Music videos are more than entertainment they are a way of life. Every white guy parties like a rock star. Boys in the hood want to be ghetto famous. All the girls aspire to be the object of every man’s desire. Society is culturally homogenized because music videos dictate modern vernacular in the 1st World. In the postmodern vignette series m3ll55x, FKA Twigs’ uses passing narrative, haunting vocals and thought provoking imagery to argue that popular music videos are racist, misogynistic and phallocentric.
The soothsayer in the 1st vignette is marginalized because of her ethnicity. Her clothes and jewelry are of the 3rd world, she is hideous to our western eyes. In the song FKA Twig’s is crying out against institutional racism, she begs “let me live”! The 2nd vignette clearly portrays the taboo of miscegenation. The only black woman you see in pop videos are light skinned. The white guy in the video uses the girl because he feels white privilege. The 3rd vignette portrays the stereo type of a black thug who doesn’t want to commit to the girl he knocked up.
The 1st vignette shows a scary old woman who is no longer attractive. In the 2nd vignette the white guy indulges in scopophilia by viewing the girl as a fetish object. The guy drools in the ecstasy of his voyeurism. Finally when he can’t take anymore he mounts the girl and releases. Leaving her physically used and emotionally deflated. This voyeuristic behavior perpetuates the continuum of rape culture. FKA Twig’s cries out “I’m a doll” she feels the pressure of growing up under institutional sexism. In the 3rd vignette the girl is knocked up and abandoned to give birth in a van in the woods alone.
In the first vignette the soothsayer is old, ugly and crazy because she doesn’t have a man. In the 2nd vignette the girl’s needs to be desired by a man who treats her like a plaything and leaves her unsatisfied. She then finds a black guy who abandons her with an illegitimate child. In our phallocentric society a woman has little rights. In rape cases victims are accused of acting like whores, they aren’t always allowed the right to choose and single mothers are labeled sluts by institutionalized religion. In the 4th vignette she is finally free to express herself, being free of phallocentric oppression. The imagery of the fashion show in the woods, illustrates a powerful point, which is the only gay men in videos are back up dancers to sexy divas. The only time you’ll see a lesbian, is if she’s making out with a straight girl for the scopophilia of men.
FKA Twig’s through her videos show that capitalism exploits young men and women. The public sector packages young people as consumable goods to be used and discarded like garbage. Her songs illustrate the internalized sexism, racism and classism of America. Trough her own story she relates the struggle of, living under cultural imperialism. FKA Twig’s de constructs music videos, to contrast them against cliché pop videos. In the last vignette you see her going through all the lame dance moves you typically see in songs. American pop culture is a rancid odor you can’t smell because you’re immersed in it and FKA Twig’s view offers a breath of fresh air!
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