In this blog post I am going to be analysing the video below. This video was released in 1989 by Warner Brothers Records. This video has received around 22,000,000 hits on YouTube to date and almost 80,000 'Thumbs Up' along with 10,000 comments. Overall, this video is known all around the world and can be seen as very successful.
What is this music video about?
The music video is based around the idea that Madonna has seen a murder of an assault as a woman and she sees a black man go over and help him (countertype of the stereotype that states that black people would be seen as aggressive) while she runs in fear to the church where she prays to a black Jesus. In other words, the music video shows the tale of a young white woman finding power in interracial harmony and the African American community has its own historical setting. When Madonna dozes off on the church pew she has a dream of being in Heaven and then she is in front of burning crosses. Burning crosses are usually synonymous with the KKK. Here again I believe Madonna was not promoting the KKK obviously but she was again trying to establish the assault on innocence and the context of the burning crosses and the black Jesus fits in perfectly. The cross burnings symbolise the backdrop of hate and what prejudice can create. In this case it was white men attacking a white woman and black man coming to save her. Then the white cops automatically assume since he is black that he did it.
How is Madonna represented?
Madonna is seen as the centre of the video meaning that it is all about her making the right decision and asking God and Jesus showing her as a synthetic artist and how she is a righteous human being, being a good steward of God. This overall, shows that she is being portrayed as an example towards others (viewers and fans).
No comments:
Post a Comment