Analysis of a Music Video

"This is America" - Childish Gambino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

The representations in the music video chosen by the producers promote the artist in many ways. Childish Gambino's decision to wear a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms without his shirt in the video allows the viewers to identify 'his humanness" as he raps about violent contradictions that come with being a black person in America. The start of the music video is in a tranquil, quiet setting but after the loud gunshot it changes to an almost aggressive beat within the music. This was clearly chosen by the producers to the represent the artists real and unafraid personality, sharing the real world to his mixed audience with the outcome that we live in a sinister and sick world. The music video reflects historical, cultural issues that are duly with within America. The central message is about guns and violence within America and the fact that we deal with them and consume them as a part of entertainment on one hand, and on the other hand as a national conservation. It contains particular cultural indenties that people associate with black people, the presentation of a traditional South American choir presents the religious aspect which comepltley contradicts to the violence. Secondly, the the Gand violence, drugs which is normally associated with the black minority. "This is America" contains a huge amount of intertextuality, Gambino samples at least ten popular dance moves derived from hip hop and African moves, including the South Aferican Gwara Gwara dance. The use of these famous dance moves shows how ultra-popular pieces of culture lose their specifiacly over time as they become ubiquitous. The scene where the choir sing enthusiastically in a happy tone before being shot dead by Gambino, is a massacre recalls the 2015 Charleston shooting in which the supermarcist Dylan Roof killed nine black people in a church basement. The image and what it evokes shows how people struggle tp reconcile with and separate different instances of violence, the consuming of all sorts of violence through news, media and television shows makes it difficult for us to absorb real instances of mass murders, this was also used to pay tribute to those who lost their lives and the great scale of shootings in America.  Stereotypes throughout the video have been used positively and negatively, the men throughout this video have pretty much been labelled with a negative stereotype they have been given a violent stereotype in which they would harm others who try to live righteous lives, including those within their communities. On the other hand, America has been criticised greatly for not valuing black lives even when those lives are innocent and righteous, as represented  by their participation in the church choir. Overall, the video isolates those subcultures whom live in low income housing that they would glorify guns and value you them more then others around them.






Comments

  1. WealdMedia2019February 28, 2020 at 7:46 AM

    Some useful work here on intertextuality, Mimi, and some good overall reactions to the video. Now work on accuracy (paragraph breaks, South America is not the same as the southern states of America), plus more specific use of media language e.g. camerwork, editing etc.

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