Music video theory
1) How does the This Is America video meet the key conventions of a music video?
The music video 'This is America' has a story line which includes character; school children, church choir and people in the background that we see either getting shot or involved in criminal activities.
The genre of this specific music video is action and crime. We see a lot of action when we see people getting shot and see numerous police cars which hints to crime.
The editing of the video was slow paced considering the type of music it is, we see they camera following the main character in the video. There is a hint of fast paced editing when we see some characters get shot or there is a change of setting.
The setting and costume are very basic in this video. The setting in the video stays the same throughout its a run down building with dull colours this I believe is done purposely to portray a narrative of its own, to show how crime isn't glamours and usually happens in rundown places, the costume in the video is very basic which reflects the reality.
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence? (APPLYING THEORIES Q CONJOINED)
-Uses an abundance of links and references throughout video to make points about where black people stand in America:
-The exaggerated facial expressions and pose he makes at the beginning of the video- Gambino striking a Jim Crow-style pose, alluding to the history of racial oppression. This links to Blackface and links to Hall- black people being represented as a comedic/clown like figure.
- guns are more valued today in America than human life-Gambino shoots a nameless, faceless person in the back of the head. He then carefully lays the gun on a plush red cloth. The dead body, in contrast, is dragged off screen.
- 10 jovial Black choir members singing, dancing and worshiping until Gambino brutally guns them down with a semi-automatic weapon. He then glides away, unbothered and unaffected by the incident- reference to Charleston shooting.
-Children dancing- country is dancing around the fact that gun violence and police brutality are peaking.
The music video 'This is America' has a story line which includes character; school children, church choir and people in the background that we see either getting shot or involved in criminal activities.
The genre of this specific music video is action and crime. We see a lot of action when we see people getting shot and see numerous police cars which hints to crime.
The editing of the video was slow paced considering the type of music it is, we see they camera following the main character in the video. There is a hint of fast paced editing when we see some characters get shot or there is a change of setting.
The setting and costume are very basic in this video. The setting in the video stays the same throughout its a run down building with dull colours this I believe is done purposely to portray a narrative of its own, to show how crime isn't glamours and usually happens in rundown places, the costume in the video is very basic which reflects the reality.
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence? (APPLYING THEORIES Q CONJOINED)
-Uses an abundance of links and references throughout video to make points about where black people stand in America:
-The exaggerated facial expressions and pose he makes at the beginning of the video- Gambino striking a Jim Crow-style pose, alluding to the history of racial oppression. This links to Blackface and links to Hall- black people being represented as a comedic/clown like figure.
- guns are more valued today in America than human life-Gambino shoots a nameless, faceless person in the back of the head. He then carefully lays the gun on a plush red cloth. The dead body, in contrast, is dragged off screen.
- 10 jovial Black choir members singing, dancing and worshiping until Gambino brutally guns them down with a semi-automatic weapon. He then glides away, unbothered and unaffected by the incident- reference to Charleston shooting.
-Children dancing- country is dancing around the fact that gun violence and police brutality are peaking.
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson.
The music video's opening scene consists of an establishing shot of the garage (where the whole music video is shot) and we see a guitar placed on a chair. There is a black man who walks to the chair and starts playing the guitar. Although it is not recognisable at first, it is interesting to note that Glover can be seen standing behind one of the pillars of the garage. This is a reference to how criminals are always lurking in the corner and how no one is ever really safe.
Glover dances in a very distinct way, this is an intertextual reference to the Jim Crow laws which highlights how, even though these laws have no been abolished, black Americans still feel suppressed in society. The man sitting on the chair has suddenly got a wrap around his head, he sits and waits to be shot. This could be a reference to the slave trade and how black people still have a feeling of never quite belonging or being accepted in western societies even to this day. (Gilroy)
Stuart Hall's race representation in the media can be applied to this music video. Hall suggested that ethnic minorities in the media are misinterpreted due to underlying racist tendencies and he outlined three black characterisations in American media.
1) The Slave figure- This can be the man at 0:51 who gets shot.
2) The Native- this mostly fits in with Glover's character. He is the criminal.
3) The Clown/Entertainer- This role can apply to all the dancers in the music video, including Glover.
Tricia Rose suggested that hip-hop initially gave audiences an insight into the lives of young, black, urban Americans and also gave them a voice. This music video is a perfect example of that as it is a way for Glover to send out a message for himself and his black peers or anyone else affected by the gun violence in America.
