In 1984, Madonna produced the single hit “Borderline” which is her first single to ever become a top ten hit.  In the video, Madonna is the main character and she is caught in a situation between doing what she wants to do and doing what her boyfriend wants her to do. Madonna is asked to model for a photographer and chooses to do so against her boyfriends will. Madonna’s dilemma embodies a general teenage truth that love can be complex and difficult. The intent of the music video is to entertain her audience, which consists of mostly teenage girls, and to show that guys are not in charge and girls should be able to make their own decisions.  Throughout the video, Madonna shows her view on the situation which is that the girl needs to please herself and do what she wants. This is shown when Madonna chooses to model because she wants to and she will not be held back by a boy.

Madonna achieves her intent by showing that she has power in the relationship and her power is displayed in many different ways. Madonna does not need her boyfriend because there are other guys that are interested in her like the photographer. This serves as a warning to the boyfriend that says if he does not treat her properly, she will leave him to be treated better. Madonna’s intent is strengthened by this point because she is shown in the position of power and can control the outcome of their relationship which was traditionally dominated by men. Madonna also shows her power by “playing hard to get”. In the video, Madonna is talking with her friends and not worrying about her boyfriend. She does not go chasing after him trying to make things better, he comes to her. Once again, Madonna shows she is content with not being in a relationship with her boyfriend and that he has to make things better. This only adds on to Madonna’s power in the relationship because she shows her independence. Lastly, Madonna adds to her power by being glamorous. Being glamorous makes any woman feel special which can replace the need for a man. This builds on Madonna’s independence which relates to power. The glamor aspect of Madonna’s video also helps her purpose of entertaining her audience. Madonna attempts to catch the interest of her audience by wearing “hip” or “flashy” clothes and riding around in fast cars. Being fashionable captures an audience’s attention and Madonna is fashionable to say the least.

Madonna is unarguably one of the greatest pop stars of her time. Through her music, Madonna attempts to instill power and independence in woman often by portraying herself as a glamor queen and a prize to be won.  Entertaining her audience is important for Madonna, like any other artist and she does this through a variety of different methods such as being glamorous or, like Oceane said, being controversial.

         


            It is evident that the purpose of Michael Jackson’s music video produced for his 1983 hit single “Thriller” was purely to entertain. The fourteen-minute video is considerably longer than the song, which lasts approximately six minutes, however, it incorporates a narrative featuring Michael Jackson and Ola Ray in a setting inspired by horror films of the 1950s. The easy-to-follow storyline attracts an audience of all ages.

The video opens with a car driving down a street at night. The car eventually stops because it has run out of gas and the camera cuts to the front seat where Michael Jackson, wearing a jock jacket, talks to his dolled up, soon-to-be girlfriend. I presume that Jackson intended to present his audience with a familiar movie scene to suggest that he was going to present nothing more than a simple story that could be easily understood by a broad audience. Further into the video, the two characters share a heart-warming moment in which Jackson asks the young lady if she would like to be his “girl”. Expectedly, she says yes. The video presents an evolving story that is intended to captivate and maintain the viewers’ attention. As a full moon is revealed, Jackson suddenly turns into a frightened werewolf and chases his girlfriend throughout a nearby forest. The definition of the word “entertain” is “to amuse or interest an audience.” What person is not intrigued by a scared, innocent girl being chased by a terrifying monster? Just as the werewolf is about to kill the girl, the camera cuts to an audience sitting in a movie theater watching everything previously described as a movie. In the audience sits Michael Jackson and his girlfriend, clinging to his side, her face buried in his arm. This is another familiar movie scene in which viewers can find comfort in and relate to. However, the scene serves no other purpose but to entertain. Following some resistance, Jackson’s girlfriend eventually leaves the movie theater because she is so afraid. Jackson chases after her. As they walk down the street together, he breaks out in song, introducing “Thriller”. After they pass a graveyard, zombies begin to emerge from their graves. They circle Jackson and his girlfriend until he becomes a zombie himself and reveals his eccentric dance moves.

In addition to the simple story line and Jackson’s electrifying dance moves, the “Thriller” music video’s intent to entertain is evident due to the absence of heavy, serious material. There is no “deeper meaning” in this video. Jackson did not create this video in the hopes that the viewers would donate money to help starving, blind children in the deserts of Africa, rather he created this video so that it would be enjoyable and entertaining to its audience. 

