Analysis of video for The Kooks' song Bad Habit
So the concept of gaze is one that deals with how the audience views the people presented. For example; how they look in music videos, television shows or in movies. Feminists tend to think about it in three different ways:
- the way men look at women
- how women look at themselves
- how women look at other women
More specifically, the Male Gaze is when the camera lingers on the curves of a female body, and events which are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to the events. Women are relegated to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.
I personally think that this music video is a perfect example of the Male Gaze, here's why:
Literally 5 seconds into this video, the audience is presented with the rear end of a half-dressed woman.
After this, we see the screen of her computer and it appears to have several messages from male named people in a chat site.
She then, at about 30 seconds in, puts a message into the chat saying 'tell me what you want...' this simple thing totally degrades the woman; it objectifies her and makes her seem easy.
5 seconds later, another man in the chat tells her to 'surprise us!!' and by his command, the woman takes a few steps back slowly and starts to feel herself it a sexual way. She starts to play with her hair and stroke her own skin in a, what some might say, sexy kind of way and then goes on to stroke her lip which is automatically seen as very flirty and sexual.
50 seconds in, the woman is now putting on quite the show for the people in the chat. They are all putting messages into the chat like 'more, more, more' and 'yes plz...' so she continues to prance around in her underwear for them and does whatever they wish to see.
A minute and 20 seconds in the women then takes a pause and the camera , once again, zooms into her lips and shows her brushing them in a flirty way. After this, the people in the chat are demanding her to stop doing that and to continue dancing for them.
After this, at 1.30 she tells the viewers that the next dance will be the last, she stands up for herself in a way, but then proceeds to dance for the men watching in the chat.
There is then several shots of her prancing around the room, half dressed, from a few different angles. She carries on doing the same styles of dancing; brushing he hands against herself, stroking her skin. This we connote with pleasure and sexuality.
At 2.15 the camera then goes back to the computer screen, on which is more messages from men in the chat asking is "this is real" suggesting they either think the woman is too good to be true or someone is trying to take their money by bribing them with something like this. This again, objectifies the woman as someone may be using her just to get money.
Next, at 2.30 she starts to strip by pulling her top over her head and the men in the chat start to go crazy. This demonstrates the power and attention a woman can get from men when the expose their bodies.
After this, at 2.15, the woman takes the top, that she just removed and puts it on the web cam, covering it so that the men in the chat cant see her. this shows that she can stand up for herself and doesn't think she has to do the men tell her to anymore. As a result to this, the men sent he messages to make her feel bad for what she had done.
3 minutes in, she goes over to her bed, on which is a pile of work clothes. She goes on to get into the clothes (still in a sexual, flirty way, but this time for the viewers of the music video, not the video cam) and the men are still posting sad comments, attempting to try and make her feel somewhat guilty. She takes no notice of the guys and proceeds to put the work clothes on.
At 3.15, she is then fully dressed. She's wearing a very smart, reserved outfit and as she goes to walk out (we assume, to go to work) she walks past the computer and sticks her middle finger up at the screen, where men are still sending her harsh messages, even though they can no longer see her.
Finally, at 3.20, we are shown a shot of the computer screen. On the computer screen is still, many mean messages but also we can see at the side of the screen, where it shows who is online, that all the men are logging off. This shows us that if she isn't there dancing in the nude for them, then they're not interested. This completely objectifies women.
In conclusion, I think this video is a perfect example of the male gaze as it shows us that when women do what men tell them to, they're happy and give them attention but if they rebel and go by their own rules, men won't be interested whatsoever.
No comments:
Post a Comment