Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Video: A Postmodern Reading

There are several ways that the video for Lady Gaga's 2010 song 'Telephone' feat. Beyonce could be interpreted as postmodern...

Pastiche and intertextual references: References to Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' franchise by using the very same truck, the 'Pussy Wagon'; 'Pulp Fiction' through the use of the nickname 'Honey Bee', like 'Honey Bunny' is used in the film; the red and yellow font used is similar to that of 'Jackie Brown'; Gaga and Beyonce's 'Thelma and Louise' style relationship; Beyonce's Wonder Woman-esque outfit; the American flag outfits in the dance routine; imitation of Michael Jackson's shuffle as Gaga breaks out from jail; the Madonna-style look in the beginning of the video.

Consumerism: There is obvious product placement throughout, though it is not done in a humorous way. These include Virgin Mobile, HeartBeats, Chevrolet, Wonderbread, and Diet Coke.

Self-reference: Gaga shows self-awareness through not only the above product placement, but also by addressing the then-recent hermaphrodite rumours in the media, and by referring to her previous video for Paparazzi through the continuing narrative and similar costume choices, especially Beyonce's glasses in the diner scene.

Appropriation of identity-based struggle/Feminism: One the one hand, this video could be criticised as objectifying women, because of the revealing outfits worn by many of the females throughout, the use of close-ups solely on Beyonce's cleavage, the representation of women as needing to be beautiful and image-conscious due to Gaga's many costume changes and extravagant make-up, etc. However, by placing herself in an entirely female world, it could be argued that Gaga is empowering women and opposing the idea of the 'male gaze': "Lady Gaga is interesting for turning the male gaze back on men, and for portraying women as subjects rather than objects in her videos (albeit still scantily-clad subjects)."

Incredulity towards metanarratives: Although the video does consist of a sequence of events, it is difficult to find an overall message to it, mostly due to the many pop culture references and product placement interspersed with the storyline, which leaves little else.

Music Video Analysis

OK Go’s music video for ‘Get Over It’ begins with a shot of the band sat on an old brown leather sofa. After a few seconds of silence, it cuts to a shot of a wall covered with photos, some of which are the band members, as the song begins. There are then a series of abstract, ambiguous shots which all cut in time to the pace of the intro guitar. Some scenes include a ping-pong table, a piano, a wall with deer heads hung on it, and various sofas. Just before the vocals begin, there is a close-up shot of a microphone, with the lead singer just coming into focus as he sings. Then the video uses visual representations of key lyrics, e.g. for the line “all your wounds are full of salt”, the camera pans upwards on a shot of a salt-shaker. The pace of the cuts remains fast, with some images only appearing on the screen for a split-second, and in time with the beat of the lead guitar. This conforms to Goodwin’s theory on music videos, where he states that there is a relationship between both the music and lyrics and the visuals. Additionally, Goodwin claims that the demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist (as this video does), which links to the concept of Marxism as ultimately the purpose of the music video is to sell the song. As well as close-ups of the artist, this video also uses close-ups of the instruments, in particular the guitars, which is a typical feature of an indie music video, as it is a mainly guitar-based genre. As the music builds to a crescendo, the camera begins to shake, suggesting the reckless nature and high volume of the song. However, the song pauses at this point and the band are shown playing ping-pong, before the song starts again, as most of OK Go’s music videos are designed to be funny in some way. As the song gets slower, the cuts turn to fades, which switch back to cuts when the pace picks up again, along with heavy lighting now being used. The video ends where it began, with the band sat on an old brown leather sofa.

Analysis of Justice Video

Justice’s music video for ‘D.A.N.C.E.’ begins with black-and-white footage of a man sat on a desk, head just out of shot, adjusting an old-fashioned radio. Although this is live action, there are elements of animation played over it, such as the wavelengths coming from the radio; however then the narrative takes a different turn and the entire video becomes animated. The virtual camera tracks forward through different animations, including beneath the open legs of animated women wearing short skirts and small underwear, which conforms to the idea of voyeurism and the act of looking – as outlined in Goodwin’s theory on music videos. From a feminist perspective, it could be said that this encourages the objectification of women by inviting the viewer to take pleasure in watching the female body parts. The last image in this animated sequence before the video cuts back to live action is a sign reading, “as seen on TV”, arguably making the video postmodern as it is a pop culture reference. The remaining narrative is relentlessly linear, as two (again headless) men – one of them being the man with the radio from the beginning – walk down various corridors and through doors, the only real change being in the colourful animation on their t-shirts, where many more pop cultural references are made. This endless sequence, which rejects the structure of traditional narratives, reflects the repetitive nature of the dance music. The video then ends by tracking backwards through the original animated sequence, with the female legs, and finishes on the opening radio, resulting in a circular narrative where the two headless protagonists never reached a destination.