            Michael Jackson is undoubtedly one of the most famous performers ever. Yet this fame was not always kind to Jackson. His song and music video Billie Jean are both about the unwanted attention that the talented and famous receive.

            Michael Jackson is obviously a famous and gifted individual as a singer in the real world. But this idea of being special is made even more obvious in his music video. Everything Michael touches in the video suddenly lights up or transforms. Pair this with his tendency to turn invisible throughout the video and it’s pretty obvious that Michael Jackson’s character is a particularly gifted one.

            As a ridiculously successful singer in the real world, Jackson’s fame brought him some unwanted attention from certain fans. Jackson wrote Billie Jean as a way to deny the slanderous accusations made by multiple female fans who said that he was the father of their children. Billie Jean is no specific girl, but instead is a character who personifies all of his accusers. Jackson sings that, “Billie Jean is not my lover/ she’s just a girl who claims I am the one/ but the kid is not my son.” Michael Jackson’s fame as a singer and entertainer resulted in these girls’ defamatory accusations of his irresponsibility with his fans.

            In the video, a supernaturally gifted Jackson is being followed by a detective character through what looks like a post-apocalyptic city. This man is acting the part of the paparazzi, constantly trying to get incriminating evidence of Jackson’s misdeeds. This unwanted attention involves the invasion of Jackson’s privacy as he follows him everywhere and tries (yet fails) to get a photo of Michael. This feeling of everyone trying to find evidence of him doing something wrong was most likely not a foreign one to Jackson as he was constantly followed by paparazzi, especially after all the accusations.

            Though Jackson is experiencing one of the major issues that are the result of being a celebrity, it is important to note that he outsmarts his stalker at every turn. Whenever the paparazzi figure is about to take a picture of Michael Jackson, he is able to nonchalantly disappear just in time to avoid appearing in the photo. Jackson was also able to escape claiming responsibility for any of the children that he supposedly fathered with his fans. Whether he was in the music video or real life, Jackson was able to stylishly walk away unscathed.

In the years before the 1980’s farming industry boomed due to an increase in agriculture exports, federal lending and low interest rates. If crop demand kept rising farmers believed they could easily pay off their loans in the long run. Unfortunately this was not the case. In the 1980’s crop demand depreciated and farmland value dropped by 60%. Farmers were burdened by overproduction and debts. During this crisis many families went bankrupt and lost their farms. John Mellencamp’s “Rain On The Scarecrow” raises awareness on the farm crisis in the Midwest.

“Rain On The Scarecrow” begins by interviewing three young farmers. They say the government does not understand that after a ten hour day they might not break even. The farmers say if they knew what they know now they would have never became farmers in the first place. The interview sets the tone for the music video, preparing viewers to see the farmer’s struggle to stay afloat.

The video begins with clips of farms and animals and the music beat is hard and heavy. Instead of showing machines harvesting crops, the farm equipment have “For Sale” signs. The farmers cannot afford the expensive machinery to keep their farms running. A litter of pigs are on the back of a truck being carted away from their farm.  Farmers can barely afford to feed and keep their livestock anymore. The barren farms are quiet and in shambles, many farmers abandoned their work because they simply could not pay off debts.

 Mellencamp says, “Called my old friend Schepman up to auction off the land, He said John its just my job and I hope you understand, Hey calling it your job ol hoss sure don’t make it right”.

Mellencamp implies that farming has some sentimental value for him. He used to go to his grandfather’s farm as a child. In the music video there is a shot of a little boy running on a dirt road. Now the dirt road is empty.

Mellencamp sings in front of church. Families go to church and pray to God for better luck on the farm. The men look stressed, they seem to be discussing their troubles on the farm. Ninety seven crosses sit on the courthouse yard. The crosses represent the ninety seven families Mellencamp knows who lost their farms.

Through his lyrics and music video Mellencamp brings awareness to the plight of the farmer. He unearths the anger and hardship of the people who supply food for our country. Farming that helped build our nation faces modern day challenges that threaten its future existence. We must work with farmers and the government to continue farming’s legacy for generations to come. 

The wildly known anthem for teen rebellion, "We're not gonna take it" is a 1980's hit by the rock band Twisted Sister. The combination of the content, and the bold images of the song's popular music video glorifies the message that Twisted Sister is sending their audience. The band encourages their audience to stand up for themselves and break from the chains that their parents, or any authority head, has forced onto them.

