RESEARCH - Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey's theory on representation is more or less about the way females are portrayed and objectified in music videos..  Women are 'looked at' and 'displayed' in a sexual way mostly through the use of mis en scene, costume and camera.  Females tend to be wearing outfits that expose the breast and/or bum area, and the camera usually has extreme close up's of them.  Her theory starts off with the person who usually does the filming being called a 'cameraman', so it is usually a male that films music videos.  So he projects his fantasy on to the female object of desire, thus leading every other male who will watch the video to do the same.  

Adding to that, it's not only the males who are watching that experience the 'visual pleasure', it also the man in the video being portrayed as the 'dominant' one.  This normally occurs in the music genre Hip Hop, but has lately been occuring in other genres such as R'n'B and rock.  A good example we watched in class is 'Dizzee Rascal - Holiday', and another video I have come across is 'Wiley - She Likes To'. 

Scene from Wiley's - She Likes To video

This wide shot clearly focuses on the girl's body, and her short clothing reinforces Laura Mulvey's view of women being objectified in music videos. Her face also not being shown again suggests that her body is the main focus.

Scene in Dizzee Rascal's - Holiday

 Another wideshot and also over the shoulder shot used.  Similar to the Wiley video, we don't see her face, the viewers only see the reaction of the man who answers the door.  Just from the way he's staring at her, the viewers see that visual pleasure is once again created.

However, musicians such as Ne-Yo tend to have females fully clothed in his videos and instead of gazing at them, they are all performing the same or a similar dance routine.  Although, women are still trying to be seductive and such, Ne-Yo shows that women can be sexy without being half-naked.  The three main women in the video are reasonably clothed and although some shots are of their body parts, the use of close ups on their faces draws attention to their prettiness rather than their sexiness. 

 Ne-Yo - Miss Independent

Laura Mulvery's theory can be challenged because many modern music videos tend to be the female trying to portray themselves in a sexual way, with less attention from males (in the video anyway) and this is because 'sex sells'.  It can also be argued that a 'sexy' video can draw away attention from a song that may not be so good.  An example of this is 'Ciara - Gimme Dat', with a not very good track but a very sexy video.  Although there are small parts where her male dancers are looking at her, this music video is more based on the artist showing off her excellent dance skills as well as her skin.

 Ciara - Gimme Dat

Adding to that, musicians such as Lady Gaga have challenged this theory, as she turns it around and the male is the object of desire.  Women have the power to do this also, but most of the time it is women who are portrayed in the 'sleezy' way.  Missy Elliot has also done this with her video 'All N My Grill' and Alexandra Burke with her video 'Start Without You'

 Missy Elliot - All N My Grill

Alexandra Burke - Start Without You won't upload but here is a link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWKchS0GAyo&ob=av3e