Analyse how the
Million Reasons music video by Lady Gaga uses stereotypes to represent a
variety of images of feminine identity.
A Million Reasons music video includes a range of different stereotypes to do with women. When Lady Gaga is laying on her back in the desert at 0:15 in the video, it shows a sign of weakness and vulnerability because she has no control over her emotions and what she is doing. Laying on her back also gives the stereotype of a sexual thought as she has 'surrendered on her back'. This is an extreme close up shot, which does not give much of the background away. The effect of this is to show emotion in her face and her upper body language to really emphasise her feelings and the stereotypes given away.
Lady Gaga is seen in 1:17 hiding her face behind the guitar which could represent that she is trying to hide who she is. She is trying to hide her identity which could be because of her appearance and how she feels about herself. Could also be taken as she doesn't want to know who she is herself so she is denying her own body of the truth.
In the scene when her friends are running to rescue her in the desert at 2:07, it represents that no matter what happens, your friends will always be there and that you don't need a man to be by your side. This also shows a sign of weakness because she cannot cope on her own and she needs attention and help to be alright again.
Back to the stereotype of women being emotional, in 2:32, Lady Gaga is seen to have her head in her hands, upset which shows a level of weakness and vulnerability again because to show her feelings, she has to cry infront of her friends to get attention and help. She also has her head in her hands as a sign of embarrassment because she doesn't want everyone seeing her in that state, so she is trying to hide.In one of the last clips of the video, 3:32, she is seen wearing a cross with a priest touching her shoulder. This could represent God showing her the right path and getting her out of these bad thoughts and self worries. This could all be linked to the fact that everything gets better with a bit of guidance and nothing is ever as bad it as it seems as you will get through it.
bell hook's theory says that women are exploited and discriminated against in music videos as they are wearing revealing and luring clothes. In a million reasons, Lady Gaga is very covered up which goes against this theory because she is seen to have self respect.
In the video at 1:08, the colour of the scene changes to black and white which shows off a depressive mood, linked to the stereotype of women being emotional and how they cannot handle their feelings. Lady Gaga's body language goes to a slumped pose to show exhaustion and sadness and she is looking down, hiding away, not giving any eye contact. The effect of no direct mode address implies
that she is feeling vulnerable and wants to hide away from the world.
Another stereotype linked to females is that they need to wear makeup to look and feel good for the men. In the video at 1:14, Lady Gaga has very heavy makeup applied by her makeup artist which represents that without makeup, women cannot be seen or go out as they don't feel worthy enough. This is quite a big stereotype as it refers to women being self conscious on the way they look and that wherever they go, they need to impress the men with a new identity and not revealing who they really are.In the scene when her friends are running to rescue her in the desert at 2:07, it represents that no matter what happens, your friends will always be there and that you don't need a man to be by your side. This also shows a sign of weakness because she cannot cope on her own and she needs attention and help to be alright again.
Back to the stereotype of women being emotional, in 2:32, Lady Gaga is seen to have her head in her hands, upset which shows a level of weakness and vulnerability again because to show her feelings, she has to cry infront of her friends to get attention and help. She also has her head in her hands as a sign of embarrassment because she doesn't want everyone seeing her in that state, so she is trying to hide.In one of the last clips of the video, 3:32, she is seen wearing a cross with a priest touching her shoulder. This could represent God showing her the right path and getting her out of these bad thoughts and self worries. This could all be linked to the fact that everything gets better with a bit of guidance and nothing is ever as bad it as it seems as you will get through it.
bell hook's theory says that women are exploited and discriminated against in music videos as they are wearing revealing and luring clothes. In a million reasons, Lady Gaga is very covered up which goes against this theory because she is seen to have self respect.
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