle Monáe ft. Erykah Badu

 Janelle Monáe's music video for 'Q.U.E.E.N.,' featuring Erykah Badu, serves as a freedom anthem within a science fiction dystopia. The title itself, 'Q.U.E.E.N.,' is an acronym representing marginalized communities: Queer, Untouchables, Emigrants, Excommunicated, and Negroid, reclaiming royal imagery to challenge traditional hierarchies of race, sexuality, and class. Monáe's Afrofuturist vision suggests a revolution, where marginalized communities and differences are celebrated rather than ostracized. The music video features rebel time-travelers that are frozen in a museum and brought to life by music. In the video's narrative, the song functions as part of a “musical weapons program” that disrupts the status quo, allowing the rebels to move through history and forge a new future in the present.

 Laura Mulvey “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” 

   Mulvey argues that traditional cinematic narratives often reinforce patriarchal ideologies and power structures as they cater to a male gaze. The music video "Q.U.E.E.N." offers a narrative that challenges this as it features strong, empowered female protagonists who challenge traditional gender roles and expectations. Janelle Monáe wears a black-and-white tuxedo, disrupting the traditional notion of gendered clothing styles. The ladies all dance with each other and build eachother up such as when they reply and affirm each other “Is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? And am I weird to dance alone late at night? (Nah) And is it true we're all insane? (Yeah) And I just tell 'em, "No we ain't" and get down”. Here, the mention of twerking in the mirror is not sexualized but used to empower the female body.  

Bell Hooks, “Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators”

  The oppositional gaze is seen in the music video as Black female spectators engage with the visual representation of empowerment and resistance depicted in the video. Monáe uses both queerness and Blackness as examples of modern “freakishness.” Monáe doesn't assign a "freaky" status to queerness or Blackness herself, instead, she challenges listeners to interrogate why these identities are perceived as "freaky." She suggests that what society deems as "freaky" is simply the act of being true to oneself. The lyrics declare those differences as things to be proud of  stating "Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am". Monáe and Erykah Badu illustrate the way society "freakifies" their Blackness, showcasing how joy and celebration within Black culture are often viewed negatively due to racist stereotypes. The hook in the song highlights this, asking: “Am I a freak for dancing around? Am I a freak for getting down? I’m cutting up, don’t cut me down.” Black female spectators can find empowerment in seeing how the song recognizes differences and individuality as prideful assets. 

 Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”

Lorde emphasizes the importance of recognizing the intersections of age, race, class, and sex in understanding women's experiences. The video highlights the oppression faced by diverse identities and experiences of Black women,  as well as showcases their resilience in the face of it.  The lyrics “Add us to equations but they'll never make us equal” resonates with Lorde’s claim that simply incorporating marginalized groups into existing systems does not address the underlying power imbalances or inequalities. Monáe’s next lyrics recognizes these inequalities stating “She who writes the movie owns the script and the sequel, So why ain't the stealing of my rights made illegal? They keep us underground working hard for the greedy, But when it's time pay they turn around and call us needy (needy)” Lorde further  advocates for collective action and solidarity among women of different backgrounds to achieve liberation. In "Q.U.E.E.N.," the song's message of female empowerment and solidarity is highlighted as Monáe and Badu come together to celebrate different identities, for example sexual and racial identity. Janelle Monáe promotes unity and collaboration among women as she says “Will you be electric sheep? Electric ladies, will you sleep? Or will you preach?” According to Janelle Monáe it is up to this community and this generation to create its new norm and break down the walls that limit them.

Discussion Questions:

Lorde says ““By and large within the women’s movement today, white women focus upon their oppression as women and ignore differences of race, sexual preference, class and age. There is a pretense to a homogeneity of experience covered by the word sisterhood that does not in fact exist.” In the music video, do you think Lady Gaga is focusing on the oppression of just women in general and treating the experience of all women the same, or is she not necessarily ignoring the differences but the video just does not explicitly address them .  

Is trying to make money and bring attention using our bodies promoting sexism even though it is our choice and feel empowering or confidence boosting

“TELEPHONE” LADY GAGA & BEYONCE

In Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” (ft. Beyonce) music video, she centers two women criminals, half of the video taking place at a women's prison and the other half following the homicide the women (played by Gaga and Beyonce) set out to commit. The first striking thing about the video is the immediate use of women’s bodies. All the women in the prison are wearing revealing outfits, even the women security guards. As Gaga walks down the cells, the fellow prisoners (all female-presenting) hoot and holler and as character is thrown into her cell, the guards promptly rip off her clothes. This is an example of the use of a woman’s body that is not centering the male gaze. While a male gaze still may derive pleasure from the revealing costumes in the video, these characters are not necessarily designed to be seen as sexy by the male spectator. In Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” she writes that media depictions of women in a patriarchal culture stand as a signifier for the male other - meaning that women characters are present to engage with the male fantasy (1). While most of the women in the music video are partially nude or in revealing costumes, they are not doing so in a sexual nature. Their nudity and sexuality isn’t aiming to please men but to claim their own sexual identity. Mulvey also touches on how women’s bodies in “alternative cinema” can be also a radical or political aspect that challenges the basic assumptions of mainstream media, instead of just being objects for pleasure (2). Women’s bodies are shown in “Telephone” in different ways than usual music videos – there is more of a diversity in beauty and a roughness to them – these bodies are asking to be looked at. 