As a young boy strums his electric guitar with the dream of becoming a rock star, his enraged father walks in. With veins popping from his skin he tells his son he is a disgusting slob and follows with the bold statement, "What do you wanna do with your life?" Between the screaming match, and the disapproving parent, the Twisted Sisters attempt to create a connection between their audience, and the opening scene of their music video. With the mind frame that everyone has gotten into a bad fight with their parents, where they have wanted to rebel but didn't have the guts to do it, the band hopes that the message of the music video is easy to relate to and  will have a stronger impact on the audience. By personalizing the message, they hope that their audience will be able to apply this in their own lives in the future. Seeing that young boy stand up to his dad may inspire someone to do the same.

As the father is physically thrown outside windows, through walls, and against doors, the video appeals to the viewer's sense of humor. This use slapstick comedy glorifies the idea of rebellion. The band's intent is to encourage the audience to stand up for themselves and condones whatever actions must be taken in the process. This physical abuse of the father represents the successes of rebellion.

If viewers aren't already convinced of the power of rebellion, the Twisted Sisters stray from the plot of the video to enforce their message. Throughout clips of the video, we see big flaming red hair, flashy costumes and an entertained audience at one of the band's sold out concerts. The audience has seen the process of rebellion in action at the young boy's house, but now they are exposed to the possible effects of this revolt. By convincing the audience that the life of a rock star is only a revolt away, standing up for themselves might not seem as difficult as they thought.

"Take On Me" by A-ha features the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band of the 80's, Morten Harket. Sporting long locks and a leather jacket, he embodies a teenage heartthrob who experiences love at first sight with the female lead. Aimed toward teenage girls, the video displays a new-age Romeo and Juliet. A story of forbidden love envelopes the screen for a short 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

The video begins with dramatically short clips of the plot. Drag races, checkered flags, and gun shots signaling "go" flash across the screen, along with close ups of the male lead. These are not normal video clips, however, they are pencil sketched drawings, resembling a comic book. Other than to solely entertain, it serves no purpose. In hopes of sparking interest, the first seconds of the video are flashy and action packed.

As the plot progresses, we meet the female lead in a diner. She is reading the comic book that the male seems to be locked inside. While flipping through, a close up of Harket catches her eye. The comics eyebrows raise, and wink at her. Suddenly the boring teenage girl comes alive with personality and spunk. She grabs the cartoon characters hand and is launched into the comic along side him. A pair of criminals appear in the comic, and threaten the newfound relationship. Chivalrously, Harket leads the girl to safety, without saving himself. She is propelled back to the real would, but without her new lover. Like so many other songs about love, they appeal to any person who can relate. But, this particular story can be most broadly enjoyed by the stereotypical teenage girl, who dreams of a love story, or wishes to find their "knight in shining armor".

In a panic, the girl grabs the comic and runs back to her house. She lays it out on her desk and desperately flips though looking to see what has become of the boy. In the story, he has been badly hurt by the criminals, but is trying to escape the comic. He appears in her house, but not so smoothly. He flashes between comic and real human, clearly in pain. In the end however, he has escapes the comic world, and the two characters gaze into each other's eyes.

This love story with a happy ending is action packed. As heartwarming as it is, it serves no larger purpose than to entertain. Basically what you see, is what you get.

James’ lyrics of his 1989 hit “Sit Down” begin by lamenting the feelings of loneliness and sadness when life is hard, but his music video focuses much more on the point of the latter half of the song: reaching out to those who feel similarly with a comforting touch. 

The music video for “Sit Down” is done very plainly. James’ goal is clearly not to attract viewers with the flashy lights, and funky dance moves so common to the era. Instead, he dresses in plain clothes, singing in front of a white backdrop. Coupled with the smooth tones of the drums and electric guitar in the background, the video gives off a comfortable, amiable feel. Watching it, James’ viewers are invited to relax and de-stress from the troubles he describes in his lyrics. In fact, his invitation to sit down, articulated so frequently in the chorus, is only made more blatant by the constant shots of a wide variety of chairs. Whenever James or any of his band members is featured sitting down, they don’t look particularly happy or sad, but rather laid-back and relaxed, as the song encourages its listeners to be. However, James makes no effort to distance himself from his suffering listeners, including himself in a line of worried men looking as though they really need to “sit down.” Staring directly at the camera, he invites everyone to join him, essentially establishing a more intimate link with his audience, a usually appealing technique to draw in hesitant viewers. And there are scant methods more entrancing than the use of fluffy animals to draw out cheer from any normal human being. Watching a happy dog -tail-wagging, tongue flailing- attempting to sit down every time James belts it out in the chorus, the urge to adoringly sigh about the animal’s cuteness is almost irresistible. And if that was ineffective, James tops off his animal employment by cuddling with a sheep, whose curly coat of wool just oozes comfort and tranquility. 

