Biggs 1 Summer Biggs Professor Innes Mitchell Media Communication 5 March 2012 Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex, and Power

in Music Video Music and film have always played huge roles in the communication of culture. Although they are both forms of entertainment, they are also forms of learning. Famous artists and musicians have had the power to display our language, values, and beliefs to the rest of the world through music video. What is concerning about this, is the content of the videos and the message we are sending to people. One of the biggest issues in this field is the exploitation of women and the use of female bodies as currency and advertising. Techniques like constructing false femininity, the pornographic imagination, fragmentation of the womans body, and themes of masculinity and control are all central to the modern day music video. Walking out of the classroom after seeing the film, I was shocked. I was overwhelmed with the information and images that I had seen and I thought about it the rest of the day. I thought Dreamworlds 3 was a great documentary that highlights an issue that isnt as publicized as it should be. Even though I have seen plenty of music videos that I thought were somewhat inappropriate with how they portrayed women, I never questioned them or wondered how it affected public views. I thought the film was organized and easy to follow. I especially liked how they analyzed the issues from different standpoints including the music video producer, the male artists, the female artists, the female dancers, and the audience. The only thing I did not enjoy was the lack of a break from the music video images. The footage was great and was crucial to the purpose of the film. However I didnt find it necessary to have those images as the

Biggs 2 entire visual for the documentary. Watching continuous clips of thongs, dirty dancing, and womens body parts became overwhelming after the first thirty minutes. The passage that had the most impact on me was the video taken of a woman in a tour bus with band members throwing sandwich meat at her body. I could not believe someone would do that. It was embarrassing, degrading, and even disturbing. It looked like a form of torture and humiliation. I am still confused as to why that was even considered acceptable or fun for anyone. The purpose of it being filmed and shown to the public was because it shows a different lifestyle. It shows that celebrities like these band members get to party and do things that normal people cant. It shows the male fantasy and glorifies the band/groupie lifestyle. The purpose of the film is to bring attention to female exploitation in music videos and to show its real life repercussions. It discusses an issue that has gotten so out of hand that it is now a standard requirement in order to have a successful, moneymaking production. The filmmaker was very successful in getting the message across. The use of recognizable music videos and famous artists participating in these techniques make the viewer realize that these are the exact same singers, rappers and musicians who make up their iTunes library. This issue often goes by unnoticed or rarely thought about because it is so common in our culture. The target audience seems to be young adults, ranging from ages 18 to 35. The filmmaker is trying to target the same audience that is watching these music videos and learning these false ways of looking at women. The film contains a section called Constructing Femininity, showing how women would behave in the Dreamworld, according to adolescent male fantasies. In this music video world, women are ravenous creatures who desire sex at all times. They are shown as aggressive and persistent. Also, multiple women have to share one guy, making whomever the male artist is look like a ladies man to build his popularity and credibility. When alone, women are shown

Biggs 3 spending their time undressing, touching themselves, partying, washing cars, mudwrestling, and bathing. A common male fantasy that is used in many music videos is the wet female body. Whether she is being sprayed while playfully dancing or taking a long shower, water is a common theme. Role-play such as cheerleaders, maids, librarians, and policewomen are also classic examples. In my opinion, the most inaccurate portrayal of women is how they seem desperate, sad and lonely without men. They are shown to be dependent on men for emotional stability. In the Ways of Looking section, the documentary discusses how music videos show femininity only through sexuality. Women are sex objects. They invite the viewer in, and want to be on display. The camera shows what is central to a womens body, shooting from above to show cleavage, and shooting from below to look up the skirt. Womens legs are used to frame the picture and focus the viewers eyes. Within all of these camera shots women become merely separated body parts, reflecting the pornographic gaze. Laura Mulvey, a British feminist film theorist, states that Women are merely represented to provide visual pleasure to men, and the audience is constructed in a manner where they are all expected to be men (Mulvey). This is also true in the world of music videos. All the while, men are portrayed as pimps, with money and lots of women. Music videos constantly demonstrate male dominance and control over women. For example, there are women tied up or dancing in cages. They are chased and pursued by men, being handled roughly. They are pushed aside, slapped, and sprayed with water and alcohol. One of the most shocking parts about the documentary was being able to see short clips of so many videos, and knowing exactly the song and the artist of the majority of them. Our culture has such an extensive knowledge about music and famous musicians. Another shocking

Biggs 4 thing I found, is that I can name a handful more songs and music videos that abide by the same stereotypes, use the same techniques and portray women and men in the same way. A perfect example is the song Toot it and Boot it by the rapper YG. This song is about him picking up girls, taking them to his house, having sex with them, and then forcing them to leave afterwards. The lyrics, Cause I toot it and boot it, And made her feel stupid or We can do it all day, only for one night, And after that you gotta go 'cause you ain't my wife clearly communicate the message of using women purely for sex, while disregarding their feelings or basic rights as an individual. In the music video, YG is shown partying and rapping with expensive cars in the background, and having girl after girl show up at his door to see him. All the while, women are dancing in white tank tops and tight shorts as water is being sprayed over them. This is a classic example of the male fantasy aspect in music videos. Along with the message of the song, it creates an idea of an acceptable way to treat women. Another example is the Britney Spears song, Womanizer. In the music video, she is shown as different role-play characters such as a businesswoman, a waitress, and cab driver. In between these different scenes, she is shown completely naked in a sauna, singing and touching herself. Her focus is all on one man, the womanizer, who gets surrounded and roughly handled by her and multiple other women. Again, all of these techniques go back to the male fantasy. These women are portrayed as aggressive and desperate despite the fact that Britney Spears is singing about how she wont fall for a womanizer like him. This is a perfect example of how even though the message of the song might be positive and empowering for women, sex appeal is still needed to make a successful music video. After watching Dreamworlds 3 my attitude towards music videos has definitely changed. I have a new consciousness about what these messages say about our culture. I now believe that

Biggs 5 acts of sexual violence can be traced back to music videos and other images portrayed in popular media. The documentary shows the reality of this when they play footage from Central Park at the Puerto Rican Pride Parade. Women were trapped inside a giant crowd of hundreds and hundreds of men, inappropriately touching them, grabbing at them, ripping their clothing, and sexually harassing them. These women were not ravenous, sex craving creatures. They were not enjoying the male attention or lusting after them. These women were screaming and crying, trying to escape. Some got severely injured in the mayhem. Reality is not like music video fantasy, and people are clearly getting this distinction confused. In a culture that is highly exposed to these types of messages, how can people create a basis of what is acceptable? If both male and female celebrities are showing the public that it is okay to treat women a certain way, then people will do the same. Of course, while there are some women who enjoy this type of treatment, and who want to be seen as just a body under the control of men, it is wrong for people to assume all women enjoy this. Robbing women of their humanity and denying them subjectivity is something that needs to be changed. In order to turn this around, more focus must be put on the recent advancements in womens rights. More emphasis must be put on the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and independent aspects of todays women. This is what women represent, not the fragmented body parts shown in music videos.

Biggs 6 Works Cited Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey Originally Published. Screen 16.3 (1975) : 6-18.

Spears, Britney, perf. Womanizer. Jive Records, 2008. Film.

YG, perf. Toot it and Boot it. Def Jam Music Group, 2010. Film.