Like a Prayer
Madonna music video analysis.
There are
many purposes to a music video. One of the main purposes for a music video
isn’t actually to sell the music as they often don’t make much profit from the
video’s but it is more to sell the artist themselves. This is so that they
build a reputation for their name so that in future the people may like the
artist enough that they will buy the song without even listening to it.
Another
purpose of a music video is so that the audience is actually able to link the
lyrics and also so they are able to build an image to go with the song so that
they are able to relate to it.
Madonna’s
Just like a prayer is a great music video but is also seen to be highly
controversial and this is evident for many reasons. One of the main reasons
that this is seen to be highly controversial is through how racism and religion
are used in the video.
One of the
most obvious examples of a controversial religious view would be the use of the
Burning crosses in the back ground. This is both the sign of the anti-Christ
and also the sign of the Ku Klux Klan which were still very prominent in
America at the time that this film was made. This was highly controversial in
the music video as it was thought to have 
Another way
that this video is controversial is shown by how Jesus the most sacred person
to the Christian community and for this person to be shown as black when there
was still racisms in the country at the time this was seen to be highly
controversial. This wasn’t helped by the fact that there seemed to be a sexual
scene between Madonna and Jesus. This in itself is bad but the fact that it was
a black man and a white woman also made it worse.
Another
controversial area in this video related to religion could clearly be seen when
Madonna cuts herself giving herself the stigmata marks on her hand showing her
to be very holy and that she is good. This was controversial again with many
religious groups so much so that for all of these reasons the Vatican itself
condemned the video and so did many other religious groups in the US. Pepsi
also cancelled its advertisements with Madonna due to this video.
However it
wasn’t just religion that was seen to be controversial in the video. The use of
racism in this video was used in the video was highly controversial. One way
that this was used was when there were seen to be four white men who were doing
the terrible things to the woman and when the black man comes to help her if he
can he is framed quickly and quickly arrested without trial. The fact that the
woman in the scene was also being murdered and seen to be raped in the scene
was also highly controversial at the time as this is obviously a very sensitive
topic.
What
Madonna was actually wearing in the scene was also controversial as she was
seen to be highly revealing and wearing very little. This was frowned upon by
many especially people of the older generations.
The whole
idea of white supremacy that is shown in the is is also controversial as this
is the clear message that is being shown that the white people are in command
with them being murderers and also the police taking control of the black man.
However
even though there was so much controversy surrounding the video it was still a
highly successful song and also video. The video was a commercial success and
was able to reach the number one in many countries around the world including
Australia, Canada, USA and the UK.
Madonna
used her star image well to achieve this as she appeared to be both normal and
different. She was doing actions that her audience would be able to relate to
but also many other actions that they wouldn’t be able to. Actions such as her
coming forward to the police and singing in church would be easily relatable to
but actions such as singing in front of the burning crosses and many other
parts of the film many would be unable to relate to and also the murder scene.
However,
Madonna is also going against the conventions that are shown in many music
videos. This makes it both controversial and also makes it seem both strange
but also more attractive to the audience as they are able to see the stranger
side of their idol.
There are
several ways in which conventions are used both in the technical and symbolic
conventions. One of the first clear ways that we can see how conventions are
used is through the editing as it sticks to the music video conventions of the
transitions going in time with the beat of the song. The technical conventions
also go with the use of the camera and the many still shots of her dancing and
also of the active shots of the events occurring in the music video.
Overall we
are able to see that are many reasons why Madonna is able to be seen as a star
in this video such as through the use of actions that audiences are able to
relate to and also stranger actions that they are unable to relate to such as
sleeping with Jesus. There are also several reasons why this is seen to be a
highly controversial music video as the way that religion and racism is shown
in the film.
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