In hooks’ “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators,” she writes about the “right to gaze.” Specifically, she references: “the politics of slavery, of racialized power relations, were such that the slaves were denied their right to gaze” (3). In these racialized power relations, she writes that Black people were not permitted to engage in the same freedom of watching, entertainment, or deriving pleasure from what they were seeing. This structure ultimately permeates to this day, as hooks writes that of the Black women she spoke to, none were excited to attend the movie theaters, knowing they would not be properly represented (4). How “Telephone” works in contrast with this trend is allowing spectators to look at and derive pleasure from the woman’s body. The idea of the oppositional gaze is a major part of the video because it challenges the ideas of dominant images that women must conform to. The video’s way of resisting the hegemonic gaze was to place the power into the hands of the women characters and for their bodies and strength to be shown without comparing it to that of a male character. hooks references Manthia Diawara to talk about the power of the spectator: “Every narration places the spectator in a position of agency; and race, class and sexual relations influence the way in which this subjecthood is filled by the spectator” (4) (309). Each person, specifically women, watching this music video could feel a sense of agency after experiencing women characters having power over their own bodies. 

On the topic of bodies, the music video employs a semi-diverse cast of women in the video (the majority of women in the video are still white). Specifically, a lot of the women have stark differences about them like ethnicities, age, or sexual identity. In Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” she writes that emphasizing differences is usually taught to be bad or ignored, “or to view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change” (5). In “Telephone,” the differences between these women in prison or Beyonce and Gaga as criminals is distinctly outlined. It is unclear with what Gaga and the writers of the video were trying to accomplish with the “outsider-ness” of the characters in the video – if they were trying to make them look bad or powerful –but one could argue that these women could fit into the archetype of rebels, not caring about society’s rules for them, and that would empower the viewer. It could also be argued that these women are represented by a stereotype of women in prison: violent, erratic, and their homosexuality coming off as predatory and creepy. Mulvey references those who have stood “outside the circle of this society’s definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference” (6). “Telephone” puts examples in its video of women on the “margins of society,” but their purpose of being there is unclear to the viewer. 

Questions:

Do you think that the other women in the video are meant to be powerful or other-ed, just perpetuating a stereotype? 

Do you think “Telephone” practices using the “oppositional gaze”? 

How do you think the sexual nature of woman characters in the video differs from other media depictions we have seen? 

“THOT SHIT” MEGAN THEE STALLION

At the beginning of the “Thot Shit” music video, the character of the senator is shown leaving a hate comment on one of Megan’s former music videos (“Body”). When he receives a phone call from Megan she tells him “the women that you are trying to step on are the women you depend on. They treat your diseases, they cook your meals, they haul your trash, they drive your ambulances, they guard you while you sleep. They control every part of your life. Do not fuck with them.” This quote is then the theme for the rest of the video. As the senator tries to escape, Megan and her dancers have taken over every occupation and are dancing in his face. Something interesting in this video is the idea of scopophilia that the senator is taking part in. While he is at first closing his blinds and leaving hate comments before gazing, now Megan and her dancers are forcing him to look, owning their image. Mulvey writes about scopophilia in media/cinema, especially tasteful/pleasurable looking (7). While so much of scopophilia in mainstream media is about privacy and what’s “implied,” it could be argued that Megan is subverting the narrative by using her body and her dancers’ bodies freely and without concerns of what is “forbidden.” It could be seen as an act of agency.

hooks herself may argue that “Thot Shit” is an example of Black women having that sense of agency – the Black women throughout the video have multiple careers while also having the freedom of sexuality. She writes: “Spaces of agency exist for Black people, wherein we can both interrogate the gaze of the Other but also look back, and at one another, naming what we see” (8). This quote encapsulates “Thot Shit” perfectly: a place that Black people can exist freely while also interrogating the gaze of the other. The music video is special because it is a way that Megan celebrates Black women but also the integral part that Black women play in society. They are portrayed as critical parts of a working society but also they dance in the video, owning their sexuality. The sexual nature of the women in the video ties to another example of hooks’ writings about Black women in film/media: the absence “that denies the 'body' of the Black female so as to perpetuate white supremacy and with it a phallocentric spectatorship where the woman to be looked at and desired is ‘white’” (9). hooks writes that too often Black women have been denied ownership and agency over their own bodies, but also the ability to be desired by white phallocentric audiences. By using the character of the senator, they show the inherent racism imposed against Black women - people criticize them but then still sexualize them. Something important to mention is Megan’s lyricism in this song - the word “thot” was coined in the hip-hop world as a derogatory term for a woman, similar to the word “slut,” “with added derision for being working class” (10) (WaPo article). The reclamation of this term is outright powerful because it is using a word that has been weaponized against Black women for years and she repurposes it to be something powerful. This subversion in itself can be tied to the work of the oppositional gaze - taking something used to oppress Black women and flipping it to empower them instead. 

