This time we'll be looking at Starships.
Let's look at the close ups first.
"Oh look at how weird and quirky I am, I have different colour hair in every close up!" In these close-ups, she tries to highlight the fact that she looks different in each of them, to get us to think she's 'weird' or 'random'. No, Nicki Minaj. Clearly what happened is you were blonde but you went swimming and chlorine turned it green. Don't try to style it out. Ever since Gaga turned 'weird' into mainstream, everyone has been dyeing their hair ridiculous colours and it doesn't make you any more popular.
Goodwin's theory says that the lyrics should fit the visuals in a music video. Shall we see how Nicki does this?
One shot of some spaceships, which she calls starships. I don't know why.
There's no real link between music and visuals, except that they all "dance" to it.
It fits the conventions of the genre, what with all the gyrating and club dancing etc.etc.
Numerous close ups because she's so "pretty".
There is some intertextuality:
I think Ursula Andress does it better, Nicki.
The whole basis of this video is that some 'starships' come and drop her off and then she goes around and dances on some sand and with some men. Way to go on the narrative there, Nicki. Also, once again, well done on the empowering women thing.
I really feel these wide shots show Nicki Minaj as a great figure in the feminist movement. I mean, look at them. Rolling around in sand wearing nothing but a tiny pink bikini? Clearly not pandering to the male gaze here, at all. I think the fact that the bikini is pink here annoys me the most. Pink traditionally signifies girls or female or women, and so to have her wearing the pink bikini signifies to me that she's just a dainty little female who isn't worth anything more than rolling around in sand and dancing on a van or whatever it is she's dancing on.
"Oh I'm just a little girl who wears nothing but a pink bikini and dance around because that's what girls do hehehehe" I hope you burn.
There are also many shots of random people who have nothing to do with the video.
Nice long shot of irrelevant men dancing. Is this how people danced before you came and showed them the error of their ways, Nicki? Now everyone dances like this:
YOUR MOTHER MUST BE SO PROUD.
Lovely. When you're thinking about Minaj's unique and original use of bikinis, hair dye and gyrating could you edit the post to include the word pseudo-individualisation?
ReplyDeleteOh, and are there any common motifs of Minaj videos based on what you've noticed about this one and the blinky one from before?
ReplyDeleteWhy does this woman have to exist?
ReplyDeleteFew more ideas I've had, potentially loads but we'd be here all day...
ReplyDeleteBefore I begin, did you see her on Graham Norton? Your flesh would have crept and blood boiled.
Anyway...
There's also some attempts at touching the sky herself on the lines about starships touching the sky. And when she says about going to a beach she is on a beach...
And for links between music and visuals there's lots of in time chest beating and tongue waggling. Particularly c.1:53. And the kalaeidoscope effects do it too.
Why is there the shot of the errupting volcano?
Why the Eastern religious/monarchic references to the sedan chair thingy (technical term)?
Intertextual references aside from standard Sci Fi narrative device of a spaceship dropping off a visitor who teaches pepole something (in Nicki's case, gyration technique)or intends to destroy them (the real aim of whoever constructed the Minaj-bot, we wonder) and the James Bond thing I'd also noticed...ah...I'd ocme up with a clever one and have forgotten it, back in a minute or two...
Back. Two more intertextual references which I can't place but I know they are intertextual references.
1) SCi Fi reference, can't place exactly - the shining silver cube. If it turns out to be the film 'The Cube' I shall kick myself. Want to say it is a Chrysallids references or a Midwych Cukoos reference but it isn't but it is something along those liones I am sure of it.
2) Men in red bowler hats with face paint - slightly OutKast-y but not sufficiently. Think this is another James Bond reference but my knowledge of Bond is limited to wry and gauche observations and hipster-ish attempts at post-ironic commentary which must cease, lest I become even more annoying than I am.
I bow to thee, oh king of the Hipsters.
DeleteI did not see her on Graham Norton. I have a thing about avoiding both of those people.
I'll look it up. But I'm not sure. I don't watch enough sci-fi or Bond films, obviously. I actually can't stand James Bond, it's just that scene is quite well known. I'll get my dad to watch it. He likes James Bond.