Analysis on The Representation of Social Groups

Jasmine Fagg

Representation
Representation is the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. We all read images in media with different interpretations depending on our cultural and social experiences.

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines ft. T.I. & Pharrell

I chose this video because it think it will be a good one to analyse as it represents quite a few different social groups.

Male Gaze

Lots of this video focuses on the male gaze. It is represented by women in little clothing, model looking females and the lyrics. This means the video will appeal to males because the women look like models and their bodies ore on show, this is typical of male artist music videos as it makes the artist look good and captures the interest of men who may be the target audience.

Women

This video very stereotypically represents women as objects, this is shown in the second screen cap as he is holding the woman by her hair as if she is a toy. There is a lot of bare skin on show as it benefits the males in the video (shown I the first screen cap) but is quite degrading as they are just there to look good.

Men

Men in this music video and in most others, are dominant, expensively dressed and surrounded by women . This shot shows a female serving him as if he is in charge and the women are there to serve him. The other shot is strange as it depicts T.I. brushing the hair of a girl suggesting that she is the dominant one.

Rnb / Soul

Pharrell Williams and T.I. are well known for these genres so this shot really represents it well. Also they are both black males and they dominate the RnB genre. Theses genres heavily feature good looking women with not a lot on so the second shot represents the genre. The first shot is of T.I. in typical RnB clothing which is the gold chain, big watch, leather jacket and the sun glasses.

White/Black Male

In this video the black male is represented by T.I. and Pharell. They are both rich and successful music artists and that is how they are depicted in the video, this is shown by them being well dressed and also dominant over the women. The white male is represented by Robin Thicke, he is shown as the dominant on over the women and the other men as it is his song. He is the only on who has his name shown on the screen as he is the most important. Also the women are pictured with him the most as he has the most vocals, it is his song, and it makes him look the most desirable.