Rarely in popular media as big as “Thot Shit” do viewers see something with such a clear message. Megan does include a lot of Black female empowerment throughout her music and music videos, especially through sexual agency. Lorde writes, “Black women and our children know the fabric of our lives is stitched with violence and with hatred, that there is no rest. We do not deal with it only on the picket lines, or in dark midnight alleys, or in the places where we dare to verbalize our resistance. For us, increasingly, violence weaves through the daily tissues of our living … ” (11). “Thot Shit” is a form of protesting against the dehumanization and oppression of Black women in mainstream culture. Megan consistently brings Black women into the cultural conversation when they are neglected. Her empowerment is similar to that Lorde writes of:  “It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish” (12).

Questions: 

What are other ways that “Thot Shit” practices scopophilia and voyeurism in nuanced ways? 

How is the video different from other music videos you have seen before? 

How does “Thot Shit” work in conjunction with “Telephone”? 

Works cited: 

Mulvey, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” in Film Theory and Criticism, 712. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)

Mulvey, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” 712

hooks, bell, “The Oppositional gaze: Black Female Spectators” in Feminist Film Theory, 307. (New York: New York University Press, 1999)

hooks, bell “The Oppositional gaze: Black Female Spectators.” 310

Lorde, Audre. "Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference." In Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, 112. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press, 2007

Lorde, Audre “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” (112)

Mulvey, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.”

hooks, bell, “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators.” 308 

hooks, bell, “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators.” 310

O’Neal, Lonnae, “I had a thot but didn’t know it was a thing” The Washington Post, March 19, 2015

Mulvey, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” 119

Mulvey, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” (112)

Justify My Love - Madonna

Judith Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion”

Butler famously argues that gender is not an inherent trait, but rather a social construct enacted through repeated actions and behaviors. In the video, Madonna and the other performers embody various forms of gender expressions, challenging heteronormative norms and expectations of each gender [1].

Throughout the video, Madonna's hypersexualized portrayal of femininity serves as an example of gender performativity. Through exaggerated gestures, provocative clothing, and sensual movements, Madonna constructs and embodies her gender identity in a deliberate and theatrical manner.

Additionally, the presence of other performers engaging in non-cis and non-heteronormative expressions of gender further emphasizes the fluid and performative nature of gender. From crossdressers to androgynous people, each character showcases unique expressions that disrupt binary notions of masculinity and femininity. This multiplicity of gender performances emphasizes Butler's argument that gender is not fixed but rather contingent on cultural and social contexts.

Butler's assertion that "heterosexual privilege operates in many ways, and two ways in which it operates include naturalizing itself and rendering itself as the original and the norm" [2], however, is not reflected in the video. The video presents queer people and queer sexual interaction without sensationalizing or othering them. Instead, it depicts queer relationships as equally erotic and natural as those of straight couples. Thus, through its non-exploitative depiction of queer intimacy, the video contributes to the normalization and celebration of LGBTQ+ identities and desires within mainstream media.

Jack Halberstam, “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film”

In the music video, the portrayal of lesbians as more masculine reflects societal perceptions that equate lesbian desire with masculinity. For instance, when Madonna kisses another woman who appears more masculine, the other woman assumes the dominant role. Later in the video, this same woman accentuates her masculine presentation by drawing on a mustache, reinforcing the association between lesbianism and masculinity. As Halberstam argues, "the butch [lesbian] makes lesbianism readable in the register of masculinity, and it actually collaborates with the mainstream notion that lesbians cannot be feminine" [3]. By showcasing predominantly masculine-presenting individuals in lesbian moments, the video perpetuates the stereotype that only those who conform to traditional masculine ideals can be lesbians. Moreover, the emphasis on the masculinity of butch lesbians in the video can inadvertently become a trap for lesbian representation, as Halberstam notes [4]. It relies on stereotypical homophobic constructions, echoing Esther Newton's concept of "the mythic mannish lesbian" [5]. This perpetuates harmful narratives that not only restrict gender identities but also limit the representation of more feminine-presenting lesbians within the LGBTQ+ community.

Silk Chiffon - MUNA

Judith Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion”

MUNA's "Silk Chiffon" video, inspired by "But I'm a Cheerleader," illustrates Judith Butler's ideas in "Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion." Butler's work explores the performative nature of gender and the ways in which norms are constructed and enforced through repeated acts [6].

In the video, the camp's strict enforcement of traditional gender roles, with girls dressed in pink and boys in blue, mirrors Butler's concept of gender performativity. The camp's attempt to prescribe specific activities based on gender, such as boys engaging in physically demanding tasks like cutting logs while girls are assigned domestic chores like cleaning, emphasize how gender norms are socially constructed and enforced instead of inherent to any gender.

