For this post I wanted to do a deconstruction, combine what I've learned so far with my Communication and IT roots. Therefore I decided to write about intertextuality in Madonnas musicvideo to Like A Virgin, because there are a lot of direct symbolism and a lot to write about. This is what I came up with. Enjoy.
Intertextuality
The video for the song "Like A Prayer" begins with a woman,
Madonna, who flees into a church. She just witnessed an assault on a woman,
committed by a group of men. A black man, who comes to her aid after the
attack, is then helping the woman. The black man is then arrested, and charged
with assault. Inside the church where Madonna seeks refuge, she notices a
statue behind a cage that is similar to the black man being accused of the
assault. Madonna then prays to the statue through song, and the statue burst
into tears. Madonna then lye down on a bench, and falls into a dream scenario,
in where she encounters with a black woman in a scenario that resembles heaven.
The woman throws Madonna out of her dream and back into the church, but she is
still dreaming. The saint then leaves the church, and Madonna is stigmatized on
her hands after touching a knife. The scenario switches over to an outdoor
scene, where Madonna is dancing in front of five burning crosses. Back in the
church, the camera panes over a gospel choir in song, and Madonna take part in
the dancing and singing. She now wakes up from her dream, and decides to go to
the police station, to convince the police to release the black man. Again the
burning crosses are showed. The music video ends in a last scene where the
audience is becoming aware that the whole scenery was only a play, and the
actors involved take a bow.
Madonna is a pop
artist who manages to appeal to a wide range of people through her music. She
makes sure to draw many parallels between her music videos and reality of
racism in the 1980’s. Looking at the videos for "Like A Prayer" and
"Like A Virgin" (Madonna, 1984), straight away we can see a resemblance
in the titles. Both cover the themes of sex and religion. Sexuality in "Like
A Virgin" appears in the form of the search for a relationship, and
religion in terms of her appearance in the wedding dress, which legalizes her
quest for sexuality. These themes also appear in "Like A Virgin". The
religious parts are pictured through the church and the religious references
occur in form of stigma and the use of religious figures and rituals within
Christianity. In both videos Madonna is wearing a cross on her body. In
"Like A Virgin" the cross is seeing hanging from Madonna's hip, and
in "Like A Prayer" it’s seen hanging from her neck. Madonna also
subdues to a man dominance in both videos. In "Like A Virgin" subdues
herself to a man with a lion's face, which is a very male-dominated symbol, and
in "Like A Prayer" it is in the form of a black man. The video deals
with racism, as an interracial relationship was looked down upon in the 1980’s era. Furthermore a theistic element is raised, as God in the video is
depicted as a black woman.
Looking at the
intertextuality that occurs in Madonna's videos, we are on the horizontal axis
(Jensen, 2008, p 16). The two music videos refer to themes and characters, but
not direct texts on video or interviews, as these will go under, respectively,
secondary and tertiary texts, located on the vertical axis. Most of the
horizontal intertextuality in the videos is portrayed through symbols and
genre. In addition, you will find thematic similarities in Madonnas universe.
Madonnas character appears in both videos, and "Like A Virgin" can be
characterized as a previous text in the same genre, as on video was made before
the other. Both "Like A Virgin" and "Like A Prayer"
consists of dream scenarios, and both have supernatural elements. In "Like
A Prayer" this is seen through the saint who comes to life, and the scene
where Madonna is portrayed in heaven. In "Like A Virgin" the dream
scenario occurs when the lion becomes a man.
Madonna defends
her provocation of sex and religion, since the scenarios portrayed in the videos are
"just" dreams. Madonna tends to provoke more and more through her
active years, and if we compare the early videos with the late ones, we will se
a provocation through time. This is reflected in her recurring stylistic
universe.
Religious themes and references
For many years Madonna has been known for her
controversial music videosm that crosses the boundaries between the sexual and religious.
"Like A Prayer" is no exception. The first time we encounter religion
in the music video is when Madonna runs inside a church. The audience is at an
early stage presented with a religious theme. The video uses several direct
references. One example is the black statue behind the cage. The figure
illustrates Jesus and his suffering for the people. As the statue is black, it
could be argued that when the black man is arrested, he acts as a kind of black
Jesus, by taking the black people's suffering on his shoulders. There is a
clear reference between the video and the Bible, in the form of symbols, themes
and characters. Especially the cross as a symbol is very essential. This occurs
both in fiery form, as a symbol of racism, as well as on Madonna in the form of
a necklace. The burning cross is in Christianity a symbol, which can be a clear
reference to the Ku Klux Klan. The light from the cross is the symbol for lost
hunting of evil, darkness, gloom and despair. Furthermore, there is a strong
symbolism in the scene with the dagger,
where Madonna is stigmatized. This is a direct reference to the Bible, in where
Jesus suffers for the human sin and become pinched to a cross. Another obvious
symbol is when the statue cries. Madonna relates several times to biblical
characters, and the whole theme of the video is deeply religious. Textuality
binds so some of the aspects and references related to the horizontal axis.
Madonna has
become the dissemination between the general public and the church, by
displaying the cross in public at concerts as her "logo". At the same
time she makes up with a lot of peoples beliefs, and determine its own position
over an otherwise taboo subject - sexuality in religion (Nygaard, 2006).
Comparing today's
media with that of the 1980’s, we are able to see a radical change, in
what content is allowed to be shown to the general public. Madonna has through
her career been the cause of many discussions about what is ethical and
unethical, and not least critiques and general people a reason to discuss and
reflect on taboo subjects.
Bibliography
Books
Jensen, Claus Bruhn. (2008). Medier og samfund: En introduktion (s.
15 – 18), Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur.
Web articles
Whitney, Jennifer Dawn. (2010). Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro': A Madonna Pastiche.
Critical Cookie. Source:
Bego, Mark. (1992). The
Madonna/Pepsi Controversy: Madonna: Blonde
Ambition. New York: Cooper Square Press. Source:
Ambition. New York: Cooper Square Press. Source:
Hvidt, Niels Christian. (1998). Madonna græder blod. Berlingske Tidende. Source:
Nygaard, Else Marie. (2006). Korset er Madonnas varemærke. Kristeligt Dagblad. Source:
Grundholm, Charlotte Taaning. (2009). Oversigt over kristne symboler.
Religion.dk. Source:
thinkquest.dk. Ku Klux Klan. Thinkquest. Source:
Videos
Madonna. (1984). Like
A Virgin. Sire / Warner Bros. Records. Source:
Madonna. (1989). Like
A Prayer. Sire / Warner Bros. Records. Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment