Music Video Analysis

Music Video Analysis

      The pop culture is a complex combination of attitudes and ideas that synthesises a variety of factors, such as race, class, gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality, to end up in a highly demanded consumer product. Pop culture as a phenomenon has been studied for a relatively short period of time, however, it is impressive how it transforms the culture to make it consumer oriented. Very often, the popular culture overtakes and repackages already existing image and reconstructs it into something different, yet impossible to understand without knowing the original. Pop culture can be regarded as a phenomenon developed in the context of postmodernism. Therefore, different forms of contemporary art acquire the features of postmodernism, and music industry is not an exception. The music video to be discussed is “We Made You” by Eminem and if analysed through the lenses of postmodernism, the video can be called a genuinely postmodern piece of work as it has all sorts of relevant features.

First of all, this music video demonstrates the typical genre characteristics, but it is done in a very unusual light. Thus, Eminem, known as the artist who is normally portrayed individually rapping somewhere in the streets, is placed into satirical settings and surrounded by    satirical props and characters. The piece basically subverts the typical representing genre characteristics and mocks them making everything look ridiculous.

There can be traced very strong relationship between the visuals and the lyrics in this music video. In fact, most of the lyrics is followed by the illustrating video content. For example, when Eminem mentions such popular characters as Jessica Simpson or Amy Winehouse, the spectator is given satirical versions of them. Also, the specific passages from the lyrics are followed by visuals, such as the lines about Lindsay Lohan with her partner Samantha that are followed by the scenes of their satirical parodies kissing in a truck. It is important to note that the music is very closely connected to video editing as the specific shots are cut to the beat. At the same time, when the vocals sing in the hook  ‘you’re a rock star’, there can be seen a heart restating ‘rock star’ line, and this element is repeated throughout the video.

The pop culture is very much reflected in the demands that the record labels set for their artists. For example, most labels want to see numerous close ups of the artist. Correspondingly, the artist is encouraged to develop their own visual style that would feature the motifs that will recur across their work. Therefore, Eminem is  portrayed through the close- and mid close-up’s in a variety  of iconic personages depicted in satirical manner. This very music video is permeated by a visual style of the phrase ‘rock star’.

Another integral characteristic of postmodernism often observed in the music videos typical of pop culture is a reference to the idea of looking. There may be used the screen-within screen technique or  telescopes, or most frequently, the voyeuristic reception of the female body.  The method can also be found in “We Made You” music video through the manner of representation of a screen-within-screen featuring Jessica Simpson representation.        

Finally, a large variety of intertextual references presented in the video significantly contribute to making this video postmodernist. Specifically, there can be found the references to many celebrities, such as  Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Jessica Alba, Kim Kardashian, 50 Cent, Elvis, Dr Dre, John Mayer, Amy Winehouse, and others. What is more, there can be found the references to “Star Trek”, “Transformers”, and “Guitar Hero”. These are the famous personalities, well-known TV shows or movies, and popular games that make up the elements of pop culture of 2009, the year of release of this music video.

To conclude, a music video to the song “We Made You” by Eminem is a well-executed example of a typical postmodern music video. Among the main characteristic features of postmodernism that are often seen in the elements of the pop culture there are narcissism, intertextuality, pastiche, parody, nostalgia, and others. “We Made You” by Eminem includes a plenty of popular intertextual references, some of which can be regarded as a parody since the portrayed  characters are the satirical replicas of themselves in real life. Nostalgia is also implied, for example, in the appearance of Elvis character. Overall, the analysis of this music video demonstrates that “We Made You”  is a typical example of postmodernism in pop culture as it has most of the key elements that distinguish postmodern from other movements.