Additionally, Butler argues that gender is not only performed on an individual level but also reinforced and perpetuated through institutions and cultural norms [8]. The camp setting in the video serves as a microcosm of this phenomenon, where gender norms are enforced through institutional rules and practices. By highlighting how these norms are ingrained within social institutions, the video underscores Butler's assertion that gender is not just enacted but also institutionalized.

Jack Halberstam, “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film”

In MUNA's "Silk Chiffon" video, the portrayal of gender roles reflects societal perceptions of lesbians as conforming to masculine ideals. Halberstam notes that butch lesbians are often seen as making lesbianism "readable" through masculinity, reinforcing the notion that lesbians cannot be feminine [9].

The video's depiction of a conversion camp, where girls are taught traditional gender roles to become more feminine, aligns with this idea. By enforcing stereotypical gender behaviors, the camp attempts to erase lesbian identity by making them conform to heterosexual norms. This underscores Halberstam's observation that society often believes femme lesbians are less likely to be identified as lesbians.

Nevertheless, the video subverts this narrative by including queer characters representing a variety of gender expressions. This challenges the mainstream notion that lesbians must conform to masculine ideals to be visible. Instead, the diverse representation of lesbians in the video suggests a broader critique of the limitations of gender norms and celebrates the complexity and diversity of lesbian identities beyond traditional stereotypes.

Furthermore, this video's depiction of sapphic relationships defies the traditional portrayal of a lesbian assuming a "masculine" role in a relationship, like most media. This portrayal disrupts the pattern where same-gender relationships are often depicted through a heterosexual lens, perpetuating the idea that only individuals with masculine traits can be attracted to women.

Discussion questions:

How does Madonna's portrayal of hypersexualized femininity in the video challenge or reinforce traditional gender expectations and stereotypes?

In what ways do current societal attitudes towards gender, and sexuality affect our interpretation and understanding of the video's themes?

Do you think the reception of the video would have been different if MUNA were not queer artists?

How might their queer perspective add layers of meaning and irony to the portrayal of gender roles and relationships in the video?

Works cited

[1] Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion," 341.

[2] Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion," 339.

[3] Halberstam, “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film," 177.

[4] Halberstam, “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film," 176.

[5] Halberstam, “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film," 176.

[6] Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion," 341.

[8] Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion," 342-344.

While the song “Can’t Hold Us Down” by Christina Aguilera1 is mostly about female empowerment and resisting gender stereotypes, the music video conveys even more, with stark imagery of a community that is made up primarily of people of color. The intersectionality that the video possesses is key to understanding its message. In Stuart Hall’s essay “What is this ‘black’ in black popular culture?2,” he introduces his idea that the “Black” in Black popular culture is not a set idea, rather it is a fluid conversation of Blackness. In his words, “What we are talking about is the struggle over cultural hegemony, which is these days waged as much in popular culture as anywhere else”3. While, as I stated earlier, on the surface this video is about what it means to be a woman, its underlying themes are of race and representation, which is the real battle being fought. This intersectionality is still key to Hall’s philosophy. As he says, “We are always in negotiation, not with a single set of oppositions that place us always in the same relation to others, but with a series of different positionalities”4. Aguilera’s exploration of themes of sexuality while using the backdrop of a primarily people-of-color community is this video’s way of continuing the conversation about what it means to be “Black”, or in the video’s case, simply “other”. “The Other” is a concept Edouard Edward Said introduces in his seminal book Orientalism5. In the context of the Orient, better known as Asia, he states that “​​The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the other”6. He goes on to say that Europe sees Asia as “its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience”7, yet it is “an integral of European material civilization and culture”7. While Aguilera’s video does not explicitly speak about Orientalism, some key themes are very present. In Orientalism, Said refers to the way Asia is perceived as “‘a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences”6. Essentially, Orientalism places emphasis on the mystification of Asian culture, through the power of European colonialism. The environment Aguilera’s video is set in is extremely colorful, and, as previously mentioned, mostly populated with people of color. Most of the very few white people in this video appear in the beginning, shown throwing milk into the street below. This can be seen as a representation of Orientalist themes. The white people are placed above the people of color who populate the streets below, and throw milk onto them, which can represent the Orientalist turn of imposing Euro-centricity on the culture of those colonized and disenfranchised.