Read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
The article suggests that one of the opening scenes is a parallel reference to Jim Crow. Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system (essentially a series of anti-black laws) that operated between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Donald Glover uses grotesque smiles and exaggerated poses which is a way of making a parody of Jim Crow. See the resemblance below.
The article also suggests that the dancing throughout the music video was specially choreographed to be distracting so that the riots happening in the background became invisible. The video’s choreographer, Sherrie Silver, retweeted a comment, perhaps in agreement, from someone who argued: “Childish Gambino’s dance moves distracted all of us from the craziness that was happening in the background of the video & that’s exactly the point he’s trying to make.”
The last point the article suggests is that Glover is sending a direct message to the police. The lyric “this a celly / that’s a tool” has a powerful double meaning. Fans have pointed out that on the one hand it refers to the case of Stephon Clark, shot dead just weeks ago by Sacramento police, who assumed he was armed but only had an iPhone on him. Glover distils the distorting way black men are seen by police with “tool”, meaning gun. In the video, the camera pans up to black men filming the chaos on their phones. As other commenters on Genius have pointed out, Glover could also be saying that phones can be actual tools for documentation.
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'?
One comment stated, "It gives me the picture of the US acceptance of violence and murder that I get from the news in the British media." This is the harsh reality of what the US has become.
Other comments suggested that the video is also aimed at black culture. "What I got from it was the parts of Black musical culture that America celebrates (the bluesman with the guitar/gospel choir) mixed with the parts it doesn't. I don't think it's aimed only at racism, but also at Black culture...“Grandma told me: get your money, black man”...
The music video's opening scene consists of an establishing shot of the garage (where the whole music video is shot) and we see a guitar placed on a chair. There is a black man who walks to the chair and starts playing the guitar. Although it is not recognisable at first, it is interesting to note that Glover can be seen standing behind one of the pillars of the garage. This is a reference to how criminals are always lurking in the corner and how no one is ever really safe.
Glover dances in a very distinct way, this is an intertextual reference to the Jim Crow laws which highlights how, even though these laws have no been abolished, black Americans still feel suppressed in society. The man sitting on the chair has suddenly got a wrap around his head, he sits and waits to be shot. This could be a reference to the slave trade and how black people still have a feeling of never quite belonging or being accepted in western societies even to this day. (Gilroy)
Stuart Hall's race representation in the media can be applied to this music video. Hall suggested that ethnic minorities in the media are misinterpreted due to underlying racist tendencies and he outlined three black characterisations in American media.
1) The Slave figure- This can be the man at 0:51 who gets shot.
2) The Native- this mostly fits in with Glover's character. He is the criminal.
3) The Clown/Entertainer- This role can apply to all the dancers in the music video, including Glover.
Tricia Rose suggested that hip-hop initially gave audiences an insight into the lives of young, black, urban Americans and also gave them a voice. This music video is a perfect example of that as it is a way for Glover to send out a message for himself and his black peers or anyone else affected by the gun violence in America.
Read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
The article suggests that one of the opening scenes is a parallel reference to Jim Crow. Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system (essentially a series of anti-black laws) that operated between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Donald Glover uses grotesque smiles and exaggerated poses which is a way of making a parody of Jim Crow. See the resemblance below.
The article also suggests that the dancing throughout the music video was specially choreographed to be distracting so that the riots happening in the background became invisible. The video’s choreographer, Sherrie Silver, retweeted a comment, perhaps in agreement, from someone who argued: “Childish Gambino’s dance moves distracted all of us from the craziness that was happening in the background of the video & that’s exactly the point he’s trying to make.”
The last point the article suggests is that Glover is sending a direct message to the police. The lyric “this a celly / that’s a tool” has a powerful double meaning. Fans have pointed out that on the one hand it refers to the case of Stephon Clark, shot dead just weeks ago by Sacramento police, who assumed he was armed but only had an iPhone on him. Glover distils the distorting way black men are seen by police with “tool”, meaning gun. In the video, the camera pans up to black men filming the chaos on their phones. As other commenters on Genius have pointed out, Glover could also be saying that phones can be actual tools for documentation.
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'?
One comment stated, "It gives me the picture of the US acceptance of violence and murder that I get from the news in the British media." This is the harsh reality of what the US has become.
Other comments suggested that the video is also aimed at black culture. "What I got from it was the parts of Black musical culture that America celebrates (the bluesman with the guitar/gospel choir) mixed with the parts it doesn't. I don't think it's aimed only at racism, but also at Black culture...“Grandma told me: get your money, black man”...
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