1920's - Bessie
1940's - Fantasia
1960's- The Beatles
1970's - Queen
1980's Michael Jackson
1990's - TLC
2000's - Rihanna
2010's - Shakira
Textual Analysis of Music Video
The opening shot of Miley Cyrus is a close up of her face, complying with the rule of thirds. Her lipstick significantly stands out as it is a bold red colour contrasting with her complexion and the pure white background, similarly to her blue eyes. The mouth and the eyes are both features of the face that are typically associated with females therefore making her look attractive and agreeing with the male theory as she would be attractive to the male audience. As well as this, Miley is looking directly into the camera this builds a connection between her and the audience making the music video feel more personal for the audience as she expresses her emotions.
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The first shot of Miley Cyrus' costume consists of pair of Dr Martens in this shot. These shoes are typically associated with men as they are quite masculine, especially the dark colour of them. Additionally, as this shot is low angle it draws attention to them and symbolises masculinity. Also the use of the hammer within the mes en scene again emphasises the masculinity as its typically used in building work, a profession that is male dominated. This goes over the male gaze theory however, as Miley Cyrus does not have any clothing on her legs there is still an element of femininity. It also goes against the voyeuristic gaze as this consists of the males looking at an object of desire, typically women. This shot also suggests the empowerment of women as Miley Cyrus is a female wearing male clothing and holding a prop usually associated with men, creating a sense of power.
This shot is a close up of Miley, placing the hammer in the centre of the shot along with her lips. This draws attention and signifies the action she is carrying out, licking the hammer. This agrees with the male gaze theory by Mulvey as this shot has sexual connotations, therefore creating an erotic gaze for a male.
This shot is extremely empowering for Miley Cyrus as she shows no expression or emotion to the destructiveness behind her. Her costume in this shot consists of white underwear and a white crop top, showing the majority of her body, This is also agreeing with Mulvey's Male gaze theory as she is presented here as an erotic gaze. However opposing the theory as she takes on the dominant and superior role within the music video.
Both these shots very much agree with the Male gaze theory the Mulvey presents especially the shot on the right. Miley Cyrus poses in an extremely sexual way in these shots, implying that shes an object of sexual desire that would please a male. As she wears little clothing on the left whilst she swings on the wrecking ball she still conveys power and domination. Whereas on the left she wears no clothing and connotes all sexual intentions.
These shots are shown multiple times throughout the music video, usually through the use of tracking. this makes it feel as though Miley Cyrus' body is being slowly revealed to the viewers. This is definitely agreeing with the male gaze theory as she appears to just be laying in the rubble, almost like an object and her only purpose is for men looking at her.
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