Of course, the question must be asked, is this music video an authentic representation of the culture and community that it’s presenting to us? In their book Unthinking Eurocentrism8, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam consider the way that race and representation exist in the media. Under the section “Writing Hollywood And Race” in the chapter “Stereotype, Realism And The Struggle Over Representation,” they argue that there is an important distinction between media image and social reality. They use the documentary Color Adjustment to help their argument, stating that “Color Adjustment underlines this contrast between media image and social reality by suggestively juxtaposing sitcom episodes with documentary street footage”9. I’d like to pose the thought that perhaps Aguilera’s video would fall under the category of sitcom in this comparison, at least when it comes to the ideas of race and representation. Aguilera, who is of Ecuadorian, German, Irish, Welsh, and Dutch descent, did not grow up in people of color dominated areas of New York. She lived in Wexford, PA for most of her adolescence, a town in a majority-white county. This music video may feel inauthentic to many because it may not be authentic to Aguilera’s experiences. Which brings me to Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar grew up in Compton, CA, at a time when the city’s high crime rates were national news, due to the prominence of gangster rap groups like NWA. The music video for his song “i”10 showcases this environment prominently. From the cars to the police uniforms, the video harkens back to a time when Kendrick was growing up in South Central Los Angeles. In my estimation, Kendrick Lamar’s video represents more of the “documentary footage” that Shohat and Stam mentioned in their comparison with media image and social reality. Aguilera’s video can be felt as inauthentic because it feels like a sitcom, not in a comedic way but in a matter of faux reality. Kendrick’s video feels like a documentary because of its groundedness in his childhood and the experiences of his city. It should be noted that Aguilera appears to darken her skin in her video. As previously stated, Hall believes that popular culture is a place where the concept of “Black” is able to be conversed about. Kendrick, in his music video for “i”, is able to redefine “Blackness” on his own terms. He presents different depictions of Black characters in every moment. One moment that shows great contrast of character and incredible conversation in his own mind on the topic of “Blackness” comes at the 2:20 mark in the video for “i”11.

Kendrick walks past a house, on the front porch of which a man yells at a woman; presumably they are in a relationship. In this very same moment, two Black children, one boy and one girl, run by, playing together, juxtaposing the depiction of adult negativity behind them. There are many things that can be interpreted from this shot, which perhaps even greater lends itself to the argument that it is more “documentary footage”. The perceived authenticity of Kendrick Lamar’s “i” video thus lends itself to a challenge of Orientalist ideals. While the video does show White police officers arresting a Black man at 1:4312, seemingly exerting that idea of power over “the other” that Orientalism is built so much upon, it is immediately followed by Kendrick and his crew of dancers/partygoers weaving through the group of cops with numbers that far outweigh what the cops possess, thus re-establishing power over themselves.

Works Cited

1Aguilera, Christina. “Christina Aguilera - Can’t Hold Us Down (Official HD Video).” YouTube, November 18, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg8QgUIKXHw&t=196s.

2Hall, Stuart. “What Is This ‘Black’ in Black Popular Culture?” Essay. In Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies. London, United Kingdom: Routledge, 1996. 

3Hall. “What Is This ‘Black’ in Black Popular Culture?”, 471

4Hall. “What Is This ‘Black’ in Black Popular Culture?”, 476

5Said, Edward. “Introduction.” Essay. In Orientalism. London, United Kingdom: Routledge, 1978. 

6Said. Orientalism, 9

7Said. Orientalism, 10

8Shohat, Ella, and Robert Stam. “Stereotype, Realism And The Struggle Over Representation.” Essay. In Unthinking Eurocentrism. New York, NY: Routledge, 1994. 

9Shohat and Stam. “Stereotype, Realism And The Struggle Over Representation”, 198

10Lamar, Kendrick. “Kendrick Lamar - i (Official Video).” YouTube, November 4, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aShfolR6w8. 

11Lamar. “i”, 2:20

12Lamar. “i”, 1:43

Discussion Questions

Can the darkening of one’s skin make the work feel more authentic, and when might this backfire?

Does either video engage in stereotype, and if so, does it detract from the video or benefit it?

To wrap up our studies of visual analysis, Edward W. Said’s “Orientalism” and Ella Shohat and Robert Stam’s “Stereotype, Realism, and the Struggle Over Representation” provide critical paths to understanding the roles of race and representation play in our production and consumption of film, television, and popular culture.

How is orientalism linked to film, television, and popular media, and in what ways has standardization and cultural stereotyping intensified academic and imaginative demonology of “the mysterious Orient” in these mediums?

What role do stereotypes play in the representation of people, and in what ways can film and television change the perception of cultural misrepresentation?

Ella Shohat and Robert Stam discuss how stereotypes play a significant role in the representation of people, particularly in film and television. Stereotypes are reductive and oversimplified representations that categorize individuals or groups based on preconceived notions, often leading to misrepresentation and the perpetuation of biases. These stereotypes serve to reinforce power imbalances and existing social hierarchies, as they limit the complexity and diversity of different cultures and identities. Stereotypes in media often rely on established and recognizable tropes that portray groups in a one-dimensional manner. This can lead to a cycle of misrepresentation, where certain cultures, races, or ethnicities are consistently depicted in a limited range of roles, such as criminals, villains, or objects of ridicule. These depictions not only fail to capture the richness and nuance of different cultures but also contribute to the marginalization and exclusion of those who do not fit these narrow representations. However, film and television also have the potential to change the perception of cultural misrepresentation by challenging stereotypes and offering more nuanced and authentic portrayals of different groups.

Sources

Shohat, Ella, and Robert Stam. “Stereotype, Realism, and the Struggle Over Representation.” Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, edited by Stuart Hall, Sage, 1997.

