Rude boy analysis
Today’s music videos on average have more provocative and
overtly sexualised images and connotations than music videos ten years ago.
Sexualisation of men and women in music for many has become the norm, and for
some a ‘race’ to see who can beat the other for the most outrageous music video
in the charts. Rihanna’s song Rude Boy has so far collected a massive 171,933,533 views on YouTube in only a year. But what has made this music video
so appealing to the masses and why do people keep coming back to watch it over
again. The answer to that is Rihanna’s sexualised persona, her music videos
always feature some aspect of sexualised images of both men and women. ‘Rude
Boy’ for one is a clear demonstration of that.
Representation
In the video a range of props are used for representation
such things as; stuffed lions, motorcycles and drums are show. All of these
items are strong and connote power, as such could be interpreted as men. Rihanna
uses her sexuality and the props to gain the attention of the viewers. An
example of this is when she sits on the stuffed lion in a provocative way
implying sex; this is clear because she is also literally illustrating the
lyrics of the song. As a star her persona is represented as a femme-fatal, she
is overtly sexual however her fierce attitude creates a danger that almost
ensnares the watcher into viewing the video more often. A running theme of red,
yellow and green (red, gold and green) highlights her Caribbean heritage.
Moreover, the bright vintage style colours and pop art feel makes the video
look ‘cool’ and appealing to the modern audiences. 80-90’s iconography is used
for the same reason such thing like cassettes, new era hats, boom boxes,
pixelated backgrounds, old watches and particular colour schemes are used to
this effect.
Mis-en-scene
The mis-en-scene of the aims to capture the hot and urban
feel of her Caribbean heritage. The use of brightly coloured and boldly printed
costume reflects the vibrancy of Barbados furthermore the use of prints imply
the wild and could connote her wild attitude. To continue, the whole mis-en-scene
of the video keeps with the street of Barbados which is being highlighted by
the choice of props (street corners), costumes (tatty, loose fitting clothing)
and dancing (‘grinding’ reflects urban areas). The use of a green screen for
the video allows more freedom for the director to represent Rihanna in a
particular way; in this case se is represented as ‘wild, sexy, Caribbean,
loose, fashionable and playful’.
Camera and editing
Distinctively the camera zooms in to parts of her body that
are points of sexual focus, such as lips (which are repeatedly used iconography
though out the video), bottom and crotch and the expression on her face.
Transitions from shot to shot were often jerky, which could represent frenzy or
accentuate the beat of the music. Quick transitions to keep the video flowing despite
there not being a narrative, it keeps are performance at top level and through
close up shots creates a feeling of intimacy between the audience and the
performer.
Theories regarding sexual representation
It was believed by Godwin that female performers are
frequently objectified in the music industry through the use of camera and
editing focusing predominantly on sexualised images of the star. This idea is
also reversed in the scenario that the star was a male. Rihanna’s video for
‘Rude boy’ demonstrates this theory and also shows how it can lead to success
with many of the views actively looking for sexualised images of their
favourite singers. Laura Mulvey believes that there are four different types of
relationships; men do active looking, relationship of camera at characters,
audience looking at the screen and the relationship between the characters and
the screen. Both theories from Godwin and Mulvey use the idea of Voyeurism,
that the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure. This idea has
branched out into nearly all aspects of a music video, with camera and editing
capturing sexualised images of the star but the whole mis-en-scene, sound and
lighting also are used to accentuate sexualisation of the performers. This can
be clearly seen in Rihanna’s ‘Rude boy’ where she either dresses in skin tight
body suits of skimpy tops and shorts exposing more that 80% of her body.
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