Working Title:
How male artists represent themselves in R&B music videos?
How male artists represent themselves in R&B music videos?
Angle:
My angle focuses on the impact male artists have on their audience as many male artists represent themselves in different ways to influence many audiences including young teenage boys. I'll be exploring the gender and ethnicity portrayed in R&B music and how they may connote negative and positive ideas towards the audience.
Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is about how male artists portray themselves through R&B music as many artists suggest a negative influence towards the audience throughout their lyrics and videos which could effect young audiences who are fans of the artist. This is likely to cause moral panic towards society as audiences are influenced by these artists, however other artists in the same genre do have a good representation, therefore is R&B music suitable for a younger demographic audience?
Linked Production Piece:
My linked production piece would be a music video however exploring the codes and conventions of film which would portray the stereotypes towards males and females. I would be working with Navneet and Gagan as they both have a linked production of representation which relates to my question topic therefore it would be easy to combine our production pieces. Myself and Gagan are analysing music videos whereas Navneet is focusing on a film, so we thought to combine the two to produce a music video which has a narrative from the beginning, also linking how the representation of women and men are portrayed too.
M.I.G.R.A.I.N:
Media Language:
The media text 'Blurred lines' by Robin Thicke portray significant connotations of how men are being represented. The non-verbal structures of meaning in the text show the male characters in video happy and humorous by their facial expressions also by the their body gesture as they are dancing with the girls in the video. However the male characters in the video are dressed in a formal way wearing suits and well groomed, the clothing represents the males are of mainstream and high class but as they are dancing with the girls and acting childish it makes them suggest they are childish and mocking the mainstream audience. Moreover the props used in the video are quite childish as one of the female characters dancing in the background was holding a big rubber hand and dancing about with her hair in her face. This connotes stereotypes towards females to as well as males in the video. The language used by the lyrics talks about females and sex which portrays a male gaze towards women and what they actually think about them, furthermore Robin Thicke, T.I and Parrell Williams suggested as more dominant than the females connoting ideologies. In addition the camera shots used in the video contain close up and medium shots of the female dancers flirting with the males, this suggests stereotypes again about the male gaze and connotes negative thoughts about males.
Institutions:
The music video was created by an American artist called Robin Thicke, the video also features T.I and Parrell Williams. It was released in March 26th 2013 and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single is available on 'Youtube' reaching over 190 million views, audiences are able to user generate their content and share views about the music video. Some audiences influenced the institutions of the video and artist as the single became very popular worldwide making Robin Thicke more recognizable. Moreover the source is a public server as the music video is available online which can be accessible to many audiences to view.
Genre:
My text belongs to the R&B and Pop genre. The major generic conventions with the text are the costume used and also artists used to feature in the video, the artist Pharrell and T.I are well known for their R&B music therefore featuring in this video would have the aspect of R&B in it. Moreover the audience generic expectations are fulfilled by the video throughout as the females are dancing with the artists with revealing clothes whereas the males are wearing suits and have a more dominant classic look. Furthermore the dominant connotation for R&B genre is wealth therefore this video suggests the males are very wealthy y the costume they are wearing and the girls surrounding them.
Representation:
In my media text I will be talking about how the male characters are being represented in R&B music therefore the music video 'Blurred lines' by Robin Thicke clearly show dominant ideology towards males in this genre as they are suggested as wealthy, successful people and well known in the music industry. In addition I think most R&B artists would like to be portrayed this way as they want to be seen as wealthy artists towards the audience. The way males are represented in the video I think is
Is the representation fair and accurate?
What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?
Audiences:
To whom is the text addressed?
What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text?
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text?
Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications? (Refer to theory).
How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?
Ideology and Values:
What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?
Narrative:
How is the narrative organised and structured?
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?
S.H.E.P:
Issues/Debates:
Research Plan...
- Drake's music video called 'Started from the bottom' is an other example I could use for male representation hence the video contains negative imagery of men holding alcohol bottoms and women all around them using inappropriate language. The music video was released in February 6th 2013 which is much recent.