Contrasting with the more popular videos of the eighties that feature pop beats and hip costumes, “Sit Down” invites its listeners to do just that: sit down, relax, and just enjoy the song, free from life’s worries. The down-to-earth quality of the video and calmness of the singer encourages viewers to let go, while James does the same with his lyrics. He has no intention of drawing in viewers with flashy techniques, he just wants them to “sit down.”

Alanna wrote that Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” has no real sophisticated meaning and that the video only serves to entertain. While I certainly agree that it is entertaining, as anything featuring Jackson’s impressive dance moves is, I do think there is some sort of meaning behind this catchy song. It may sound corny but it seems that Jackson’s real intent with this song’s music video was to bring people together and to forget all the violence. After all he is known for addressing actual social issues and during this particular era coming out of the 70s and the beginning the 80s, violence and gangs were a big issue. So much so that he wasn’t the only one to address it either. There were movies like West Side Story that captured this bloodthirsty time period as well.

The video features two gangs and the build up before the fight that takes place towards the end, which Jackson interrupts. What is interesting is that the two main gang leaders that get in the knife fight (a dancing fight, really) are actually two rival gang leaders in real life, which Jackson requested they use. The gangs in this video are also made up of mostly real life gang members, outnumbering the actual dancers, despite the fact that this video is heavily focused on dancing.

The fact that he uses rival gang members has to mean that Jackson wanted to do more than just entertain. Why else take the risk of having two groups prone to fighting work on his set when he could just get some of the best dancers in the business to showcase some glitzy, flashy production? His choice to hire the gangs instead, contributes to the possibility that Jackson wants to send the message of peace and togetherness.  

In fact the ending features a mass dance production number where everyone dances together in peace. Jackson starts by breaking up the fight between the gangs when he tells them that “It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right, just beat it.” He then starts dancing until everyone joins in and dances collectively as one group, the fight completely forgotten. His breaking up the fight and making them do something together supports his aim of advocating peace and togetherness as opposed to the violence of rivalries. However you can't say that he didn't do it in a very entertaining way. 

In 1989, rapper Biz Markie released his most popular song of his career, “Just a Friend”.  The song is a combination of singing and rapping that depicts a story of a relationship between Biz Markie and another woman.  In the video Biz Markie raps this song to his friends who wanted to be friends with some girls who had just walked by.  His indirect audience in the song is males and fans of rap music.  This makes Biz Markie warn them about just being friends with a woman and he raps them his story.  The intent of the video is to entertain and make the audience laugh.  Biz Markie delivers his story about being friends with a women through a comical and incredulous tone.  Biz Markie succeeds in his attempt to entertain through his wacky piano playing and storytelling.

            When Biz Markie sings the chorus of “Just a Friend,” he does so in a white powdered wig and classical outfit, while playing the piano.  He quickly turns his traditional piano playing into a hip-hop style rendition.  This sequence of events is intended to be comical and unforeseen.  The reason is that because the events are unforeseen they may draw the audience closer in to see what Biz Markie will do next to surprise them.  Playing the piano in the outfit Biz Markie wears may seem out of place in a hip-hop video, but this may bolster its success in the intent of keeping the audience attentive.
           Throughout the song Biz Markie’s storytelling intends to keep his audience on the edge of their seat.  His use of cliff hangers intends to keep his audience interested and help the audience enjoy the story.  The other part of his storytelling that intends to entertain is the story’s unpredictable outcome.  When Biz Markie goes to his friend’s school it seems as though they were just going to hang out together and have a good time.  But when he arrives at the room, his friend is with another man.  The unpredictable outcome and use of cliff hangers intend to entertain the audience.
           Biz Markie also intends to make the audience laugh in the beginning of the video with a series of “yo mama” jokes that are exchanged between Biz Markie and a friend.     

