Music Video theory and This Is America analysis
1) How does the This Is America video meet the key conventions of a music video?
There is a clear creative concept, as well as a message trying to be portrayed. On top of this, the artist is dancing; showing a clear performance, is lipsyncing,
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?
This video is perhaps commenting on how it can go unnoticed by the mass media, perhaps to hide it away from the masses, this is clear through the constant references throughout the video as well as sneaky activies in the background of some shots. This video could also perhaps be saying that gun violence and racism is seen as something which isn't dealt with as seriously, almost as if it is a secondary target to eliminate, almost like how it is the secondary subject in the frames of different shots, by which i mean that we notice Gambino dancing first, rather than the terrors of American Culture behind him.
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson.
It can be argued that throughout the video there is a sense of a diasporic identity among black people as it is people of that ethnicity who are dancing with Donald Glover, whilst the only white people in the video are the authority figures, who are suggestively looked down upon throughout.
Hall outlined the 3 character types of black people in mass media, in this video it is clear that Donald Glover is playing the role of the "Native," as he is the one evidently who is doing the carrying out such barbaric actions like killing, in the video, on two occasions, being that of when he is standing like Jim Crow and when he attempting to replicate the church shooting in Texas. It can also be argued that Glover is playing the role of the "Entertainer" as he is the one dancing and lip syncing to the music playing in the background.
Rose outlined the idea that hip hop originally gave people an insight into the lives of black culture and youth. It can be argued in this video that there is some sort of aspect of this as he constantly refers to material things that people would normally show off in order to look better to their friends and peers. This is made clear through the lyrics of the song, as portrayed by the lip syncing too. This therefore can provide an insight into the lives of todays black youth as not only will this be done with the larger and more adult abjects, like cars or chains, but through things like shoes or clothes even.
Dyson states that hip hop "is important as it sheds light on contemporary history, politics and race." It can be argued that this is made all the more clear as there are a lot of representations of polics brutality, which has been documented more than ever in the past few years. Also, there is social context as Donald Glover is seen to use what we can suggest is marajuana, which changes the vibe of the video once again, making it more upbeat. This can be a link to mental health and use of drugs for it as the darker parts of the video can be seen as depression or other mental illnesses and the use of marajuana could be him silencing those thoughts, which is a huge problem in todays society.Read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
That Donald Glover is playing Jim Crow, perhaps saying that he is putting on a racial and stereotypical performance, like there would have been during the period in which this name was relevant.
Childish Gambino is "duping" us with dance, perhaps trying to distract us from the larger images of the realities, and jokes, that ocurr in the background which attempt to go unnoticed.
The 3rd interpretation is that Gambino is pointing shame at the police, this is done through the double meaning lyric "This a celly/thats a tool." It has been argued in recently that this refers to the Sacramento killing of the black boy whos iPhone was mistaken for a gun, hence the line "This a celly/Thats a tool." Here Gambino could be saying that our phones are tools of destruction, death and documentation.
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'?
An interpretation of the video is that being black in todays American society is dangerous, to an extent I agree with this, as i believe that things like police brutality have been around fo a while, but just haven't been documented as such, not nearly as much as it being today at least.
Another interpretation is that the vile scenes and themes in the video are a direct result of America not acting upon the mistakes that it has made with black youth, almost as if the government knows they have done something wrong and that they are just being stubborn with their actions and result overall.
There is a clear creative concept, as well as a message trying to be portrayed. On top of this, the artist is dancing; showing a clear performance, is lipsyncing,
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?
This video is perhaps commenting on how it can go unnoticed by the mass media, perhaps to hide it away from the masses, this is clear through the constant references throughout the video as well as sneaky activies in the background of some shots. This video could also perhaps be saying that gun violence and racism is seen as something which isn't dealt with as seriously, almost as if it is a secondary target to eliminate, almost like how it is the secondary subject in the frames of different shots, by which i mean that we notice Gambino dancing first, rather than the terrors of American Culture behind him.
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson.
It can be argued that throughout the video there is a sense of a diasporic identity among black people as it is people of that ethnicity who are dancing with Donald Glover, whilst the only white people in the video are the authority figures, who are suggestively looked down upon throughout.
Hall outlined the 3 character types of black people in mass media, in this video it is clear that Donald Glover is playing the role of the "Native," as he is the one evidently who is doing the carrying out such barbaric actions like killing, in the video, on two occasions, being that of when he is standing like Jim Crow and when he attempting to replicate the church shooting in Texas. It can also be argued that Glover is playing the role of the "Entertainer" as he is the one dancing and lip syncing to the music playing in the background.
Rose outlined the idea that hip hop originally gave people an insight into the lives of black culture and youth. It can be argued in this video that there is some sort of aspect of this as he constantly refers to material things that people would normally show off in order to look better to their friends and peers. This is made clear through the lyrics of the song, as portrayed by the lip syncing too. This therefore can provide an insight into the lives of todays black youth as not only will this be done with the larger and more adult abjects, like cars or chains, but through things like shoes or clothes even.
Dyson states that hip hop "is important as it sheds light on contemporary history, politics and race." It can be argued that this is made all the more clear as there are a lot of representations of polics brutality, which has been documented more than ever in the past few years. Also, there is social context as Donald Glover is seen to use what we can suggest is marajuana, which changes the vibe of the video once again, making it more upbeat. This can be a link to mental health and use of drugs for it as the darker parts of the video can be seen as depression or other mental illnesses and the use of marajuana could be him silencing those thoughts, which is a huge problem in todays society.Read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
That Donald Glover is playing Jim Crow, perhaps saying that he is putting on a racial and stereotypical performance, like there would have been during the period in which this name was relevant.
Childish Gambino is "duping" us with dance, perhaps trying to distract us from the larger images of the realities, and jokes, that ocurr in the background which attempt to go unnoticed.
The 3rd interpretation is that Gambino is pointing shame at the police, this is done through the double meaning lyric "This a celly/thats a tool." It has been argued in recently that this refers to the Sacramento killing of the black boy whos iPhone was mistaken for a gun, hence the line "This a celly/Thats a tool." Here Gambino could be saying that our phones are tools of destruction, death and documentation.
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'?
An interpretation of the video is that being black in todays American society is dangerous, to an extent I agree with this, as i believe that things like police brutality have been around fo a while, but just haven't been documented as such, not nearly as much as it being today at least.
Another interpretation is that the vile scenes and themes in the video are a direct result of America not acting upon the mistakes that it has made with black youth, almost as if the government knows they have done something wrong and that they are just being stubborn with their actions and result overall.
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