Film, television, and popular media causes a “reinforcement of the stereotypes by which the Orient is viewed” because information is forced to fit standardized models [1]. This standardization and cultural stereotyping intensified the demonology of “the mysterious Orient” in these mediums because the stereotype has become normalized. It's easier to create a flat, stereotyped character. Furthermore, the more the media has portrayed "the mysterious Orient" as an incomprehensible other. The more that this narrative is pushed, the more this demonology is intensified.

Shohat and Stam’s article discusses representation and realism. Stereotypes generalize. Even when marginalized peoples have people to represent them, “any negative behavior by any member of the oppressed community is instantly generalized as typical” [2]. In other words, stereotypes take one characteristic of a group and say that this is how the entire group acts. This creates unrealistic representations of people. Film and television can change the perception of cultural misrepresentation because it allows for people to challenge misrepresentation. For example, many documentaries discuss stereotypes. Shohat and Stam specifically discuss Media Show: North American Indians, Images of Indians, Black History: Lost, Stolen, and Strayed, and more. People have the chance to change the perception of cultural misrepresentation through a medium that furthers the misrepresentation in the first place.

Overall, the articles show that although the media can be a cause/spreader of stereotypes and harm, it also has the power to help rid the world of these stereotypes.

[1] Edward W. Said, Orientalism (London: Routledge, 1978,) 34. 

[2] Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, “Stereotype, Realism, and the Struggle Over Representation” in Unthinking Eurocentrism Multiculturalism and the media (London: Routledge, 1994,) 183. 

For my panel discussion I will be analyzing Christina Aguilera’s “Can’t Hold Us Down” music video which ignores the power of the images within its video and the power that Aguilera has in relation to the cultures she is adopting and representing. I will also be analyzing Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby”, which I believe attempts to provide an alternate look at stereotypes, not through a commitment to “actuality” or “positive images”, but through the experimental heightening of contrasting stereotypes about the black gay man that reveal their contradictory and arbitrary nature.

Jack Halberstam’s “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film” and Stuart Hall’s “What is this ‘Black’ in Black Popular Culture?” link our inquiries into gender and sexuality with race and representation.

What examples of “positive images” of marginalized peoples are in film and television, and how can these “positive images” be damaging to and for marginalized communities?

In what ways is (popular/visual) culture (performance) a complicated and political site where various identities are negotiated, and how can cultural strategies make a difference and shift dispositions of power?

One idea that Halberstam discusses are “positive images,” “the opposite of a stereotype” [1]. They are good ideas/images that incorporate people of marginalized groups. For example, in Barbie (2023), a black woman as president is a positive image. More generally, there’s positive images of Asians being good at math, women being warm and friendly, or African Americans being good at sports, etc. in films/television. These “positive images” can be damaging to marginalized communities because they “are no more realistic than the negative ones” [2]. At the end of the day, they are still stereotypes. Furthermore, a positive image is positive because it falls within the norms, and it works at the expense of someone. This means that if someone in real life does not align with the positive image on screen, they are deemed as unworthy/the negative stereotypes will apply to them. Positive images are good for the few who fall within those guidelines, but ultimately, they hurt many more people. 

Culture is a complicated and political site where various identities are negotiated because it provides people with representation; however, it also furthers societal norms and negative stereotypes. For instance, Halberstam’s article mentions butches. Although it’s good for representation, it also promotes the idea that lesbians are more masculine, or rather, lesbians cannot be feminine [3]. Hall’s article concerns black popular culture. Hall states that culture “is a sight of strategic contestation. But it can never be simplified or explained in terms of the simple binary oppositions that are still habitually used to map it out,” yet these are the terms used [4]. Black popular culture is complicated and political due to oversimplification and appropriation. To shift dispositions of power, we have to take advantage of the “decentring or displacement [that] opens up new spaces of contestation and affects a momentous shift in the high culture of popular culture relations, thus presenting us with a strategic and important opportunity for intervention in the popular cultural field” [5]. In other words, if we take how postmodernism converts culture into popular, we can intervene and add in proper representation/remedy this process of commodification for the masses. 

So, both articles deal with representation in the media and shine a light on some of the issues. 

[1] Jack Halberstam, “Looking Butch” in Female Masculinity (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1998,) 184.

[2] Jack Halberstam, “Looking Butch,” 185.

[3] Jack Halberstam, “Looking Butch,” 177. 

[4] Stuart Hall, “What is this ‘black’ in black popular culture?” in Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 1996,) 473. 

[5] Stuart Hall, “What is this ‘black’ in black popular culture?,” 469.  

In our continued discussions, Audre Lorde’s “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” and “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” and Judith Butler’s Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion” provide further introspection into systems and definitions of gender and sexuality.

How do power and privilege impact the relations people have with each other and with institutions, and how can we acknowledge, examine, and remedy oppression and marginalization using oppressive and marginalized systems?

How do cultural, societal, and media representations support gender performativity and in so doing complicate gender norms, and in what ways is heterosexuality a performance?