              Surely many people have heard the song "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. Because of the upbeat melody and joyful lyrics, imagining a music video for the song is easy. A simple approach at creating a music video for this song would probably include something along the lines of the singer and her band standing in front of the camera in a sunny environment, many bright colors,  and dancing around. This approach would be to simply entertain the audience and promote the song. However, the actual video created has much more meaning behind it.
             The opening scene reveals a dirty, run-down. and what seems to be vacant lot of grey brick buildings. The sky is dark and gloomy, with no sun to be found. If the video were on mute, nothing would lead one to believe that the song accompanying it was about "walking on sunshine". But despite the look of the sky, the singer is as happy as if the sun was really shining. There is obvious reasoning for this decision, considering how this is the complete opposite of the lyrics and feeling of the song. As the singer moves from one place to the next, the settings appear to get darker and gloomier, including a creepy, graveyard-like stretch of dying grass and lifeless trees surrounded by thick fog, and a stormy river scene masked again by fog. But the smile on the face of the singer never fades, and the lyrics never reveal the slightest amount of negativity. The juxtaposition of the negative setting and the cheerful song attempts to prove to the audience that anyone can make a bad situation into a positive one.
             She continues to support her belief that making something positive out of something negative is possible by adding three men in dark grey coats that follow her around throughout the video. These men represent the potential events that could bring down her optimistic mood. The men are glum and colorless and have the intent to make her feel the same way. The singer stands proud and determined to block out any negativity. She has a skip in her step as she sings. She can see these three men, but ignores their pessimistic moods. Her mood does not diminish, in fact it seems to get even happier. She emphasizes that life will throw obstacles in your way to try to get you down and ruin your mood, but that you should carry on and act as if they aren't there. The three men eventually grow tired. They see their efforts are failing. One even trips, symbolizing that they just can't achieve their goal.
            The singer uses the power of music as her last way of letting the audience know her intent. In between the clips of gloomy settings, there are clips of her on a stage with her band, colorful clothing and lights surrounding them, and everyone looking happy. Eventually she leads the three negative men towards her destination, which is her stage to perform music. She knows that music will get anyone into a better mood. There are changes in each of their attitudes, and the colors of the video go from boring and dark to colorful and happy.
             The main woman in the video possesses a very unique quality. She is able to make a bad day into a good one, and it is clear that she wants to help others feel the same way. This music video showcases that through the contrasting clips, colors and the symbolism of the three men.

“Parents Just Don’t Understand” is the second single in DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince’s second album.  In 1989 “Parents Just Don’t Understand” won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance.  In this single, Will Smith raps about how parents don’t understand what kids go through in school and as a teen.  Also Will Smith raps about how kids make mistakes but the parents will never understand.  Will Smith’s intent is to warn teens that parents just don’t understand them and there is no point in trying to convince them otherwise. He organizes his rap to connect with most teens and what they go through during a school year and to show that parents will never understand teens.

            Will Smith organizes his rap to show that the parents just don’t understand the teens in every situation from school to impressing friends.  Will Smith establishes credibility by relating to situations that most teenagers, if not all, experience in their teenage years.  In the opening scene of the music video, Will’s mom breaks down the door to his room to get him out of bed.  Most teenagers can relate to their parents screaming at them to wake up for multiple reasons.  Will Smith starts his rap by stating his intent that “parents just don’t understand.”  Will Smith raps, “They don’t understand that us kids are going to make some mistakes, so to you, all kids across the land, there’s no need to argue, parents just don’t understand.”  Then Will Smith raps about before school shopping.  He relates to most teenagers when parents don’t buy what they ask for especially clothes.  Will Smith asks for Adidas shoes and his mom buys him Zips!  When Will tries to explain to his mom that the kids will tease him she says, “No, you go to school to learn not a fashion show.”  Will Smith reiterates his intent after he failed to convince his parents to return the clothes.  Then Will Smith raps about when he was left alone with his dad’s new car.  He decides to take the car out for a drive to impress his friends but instead he meets a beautiful girl.  Will Smith tries to impress the girl by driving fast until a police officer pulls him over.  The police officer calls his parents.  Will Smith tries to plead his case but his father refused to listen and shoves him into the car.  Finally he ends his rap with the same phrase, “parents just don’t understand.” 

