Narrative Theory
Representation
The 'Laura Mulvey' theory
For my chosen video, Vanguard, I do not believe that Laura Mulvey's theory can be applied to it in the slightest. This is because, for one thing, Violet is the star of this video and defies Mulvey's initial idealism of that they are only one gender, as she is genderfluid; sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes Violet, and sometimes Jason. Also, one of Mulvey's thoughts is that "scenes may focus on the curves of a woman's body" which actually never applies to this video, as from the very start all Violet embodies is pure power and control. This includes that instead of scenes like this from 'Scouting For Girls - She's So Lovely', where the first thing you see of a woman is a close up of their heeled feet (where they are trying to drag out the suspension for what she's going to look like, making the viewer see her as being sultry, even in the choosing of the shoes being red which connotes love);
we get a first shot of this;
where you get to establish not only the location, but all of the characters as equals - showing how everyone's the same, there is no difference between these people, no matter how they present themselves and no matter how they identify. From this we can see straight away how Laura Mulvey's theory is basically denied to have partaken in this video and is more there to tell a message than to sexualise anyone.
Even the lyrics in both of these compare with each other, as lines like "she looks like those girls in Vogue" and "come see me discreetly" occur in She's So Lovely, and are just lines to sexualise the women in the video, highlighting the theme of the whole song and showing that there are no underlying deep messages either. This is a very stereotypical theme in heterosexual male's music. Violet's lines compare dramatically to Scouting for Girls (they've even named the whole band from this sexualisation), as the lines are so much more empowering and meaningful, such as the lines "Boom like dynamite, nothing is black and white" which sets the theme as being much more than an 'everyday' song that is released for male pleasure.
Richard Dyer - 'Star' Theory
His theory is spilt into three sections:
1. Audiences and Institutions
2. Constitutions
3. Hegemony
Audience and Institutions
This is the belief that stars are simply just made for money purposes alone. Increasing the brand identity benefits the institution as they become a household name increasing sales in all of the media platforms they are in. The institution then models the artist around the target audience they choose.
Constitutions
The constitution side of his theory states that the star is built for an audience, and is not an individual person. The star is built with someone's signature to them that differentiates them from other stars significantly.
Hegemony
This is also know as 'culture'. It is the idea that the audience relates to the star because they have a feature they the share or admire with the star. Some fans may attempt to replicate the star in their behavior, what they and what they do. But this could also be a negative impact as some stars often are heavy drinkers and drug abusers. For example in the 60's and 70's there was an increase of illegal sales of cannabis due to The Beatles being open about using it. Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, and promote a certain ideology.
The thing is, linking this to Violet and Sharon would be very different from linking it to a 'mainstream' star or an actual singer (as in that's their profession) as 'celebrities' are signed up to be a role model figure to the younger generation, whereas Vi and Sharon are drag queens. They do not live to be role models for anyone and they don't live by anyone's rules, and therefore they go completely against Richard Dyer's theory. Of course, music is made to make money, but you can see from the message that is portrayed in the music video to Vanguard that she made that to give awareness and to tell people to not be afraid of fighting back.
Tessa Perkins - Stereotypes
In social psychology, a stereotype is a thought that can be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect reality. However, this is only a fundamental psychological definition of a stereotype.
She describes the assumptions many people hold about stereotypes which are that;
- Stereotypes are always erroneous in content (usually wrong)
- They are normally negative concepts
- They are about groups with whom we have little or no social contact; by implication, therefore they are not held about one’s own group
- They are about minority or repressed groups
- They are simple
- They are rigid and do not change
- They are not structurally re-inforced
- The existence of contradictory stereotypes is evidence that they have errors but of nothing else
- People either hold stereotypes of a group (believed them to be true) or do not
- Because someone holds a stereotype of a group, his or her behaviour towards a member of that group can be predicted.
I believe that my chosen video shows quite the opposite to what Tessa Perkins expects in a music video, as it is actually about fighting against stereotypes together. This is shown through many ways - for example, there is a big stigma around drag queens that is the thought that they're simply trying to "pass" as women. .............................................
I believe that my chosen video shows quite the opposite to what Tessa Perkins expects in a music video, as it is actually about fighting against stereotypes together. This is shown through many ways - for example, there is a big stigma around drag queens that is the thought that they're simply trying to "pass" as women. .............................................