Power and privilege worsen divides among people. For instance, although Lorde went to a women’s conference, most of the women were white and heterosexual, and there were only two Black women [1]. This shows that there’s a lack of representation. Although women are marginalized by the patriarchy, there is still marginalization within this marginalized group. White, heterosexual women still have more power, which is why they get representation and other women don’t, furthering a divide between different peoples. Power is used to benefit certain people and oppress others, putting strains on relationships between people and institutions. To remedy oppression and marginalization, “difference must not be merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic” [2]. In other words, new ideas and ways to remedy oppression come from accepting the differences that oppressive and marginalized systems have made out to be negative. We must “root out internalized patterns of oppression… recognize differences among [us]... and devise ways to use each other’s differences to enrich our visions and our joint struggles” [3]. 

Butler’s article argues that gender is a performative act that humans invented. Cultural, societal, and media representations support gender performativity because “this ‘being a man’ and this ‘being a woman’ are internally unstable affairs” [4] which hinge on “identifying with a set of norms” [5]. In other words, people need to act in a way according to societal norms to appear like a man/woman. The more often we see “manly/womanly” traits associated with men/women in media, it supports the idea that gender is just a performance; anyone can adopt these traits. However, this also means that gender norms can change over time. For example, men used to wear skirts and heels, but now those clothes are the gender norm for women. Enough women began to wear dresses/heels while men stopped wearing them. Gender norms are based on performance, complicating them and subjecting them to change. Heterosexuality is also a performance because ‘“imitation’ is at the heart of the heterosexual project and its gender binarisms” [6]. Heterosexuality isn’t the norm/standard/natural sexuality, but it’s become the norm because we keep imitating that performance and have made it the norm. 

Together, both articles describe gender and sexuality. Butler’s article describes them as a performance and how that creates societal norms, and Lorde’s article describes how these norms give certain people power and divides society. 

[1] Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tool Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” in Sister Outsider (Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, 1984), 110. 

[2] Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tool Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” 111. 

[3] Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tool Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” 122. 

[4] Judith Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion” in Feminist Film Theory a Reader (New York: Washington Square, 1999,) 339. 

[5] Judith Butler, “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion,” 339. 

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson, released in 1983, is not just a song but an iconic cultural phenomenon, with its music video setting new standards for the industry. Directed by John Landis, the video is a mini horror film featuring Jackson as a charismatic young man transformed into a werewolf alongside his love interest, played by Ola Ray. The video showcases Jackson's unparalleled talent as a performer, with his electrifying dance moves and mesmerizing presence. Its groundbreaking special effects and narrative storytelling revolutionized the music video medium, becoming an instant classic. "Thriller" remains a timeless masterpiece, captivating audiences with its fusion of music, dance, and cinema, leaving an indelible mark on pop culture for generations to come. 

Sigmund Freud's essay "The Uncanny" explores the concept of the uncanny, or the eerie feeling of discomfort or unease experienced when something seems strangely familiar yet simultaneously foreign or unsettling. Freud delves into various aspects of the uncanny, including its connection to repressed desires, the repetition of specific themes or motifs in literature and art, and its association with the return of the repressed. He ultimately suggests that the uncanny arises from the revival of primitive beliefs and fears, often related to death, castration, or the supernatural, which have been repressed into the unconscious mind. This reminds me of the entire motive of the music video, which is the aspect of death. Sigmund said, “the primitive fear of the dead is still so strong within us and always ready to come to the surface at any opportunity”(Freud, 369). Death is the main factor that spikes an uncanny feeling. Our conscious mind feels eerie when we can not define whether something is animate or inanimate. This can also be viewed through the lens of Fenon’s theory because of the transformation, performance, and cultural appropriation that happens in this video. A transformation can be seen as a metaphor for the way Black individuals have been historically portrayed as "other" or different in Western society, often associated with fear and negativity. However, it also ties into Lacan’s theory of identity and self-representation. The transformation can be interpreted as a commentary on the pressure for Black individuals to conform to white standards of beauty and behavior, which makes them see themselves differently because of social interactions. 

Question: How often do you see the black community transform into something other than being black, and how much of an impact do you think it has?

"Black or White" is a groundbreaking music video by the iconic artist Michael Jackson, released in 1991. Directed by John Landis, the video captivates audiences with its innovative visual effects and powerful message of racial unity. Opening with a diverse array of faces from around the world morphing into one another, the video symbolizes the interconnectedness of humanity. Jackson's electrifying dance moves and charismatic performance are showcased against a backdrop of vibrant sets and dynamic choreography. The video's climax features a montage of people breaking through barriers, emphasizing diversity, acceptance, and equality themes. Through its striking imagery and infectious rhythm, "Black or White" remains a testament to Jackson's unparalleled talent and a timeless anthem for social change and harmony.

