Music Video Analysis 1
Music Video Analysis 1
Music Video Analysis 1
Semiotics
Do you see any symbols ● Shows many women stressing over how they look for what it seems
in this video? What do to be a pageant show, then stressing about how they could show
they symbolize? that they are trying to create the best impression of themselves to
meet the standard expectation to win the competition.
● A bunch of trophies in the background behind a girl
● The women are fighting to get a hair drier
● There are men judging a bunch of women, this could symbolize and
bring in question why are women following and changing
themselves into what men see as something “beautiful”. Beyonce is
trying to show that society or women as a whole need to set up
empowering standards instead of falling into the trap of getting into
mens set toxic downgrading beauty standards.
● Women standing on a scale with a man judging her
● The scale is seen again making the women unhappy
● Her waist is being measured
● Lots of women are lined up
● A women is taking pills
● A man is fixing the way she is doing things
● Getting something done to her by a doctor to make her look better
● A woman is drowning
● She destroys all of her trophies, to be happy
Why do you think that ● She shows the women stressing about how they look repeatedly to
the artist used these show the uneasiness that the pressure of beauty standards take on
symbols? women to look “perfect”, showing that it creates conflict and unrest
for women.
● Showing the concept of men judging women overall, symbolizes
how men have beauty standards for women and have high
expectations of how they are looked upon, where as if it was vice
versa the concept wouldn’t have existed. These standards create
the concept of body shaming which was shown, when the girl
stepped on the scale and was told she was overweight as well as
when her waist was measured, and all this was done by a male,
which proves the concept that all beauty standards are male set.
● The many trophies show how this is not just a single event, it
happens lots of times
● The scale and measuring tape show the unrealistic beauty standards
for women
● The women being lined up like products symbolizes how some
women are used as trophies
● The doctor represents how far some women are willing to go to
reach the standard.
● Destroying the trophies is representative of breaking out of the
standard.
What culture do these ● This mostly resonates with American culture, but it also expands to
symbols resonate with? all cultures. I believe that since women are the main subject, it can
Would they symbolize the resonate and mean similar things to all cultures.
same thing in another ● I can't connect with this personally but i can understand what is
culture? Do they resonate
happening and sympathize.
with you?
● This music video isn't necessarily going along just one culture. In
present day modern society wherever you go we see that the
concept of beauty standards, which is the main problem the video is
addressing, is present. Although they may not be the same, they all
follow some sort of expectation from how females need to look, in
order to be seen or labeled as “beautiful”.
● They do resonate with me personally in a way, for example we see
all those standards present on social media and all these beauty
influencers. Coming all the way from the shape of one's body, skin
shade, going all the way to the end of the spectrums, and every
other possible thing that came to your mind is part of the problem
in present modern day society. This all causes young women
especially the generation that is growing up with the influence of
social media, to have an increase of insecurities, and a extreme
decrease in self confidence, love, body self image issues, and
acceptance of one’s self.
Interpretation
What does this video say ● This video is trying to reach out to the majority of her
to you? following one common message. (Self love). The entire clip is
formed from different scenes that degrade women mentally
and physically which can emotionally drain a woman and
make them feel very unconfident in themselves. It also
showed me the common comparison men made in the clip
between different women which causes each woman to feel
insecure with her body or the way she looks. This also brought
to me attention that the lyrics are trying to imply that all these
beauty standards have “no beauty”. And that they are just
simply a suffering and a destroyer mentally and physically. It is
just best to be confident in yourself and love yourself, because
if you don’t, then who will?
What does it say about ● I think the artist is trying to put her experience into her
the artist? audience's perspective. For example, the main plot of the
video is that the character is participating in a beauty pageant
show, this competitor is constantly throughout the video
being shamed whether it is about her skin tone, hair texture,
weight, or how small her waist is. Beyonce maybe went
through these experiences or possibly even knew somebody
else that went through these harsh experiences. The goal of
this video is to show the world the “behind the scenes” of
what happens to a women when these set standards are put
into place. It shows how it can downgrade and pull someone
down easily. This also says that the artist is clearly in
opposition of the set standards that are put into modern day
society of how a women should look, behave and act. A
women should be free from these standards that have been
set into today’s society.