            Will Smith connects with the audience by using situations that most teens can relate to.  The three examples he used were waking up, before school shopping and trying to impress a girl.  In these situations Will Smith tries to explain why he doesn't want to wear the clothes his mom bought and why he drove his dad’s new car but in both situations his parents just wouldn't listen to his argument.  

People in our society think they have found their true love once they have met their "Knight in Shining Armor". They fall head over heels for that person and does anything, really anything, for that person. But what happens if the relationship between the two is a one-sided? What if the relationship doesn't last? We all know there are some girls or possibly guys who are "obsessed". What I mean by "obsessed" is not being able to let go of the person after a breakup. The girl/guy continues to be excessively persistent in trying to put the shattered glass pieces together knowing the impossibles.

In the music video New Girl Now by the Honeymoon Suite, it reveals an event in which the guy had found a "new girl" and there's this typical clingy ex-girlfriend who is determined to get the guy back. The intent of the music video is to portray a lovesick ex-girlfriend and a quickly moved on boyfriend. Many people can relate to this type of relationship. In the first seven seconds of the music video, the guy who has moved on frighteningly fumbles with his keys to his house to avoid the magical emission of the kiss blown at him. Unfortunately, the heart shatters on the doorsteps. We then get to see the girl outside his house in a phone booth eagerly calling the guy's telephone. This scene clearly portrays a typical obsessed ex-girlfriend. Not only does the obsessed ex-girlfriend calls constantly, she throws a rock through the window. On the rock, there is a heart with arrows going through it. The heart with the arrow symbolizes everlasting love which relates back to the story of Cupid's Arrow. He then throws the rock back out the window and boastfully sings the chorus, "I've got a new girl now, I've got a new girl now...And she looks a lot like you." The guy's action appears to be bold and can only be interpreted as "I have moved on, I have someone new and our love is no longer everlasting."

The telephone appears in the video once again but on a plate the waitress is serving. The waitress walks through the dancing crowd towards the guy.The guy sings, "I don't want you on the phone, don't you play that good girl with me, why must I always say it again" and kicks the telephone away from him. The message is clear when the telephone is kicked across the room. The obvious lyrics and the kick of the telephone exemplifies the conclusion of a relationship, an "over and done with" message to the audience. The video finally ends with  the "new girl" blowing the guy a kiss, and this time the heart remains unshattered.

While the title of the song is “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” the music video’s message is clear: Parents just don’t. Cyndi Lauper’s smash hit of the 1980s, aimed directly at teenage girls, intends to show girls that all parents want to do is ruin their fun. The whimsical music video––filled with the teased hair and flashy clothes unique to the time period––was released in 1983, just two years after the launching of MTV.

The video opens on Lauper’s mother sitting in the kitchen, cracking eggs. She sighs, glances at her watch, and rolls her eyes. Having just shimmied, snapped, and kicked her way down the street, Cyndi finally arrives home––still dancing and wide-awake after a night of partying. In the first thirty seconds of the video, Lauper has wordlessly established herself as a free-spirited partygoer and her mother as a humdrum housewife. This juxtaposition of the boring parent and the wild child emphasizes the contrast between them, making the mother seem like much more of a killjoy. Before “good mornings” can even be exchanged, her mother questions, “When you gonna live your life right?” She implies that having fun and socializing is not the proper way to live, and that Cyndi should be studying or in the kitchen alongside her. 

That night (Lauper is actually home and in bed), the phone rings. Cyndi, dressed in cheetah-print pajamas, goes to answer it. But before she can, her father grabs her hand. Ignoring the fact that Cyndi has no control over whether or not her friends call her, or at what time they choose to do so, he berates her. Wagging his finger in her face, he asks, “What you gonna do with your life?” The question is meant to make Lauper sit down and reevaluate her sociable tendencies. Her father is trying to make her focus more on her future and less on enjoying the present. Since many a teenager has pondered this question, Lauper's situation is easy to relate to. She uses the familiar situation to drive home the message that parents want to bring teens down to their level of monotony.