Frantz Fanon's essay "The Negro and Psychopathology" delves into the psychological impact of colonialism and racism on Black individuals. Fanon explores how the experience of oppression and discrimination leads to a profound sense of alienation, identity crisis, and psychological trauma among Black people. Frantz Fanon said, “The Negro recognizes the unreality of many of the beliefs that he has adopted with reference to the subjective attitude of the white man”(Fanon, 115). He implies that Black individuals have internalized certain beliefs or attitudes, possibly about themselves or about the world, that are based on the perspective or viewpoint of white people. However, they have come to recognize that some of the beliefs held by white people are not grounded in reality or are false. This means that things that are said about the black community usually is said to make them feel bad. The saddest part is that it is so engraved in our system that naturally, it just reproduces.

One aspect that correlates with Fanon's ideas is Jackson's own experience of racial identity. Throughout his life, Jackson grappled with questions of race and belonging, facing scrutiny and pressure to conform to societal expectations of blackness. His changing appearance, particularly his skin color, sparked speculation and debate about his racial identity and self-image. Fanon would likely view Jackson's transformation as a manifestation of the internalized racism prevalent in societies where lighter skin is often associated with beauty and success. This also makes me think about how his skin transformation can be perceived as uncanny. The transformation can be perceived as uncanny due to its combination of familiarity and strangeness, its psychological implications, the public reaction it elicited, and its broader cultural significance. It made him seem familiar but also unfamiliar. 

This scene of the music video resonates with Jacques Lacan’s “The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I” through its exploration of identity, diversity, and unity. Just as Lacan explains that the mirror stage marks a pivotal moment in the formation of the self, the video showcases individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, highlighting the complexity of identity formation in a multicultural world. Lacan said, "Whence it is that the relation of the individual subject to his own images is apprehended, prior to any grasp of it by the self, in a specular relation of the organism to its reality, and that, whatever may be the degree of elaboration of the imaginary function, its mediation is necessarily situated in the intersubjective dialectic"(Lacan). This statement explains that individuals have an inherent, perhaps unconscious, relationship with their mental images or representations, which reflects their perception of reality. This relationship is influenced by interpersonal dynamics and interactions, highlighting the interconnectedness between self-awareness and social experiences. Social interactions really change the way one views oneself, which sadly becomes subconscious critiquing.

Question: Do you guys view transformation as uncanny, and why do you think some people do? Do you think when you first understood your image was the only time you fully saw/respected yourself?

Sources

Freud, Sigmund. "The Uncanny." The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, edited by James Strachey, vol. 17, Hogarth Press, 1955, pp. 219-256.

Lacan, Jacques. "The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I." Écrits: A Selection. Translated by Bruce Fink, W.W. Norton & Company, 2002, pp. 75-81.

Shifting our visual analysis and critical inquiries to gender and sexuality, we will begin our explorations with Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” and bell hooks’s “Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators.”

How does the spectacle of the female image relate to patriarchal ideology, and in what ways do all viewers, regardless of race or sexuality, take pleasure in films that are designed to satisfy the male gaze?

How do racial and sexual differences between viewers inform their experience of viewing pleasure, and in what ways does the oppositional gaze empower viewers? 

In Mulvey’s essay, she illustrates unequal treatment of men and women in movies. In films, the female image is something to look at. Under a patriarchal ideology, the “narrative supports the man’s role as the active one of forwarding the story, making things happen” [1]. This leaves women in a passive role; the male protagonist needs someone to do something to/for. For example, usually in fairy tales princes are active and save the damsel in distress, and the damsel in distress is really just there to look pretty. She is just an icon and justification for the plot, not a real character. Females are objectified in cinema. Also, according to Mulvey, all viewers take pleasure in films that are designed to satisfy the male gaze because “there are circumstances in which looking itself is a source of pleasure,” such as when we look at private/forbidden objects or when we look at things in order to identify with them [2]. Films are created in a way so that looking can be pleasurable. It is catered towards men, but women can take pleasure in it too/have to look through the male gaze so they will find pleasure. So, Mulvey claims that everyone can find pleasure in film, however, because of patriarchy, women are objectified in it.

Although Mulvey claims that all audiences find pleasure in cinema, hooks claims that the experience is different for marginalized groups, specifically black women. The male gaze abuses and alienates black women, so movies lose their enjoyability. They have an outsiders’ perspective on the movie rather than an engaged, happy audience member. So, because of “class exploitation, and racist and sexist domination, it has only been through resistance, struggle, reading, and looking 'against the grain,' that black women have been able to value our process of looking enough to publicly name it” [3]. In other words, black women have an oppositional gaze. With this oppositional gaze, black women “create alternative texts that are not solely reactions” because there’s no space for them in the mainstream media [4]. These new works lead to empowerment among viewers. So, because of the media’s abuse, certain viewers can’t enjoy films, which leads to the creation of new works and empowerment. 

Overall, both articles show that different audience members experience film differently. 

[1] Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” in Film Theory and Criticism Introductory Readings, 5th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 716.  

[2] Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” 713.

[3] bell hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators” in Feminist Film Theory A Reader (Washington Square: New York University Press, 1999), 313.