TV Documentaries:
Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines Video - Sexy or 'Rapey'...
Academic texts/books
- How Hegemonic Black Masculinity Inhibits Men’s Involvement in Feminism: An Examination of bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins (2010).
https://soci.ubc.ca/fileadmin/template/main/images/departments/anso/files/undergrad/sojourners/Sojourners-Volume2.pdf#page=85
Internet Links
The Guardian: Addicted to misogyny? Music videos still don't get what women really want - Robin Thicke and Dizzee Rascal explore the good girl/bad girl sex trope in their songs, but their videos still leave much to be desired – and highlight the sexism that still prevails.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/03/music-videos-addicted-misogyny-sex
What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications? (Refer to theory).
How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?
Ideology and Values:
What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?
Narrative:
How is the narrative organised and structured?
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?
S.H.E.P:
My critical investigation focuses on the social, historical, economical, and political views in R&B music videos, especially when audiences get influenced by how males are represented through music. The R&B genre has many talented male artists who are inspirational to many, however there are negative points to them such as including gang violence, negative behaviour, guns, inappropriate words etc. All these gestures can be taken seriously as many audiences want to do the same as their idol is promoting it, therefore this could be a negative influence to society. Moreover I found out historical views about R&B music has changed a lot over the past couple of years, as R&B used to be a genre of love, soul and calm music but now it involves negative and more modern content which we see in the music videos.
-Economical & political...
Issues/Debates:
My critical investigation would be focusing on five issues/debates which relate to my topic 'Representation of males in R&B music'. The five issues/debates I've decided to choose are the representation and stereotyping, media effects, moral panics, regulations and censorship, media technology and the digital revolution - changing technologies in the 21st century. As I am focusing on male representation in R&B music the issue of representation and stereotyping would be very good issue to talk about as it fits which the my production really well. In addition the media effects and moral panics created from my critical investigation involves the audience/society very much as audiences who are influenced by music artist could be effected in a positive or negative way which also effects in the society they live in. Moreover the regulation and censorship is also a big issue to my critical investigation as many R&B music videos have negative content in them for it to be censored. For example the music video from Robin Thicke called 'Blurred Lines' was censored as his video featured naked women which was inappropriate for some audiences and time of the day for the video to be shown therefore there are rules and regulations for certain types of videos.Lastly about the media technology and the digital revolution relates to my topic too, as technology throughout the past years have developed into more advance which more audiences are discovering, especially the younger demographic audience as they are more likely to be on social networking sites.
Theories:
Theories:
The theories I have chosen which relate to my critical investigation would be audience theory, semiotics, Marxism and hegemony, gender and ethnicity, colonialism and post-colonialism. I think all theses theories would be appropriate to my investigation as all of them relate to my question topic. The audience theory would be perfect for my investigation as R&B music is largely interested by young audiences, I could talk about how R&B music could effect a younger audience by the representation of artists weather in a positive or negative way. The audience are a huge concern as they are the main audience who listen to different types of music genres, artists and more therefore involving audiences theory would be a great example on how it could effect them. Moreover the semiotics theory could relate to my investigation as the theory talks about signs and combination patterns that generate a cultural meaning, furthermore as he representation of males in R&B music have dominant ideologies, the audience are going to want to copy them as inspirations, therefore connoting negative behaviour or anything bad could create conflict as its teaching audiences a bad representation. The Marxism and hegemony theory again is related to dominant ideologies which could relate to many male artists in the R&B music industry. Also gender and ethnicity would be a really good issue to talk about as I am only focusing on one gender; male representation, the ethnicity is also another thing to talk about hence the dominant ethnicity to be seen in R&B music would be of races Black and White. Lastly colonialism and non colonialism theory would be my fifth theory I would be talking about...
Research Plan...
Media Text:
My main media text focus would be a music video from Robin Thicke called 'Blurred Lines' which was released in March 26th 2013. The video also features other artists called T.I and Pharrell Williams, along side with three female dancers with revealing clothes on. The video shows me an understanding of how females are represented as well as males therefore this media text would be a great example to use as the males represented in the music video are kind of negative and could be stereotyped.