Towards the end of the video, Lauper and her diverse gang of friends parade down the city streets, dancing in the sun. They make their way back to Cyndi’s house, much to the frustration of her parents. They peep at the rager going on inside Cyndi’s bedroom through the keyhole. While everyone on one side of the door is having a great time, Cyndi’s parents are on standing on the other, furious. The juxtaposition of the outrageous party on one side of the door and the angry parents on the other further exemplifies how parents are unable to let their kids have fun. In the end, the door flies open and the prying parents are crushed by a dozen teenagers. The party goes on.

         After watching at least twenty 80’s music videos, I think it’s safe to say that Michael Jackson had some of the best videos of that decade. This is probably because all he wanted to do with his videos was entertain his audience. This is evident in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video. 

         The video begins with a gang assembling outside a bar followed by a different gang assembling outside of a different bar. They, as expected, look like typical 80’s gangsters with leather jackets, jeans, fedora hats, bandanas, and most of them are smoking. A lot of them are wearing sunglasses even though it’s nighttime. We then see a shot of Michael Jackson waking up and getting out of bed while singing the chorus to the song. As this happens, the two gangs are walking in formation through the city streets and picking up members along the way.

Finally, the two gangs, coming from two adjacent streets, meet up in an alley. Michael Jackson, dressed in a red jacket, dances his way to both of the bars only to find them empty. The two groups meet and have a stand-off while a guitar solo plays in the song. The leaders of both the gangs walk backwards to face their groups and run into each other backwards. They face each other and pull out their switchblades and begin to dance with each other while their gangs mimic them.

Michael Jackson, taking his time dancing through the streets, finally arrives at the scene and steps in between the two leaders and tells them “it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right. Just beat it.” Both gangs, led by Michael Jackson, engage in a big group number doing the dance moves that Michael Jackson has been displaying throughout the video. Michael Jackson does a solo while everyone looks on in admiration. 

There is no message in the video, it is solely for the viewer’s entertainment. Michael Jackson’s eccentric dancing coupled with the plot of the two gangs going into a dance battle is captivating. It’s a fun video where the audience doesn’t have to think about any sophisticated message, they can just enjoy the video.

In her music video “Like a Prayer”, Madonna tackles the controversial issues of race, religion, and morality. Aired in 1989, this provoking video caused much discussion in the then-sensitive American audience (of course we see a lot worse nowadays). Through her video’s storyline, Madonna’s message becomes clear: one must overcome fear to do what is morally right.

Madonna uses the plot of her video, as well as light and dark imagery to convey her message. She represents her fear in dark, black and white, flashback scenes. In these she witnesses three white men murdering a young woman on the streets. She sees a black man run to help the young woman, and watches helplessly as the police close in and arrest the innocent black man. The first thirty seconds of the video are filled with darkness as Madonna runs away fearfully from the crime-scene. When she enters the church, there is an instant juxtaposition between the darkness outside and the light inside the candle-filled church. As Madonna approaches the black statue, she is bathed in bright yellow light. A church classically symbolizes morality and is an ideal place to make a morally right decision. Throughout the video, Madonna seems to be in conflict with herself as the black and white scenes are contrasted with the dancing choir in a bright church. Madonna finally comes to a right decision and reveals what she knows to the police, freeing the black man. She and the black man are illuminated by warm light as the curtain closes and the video ends. In her video Madonna also addresses the issue of race. She condemns racial prejudice by showing how quick the police were to believe that the black man was guilty.

Although Madonna clearly shows moral messages in her video, we must remember that she is primarily an artist trying to make a living. And one thing is for sure: controversy sells. Madonna clearly intended for her video to be controversial, especially in her portrayal of religion. Within the first ten seconds of “Like a Prayer” the viewers are struck with a shocking image of a burning cross. Throughout her video Madonna is pictured dancing in front of burning crosses in a plain. Even more surprising is Madonna’s encounter with the black saint in the church. The black statue, obviously some kind of important religious figure, is first seen caged and trapped behind bars. When Madonna frees him, the statue comes to life and kisses her later on. The parallels she drew between sex and the church undoubtedly caused controversy in American society. 

     The 1980's were a time of big hair, leg warmers, shoulder pads, and cocaine. Lots of cocaine.  During this time period many rap artists started rapping about the drug and even glorifying it. Grandmaster Flash wanted to go against this. In 1983 Grandmaster Flash released the music video for "White Lines", a song that advocated against the use of cocaine. With this song Grandmaster Flash wanted to show his audience what really happens when you start using cocaine. He also wanted to shed light on how crazy it was that people actually looked up to cocaine dealers and smugglers. He achieves his intent through a kooky video bound by an awesome funky techno beat.

