Laura Mulvey 1992
Mulvey's theory is that females in music videos are now being exploited to the male gaze and is getting worse as societies change. A video that I'm going to analyse and support Mulveys idea of women being exploited by their costume and posture around males in music videos.
An example i will be looking at is 'Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke, T.I, Pharrel' which is a relatively new as it was released in March.
Genre - R&B + Hip Hop
Blurred lines - Robin Thicke
Mise en Scene
Costume
Girls - White outfits that contain crop tops and short shorts which reveal 80% of the female body. The girls are also wearing loads of make up and jewelry to make them look 100% feminine. The color white may connote innocence in the girls however as they are wearing red lipstick, it could also connote danger.
Boys - Wearing suits which contain black blazer and a white shirt. Robin Thicke is also wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes in some bits. They could be wearing suits to perhaps convey the message that they are in control and 'run business' rather than the females.
Props
There are several iconic props used in this music video which include a bike, lamb, toy car, hair brush, foam finger, cigarette & huge lighter and a bottle of vodka and a glass. All these props help the message of 'boys in charge' as the props could represent the females, 'a toy to be played with'.This goes against Mulveys idea as she argues that the world is full of sexual imbalance and the female figure should not be used as a prop.
Body Language
Throughout the video its clear to the audience that the females are dancing around the men and looking straight at the camera while biting their lips or playing with their face/hair.
Camera
There are more close ups of the girls and this could be to show their emotions and how they are happy to be in the video and enjoy doing what they do. There is long shots to get all the people in the video in the shot to show them all dancing.
Sound
This is probably the most important feature which proves Mulveys point about sexual imbalance as the lyrics in this video are offensive to females.'Tried to domesticate you' The adjective 'domestic' refers to household or animals.
Mise en Scene
Costume
Girls - White outfits that contain crop tops and short shorts which reveal 80% of the female body. The girls are also wearing loads of make up and jewelry to make them look 100% feminine. The color white may connote innocence in the girls however as they are wearing red lipstick, it could also connote danger.
Boys - Wearing suits which contain black blazer and a white shirt. Robin Thicke is also wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes in some bits. They could be wearing suits to perhaps convey the message that they are in control and 'run business' rather than the females.
Props
There are several iconic props used in this music video which include a bike, lamb, toy car, hair brush, foam finger, cigarette & huge lighter and a bottle of vodka and a glass. All these props help the message of 'boys in charge' as the props could represent the females, 'a toy to be played with'.This goes against Mulveys idea as she argues that the world is full of sexual imbalance and the female figure should not be used as a prop.
Body Language
Throughout the video its clear to the audience that the females are dancing around the men and looking straight at the camera while biting their lips or playing with their face/hair.
Camera
There are more close ups of the girls and this could be to show their emotions and how they are happy to be in the video and enjoy doing what they do. There is long shots to get all the people in the video in the shot to show them all dancing.
Sound
This is probably the most important feature which proves Mulveys point about sexual imbalance as the lyrics in this video are offensive to females.'Tried to domesticate you' The adjective 'domestic' refers to household or animals.
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