Tuesday, 18 November 2008

Matthew Grainger 13B - Are Music videos a site for challenging dominant ideologies, or do they simply reinforce simplistic stereotypes?

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN:

Paramore - Misery Business http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EQeyQPD4aqQ

This video challenges the dominant ideology of males being superior over females. The main character in the video goes around a school bullying male characters which contrasts the current ideology in society. Usually teen females are meant to be glamorous and 'doll' like who bow down to male teens. As well as this the lead singer of the band is also female, the other band members being male. She is very much in the forefront of the video whilst the males are in the background. This also challenges normal conventions as she is clearly the controller of the band full of confidence. She breaks the fourth wall between the band and the audience by playing up to the camera and the audience. She eventually becomes involved in the narrative ridiculing and embarrassing the bully with an iconic shot of predominantly her in the shot with the 3 male band members standing well back in the background looking small and inferior.

Pink - So What http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9bNDr1A6dTU

Pink is iconically known for her masculine videos and this video just reinforces her as one of the most ideologically challenging artists around. In her latest video shes very much portrayed as a biter woman from a break up in which she is very much dominant. In the video she is seen playing an electric guitar and smashing it up, cutting down a tree and doing DIY, getting a tattoo and vandalising cars all of which would be associated to women before men. Also although her general look includes this she has short her which could also be linked into challenging female ideologies.

1 comment:

Ms Johnson said...

Some good comments, videos challenging race?