     The music video for "White Lines" can only be described as a coke induced nightmarish dream. All through the video there are ladies dancing in a very trancelike way and kids frolicking and dancing in the park. It's bizarre to say the least. The video is not all weird dancing though. In one scene a woman is shown lying on her stomach presumable dead with a line of coke all the way down her back. This image achieves his intent by showing the audience the reality of the drug, that it kills. By using the image of a lady dead from cocaine, Grandmaster Flash shows his audience the horrors of drug use and what it will lead to.            
     Grandmaster Flash also uses this video to show people how crazy it was that they looked up and respected cocaine smugglers and dealers . In the song he says "Athletes rejected, governors corrected, gangsters, thugs and smugglers are thoroughly respected". This shows how in that time period the same people who rejected public figures for drug use looked up to drug smugglers and dealers. In one scene of the video a man is seen carrying a large bag of coke. Surrounding the man are a bunch of people reaching up to him for the cocaine. In this image the man almost resembles Jesus with his arms outspread and people trying to get close enough to see him. Grandmaster Flash uses this image to show his audience how crazy it is that people were treating drug dealers like important figure. Since likening a coke dealer to Jesus is obviously an eye catching image it shows the audience how crazy it is that people are looking up to cocaine dealers.
     Through the images of a lady dead from coke and  a coke dealer being treated like Jesus, Grandmaster Flash shows the audience what coke really does to you and how coke dealers shouldn't be looked up to.

     

Annie are you okay?

Before Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, or even Madonna, there was Michael Jackson.  In the 1980s, Michael Jackson might have been the most well recognized person in the world.  He was definitely the world's most popular entertainer.  He was talented and mysterious, and had an intuitive penchant for entertaining rarely possessed by performers in subsequent pop culture generations.  Unlike his predecessors, Michael Jackson conquered the kingdom of popular music without relying on marketing gimmicks, staged controversy, or provocative stunts.  The controversy that found him later in his career – however odd it may have been – never resembled the shameless desire for publicity evidenced by many of today’s most popular entertainers.

Throughout his career, Michael Jackson maintained a well-developed social consciousness, and often his desire to address global injustices like poverty and racial tension influenced the songs he wrote and the videos that accompanied them.  However, the video he produced for his 1988 hit single “Smooth Criminal” appears to have no greater purpose than simply to entertain.  He uses the ever-popular slick gangster, whose crimes seem somehow forgivable in a morally corrupt world, as his primary image. 

Jackson’s video features himself as the title character, the smooth criminal.  After entering the apparently secret lair of iniquity, he captures the attention of his criminal audience instantly, as he confidently flips his coin across the room, into the juke box.  The message is clear.  This criminal has the power to accomplish the impossible, which after the music begins, includes gravity-defying dance moves, James Bond-like escapes from men who want to kill him, and the superhuman strength to crush a pool ball with his bare hands.   Jackson engages numerous – apparently less-than-smooth – criminals that enjoy a variety of illicit activities one might see in a 1930s gangster film.  Paradoxically, however, clad in all white, he appears somehow above the prostitution, gambling, and boot-legging hidden by the brick walls.  Even as he murders, with a tommy gun, the mobsters that surround the lair at the end of the video’s primary action, Jackson maintains a heroic air about him. 

The kids who spy Jackson from the street confirm his intent and the fact that he accomplishes it.  Unlike other Jackson videos that have a more social message, this video is meant to entertain.  When they see Jackson dance through the door window, the kids, apparently unaware of the criminal nature of their hero, can only proclaim, “that’s cool, huh?” and then try to emulate his moves. 

This week, I would like you to practice writing rhetorical analysis, once again using music videos.  This time, however, I would like you to find a music video from the earliest generation of the genre, the 1980s.  You can use a video from an earlier generation if you can find a good one.  Once you find a video, conduct an analysis of this video.  Determine an intent – which might be solely to entertain – and then write about how the artist accomplishes, or fails to accomplish, this intent.  The purpose of this assignment is to practice writing objective and valid analysis.  The way you write it will be more important to me than the actual analysis itself.  Please review the mistakes you and your peers made in your previous posts.  Your analysis should be roughly 350-450 words, and you should embed the video with your response.