Is there anything of which ● This video reminds me of our english seminar, more
this video reminds you? Is specifically when we discussed beauty standards and
there anything in the
video that reminds you of
expectation that have been placed on women. This video
something you have called out the bad standards that society places on women.
studied in school? More specifically in this video it focused on the expectations
of looks and act, and how the judgement is coming from the
other end.
Artist Intent
Do you see any works of ● Music was the main form of art that was presented in the
art in this video? Do you video. Actress Harvey Keitel made an appearance in the video
believe the artist was
influenced by someone
as the girl competing in the beauty pageant. The director of
else? this music video stressed the appearance of the suffering and
struggles models and beauty queens go through on a daily
basis. The singer plays a beauty pageant contestant whose
name is “Miss Third Ward,” is a reference to the Houston
neighborhood where she grew up. Miss Third Ward does
everything in her power to look flawless and perfect, but as
hard as she tried she can’t achieve the idea that is set for her
that is known as perfection. I think the goal of the video is to
reach as many women as possible and share the struggle of
being a woman and maintaining this impossible standard of
beauty. It was trying to be as real as possible to the viewer and
not sugarcoat the struggles that women face on a daily basis.
Do you see any product ● no products were specifically advertised, however beauty
placement in the video? products were used in the video to show the things that are
Is this video selling a
certain product?
used to meet the standards. Things such as: makeup, hair
products, botox, and more.
Do you think your ● Yes, because the main chorus of the song is “pretty hurts”
interpretation of this which is pretty self explanatory. The idea behind this entire
video is what the artist
intended? Does it
video is to show women that they are going through very
matter? similar struggles if not the same when it comes to the struggles
when facing these downgrading standards. In the video it
shows that a women has to put a smile on her face regarding
all the struggles that she has faced to get to where she was
expected to get to.
Can an artist mean to ● Yes, and I think this is even shown in the video. For example,
express one thing, but Beyonce’s main goal is to talk about the beauty standards that
then express more than
that, or something
society has set, yet another thing that has caught my attention
different from that? is that, all the judging and validation was being seeked by men,
not women. All of these were all actions that were used to at
the end seek validation from men, which in this context can be
used to say that men should have no say on what your body
should look like, or how you live your lifestyle. Meaning that
the other main idea could be used is that: live your life for you
and don’t seek validation from men, no one has any say on
what you look like and there should be absolutely no
expectation on what you look like or do.
Aesthetics
Do you like this video? ● I do because it does a pretty good job in being aesthetically
Why or why not? appealing, it also does a good job delivering its message. I
particularly love how it uses the contrast between the
beginning (where it has a shaded filter) and later in the video
when I get more bright when she starts to break free.
What are the most ● At some point into the video, she is asked what she aspires to
effective parts or be in her future. While her thought took a moment, it shows a
aspects of this work of
art?
scene of her drowning in water. This can be a good example of
imagery, the way I saw it is that it was her drowning in all the
expectations of all those around her, and at the end she breaks
free from trying to fulfill all these unrealistic societal
expectations of what a woman should look and dress like. In
the end she comes to the realization that it is not worth living
her life just trying to seek validation from other people, and
that it is time for her to start looking at her own path of what
she sees as happiness and success not society.
How would you ● Other than the language, imagery, and word choices that were
persuade others to used in the music video, the video itself has a strong message
appreciate this work of
art as much as you do?
about the broken society that we live in today. It could change
perspectives of men when they see the struggles that women
face on a daily basis to meet all these standards and
expectations. This gives the audience a different perspective of
what goes on behind that broken smile that is put on when
they walk the stage. For women, this shows them that they are
not alone when it comes to people body shaming other
women, and others degrading other people. It is also
empowering in a way because it unfortunately unites women
under one problem that is still faced around the world.
How could you convince ● Personally I don't think you can really counter their argument,
someone to appreciate because in this case, this is a known issue that is addressed and
an artwork that they
think is not good? How
has been proven. So, if someone chooses to disagree with this
could you counter this video then that person is very closed minded, and his/her
person’s argument? arguments are mainly opinion based instead of facts. The video
was based on facts and not necessarily opinion or just “one
experience” that has happened to one women. This is sadly
what is happening, body shaming and degrading women to end
up seeking validation from men has become so normalized in
today's world, and that is an important aspect that needs to be
changed in the nearest time possible.