Other Media Text:
- Eminem's music video called 'We made you' released in April 7th 2009 shows a representation of Eminem being sarcastic and funny however portrays some of his identities negative.
- Drake's music video called 'Started from the bottom' is an other example I could use for male representation hence the video contains negative imagery of men holding alcohol bottoms and women all around them using inappropriate language. The music video was released in February 6th 2013 which is much recent.
- I have chosen Justin Timberlake's music video called 'Mirrors' this is a more opposite view to male representation as Timberlake in this video is portrayed as a positive role model, I can tell by his costume and lyrics of the song that he is connoting a more calmer and positive approach to R&B music, The video was recently released in February 11th 2013.
- Also Nelly's music video called 'Just a dream' is another positive R&B music video and representation of men as he sings about his emotions about his relationship, this could relate to Blumber and Katz hence it could relate to some male audiences and therefore relate to Nelly's lyrics. This video was released in August 16th 2010.
- Lastly my last media text I looked into was an music video called 'Rack City' by an artist called Tyga, the video is very explicit and involves negative representation of males strongly as people are smoking and drinking in the video, also with other content which suggests stereotypes as young audience would watch this. This music video was released in December 2nd 2011.
TV Documentaries:
Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines Video - Sexy or 'Rapey'...
- Presenter in the video Gina Grad. She does not find the music video offensive, she suggests its for fun.
- Created controversy as some audiences think that the lyrics in the song represent rape.
- The lyrics in the song has impacted a large audience especially women.
- Robin Thicke says 'Its all about objectifying women, it is a joke'
- Uncensored version to 'blurred lines', connoting the females are hard to get.
- Lots of parody videos created. One of the parodies created portray the men half naked and women in control whereas the actual video is the opposite way round.
- Tricia Romano says "The nudity might be fine if the song was called, 'Lets all have some fun', but its called 'blurred lines', and the subject itself is enough to make some female music fans uncomfortable... The song is about how a girl really wants crazy wild sex but doesn't say it-positing that age-old problem where men think no means yes into a catchy, hummable song."
- Blogger Feminist in LA says "Basically, the majority of the song (creepily named 'Blurred lines') has the R&B singer murmuring 'I know you want it' over and over into a girl's ear. Call me a cynic, but that phrase does not exactly encompass the nation of consent in sexual activity."
- Some of the words in the lyrics are very offensive to some women and how different the men and women in the music video are portrayed.
- However the male presenter in the video says that the music video title 'Blurred Lines' is a bad choice as the music video represents fun in his view.
- The male version parody was disturbing to many therefore trying to send a message across about the actual music video suggesting it is uncomfortable and disturbing.
Academic texts/books
- “Shake It Baby, Shake It”: Media Preferences, Sexual Attitudes and Gender Stereotypes Among Adolescents (2010).
- How Hegemonic Black Masculinity Inhibits Men’s Involvement in Feminism: An Examination of bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins (2010).
https://soci.ubc.ca/fileadmin/template/main/images/departments/anso/files/undergrad/sojourners/Sojourners-Volume2.pdf#page=85
- Music, Substance Use, and Aggression (2006).
- The Influence of Rap/Hip-Hop Music: A Mixed-Method Analysis on Audience Perceptions of Misogynistic Lyrics and the Issue of Domestic Violence (2013).
Internet Links
The Guardian: Blurred Lines banned by Edinburgh University - Robin Thicke's hit song cannot be played at student events after it was ruled the track violates the university's policy against 'rape culture and lad banter'.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/13/blurred-lines-banned-edinburgh-universityThe Guardian: Addicted to misogyny? Music videos still don't get what women really want - Robin Thicke and Dizzee Rascal explore the good girl/bad girl sex trope in their songs, but their videos still leave much to be desired – and highlight the sexism that still prevails.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/03/music-videos-addicted-misogyny-sex
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