Research: Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when references are made during music videos to either other people, films, or tv programmes. Also, Goodwin stated in his theory that intertextuality occurs in music videos e.g. Madonna's song "Gimme All Your Luvin" made references to Marilyn Monroe by copying her appearance, such as the hair and lipstick. This is usually done in order to gain more popularity in the media.


1) George Michael - "Shoot The Dog"

As a class, we analysed the "Shoot The Dog" music video. We found that there were various intertextual references made which were:

• Tony Blair being George Bush's "Bitch"
• Ginger Spice
• The Simpsons
• The Queen
• Saddam Hussein
• The White House
• Trevor McDonald
• David Beckham and Scholes.

These references caused major controversy in the media at the time as it was seen to be offensive to the people. There was offence taken to some of the traditions of English people. Also, the current affairs at the time of the video made it even more controversial as he made references to Saddam Hussein. However, this was beneficial to him as he was able to gain publicity.



examples of your own

2) Rihanna - American Oxygen
This video is all about America's freedom and achievements. Throughout the music video there's various links to the history of american culture. Examples of a few we see in the video are:

• Obama becoming president 
• Martin Luther King's speech 
• World War 2
• The Beatles 
• Bob Marley
• Neil Armstrong 
• Wall Street 
• 9/11
• Drug Dealing
• Mexican Boarder
• Baseball
• Police intimidation 
• Muhammed Ali 

The references used in Rihanna's video are controversial because they stir up a lot of mixed emotions for the audience who were and still effected by the issues that have been displayed. However the message of the video was to show how much America has changed over time and that racism and sexism are not as common within the society. However this is only from Rihanna's viewpoint, people from the audience may disagree with the message she is portraying with this video.

Advantages...

• entertainment aspect appeals to the audience 
• brings the star more publicity 
• helps the artist display their thoughts and opinions 
• brings excitement into the music industry because it breaks the cycle of everything being the same

Disadvantages...

• can cause harm and offence towards the public 
• can have an influence on the publics opinion towards things going on in society. 
• If the reference is not shown in the correct light it could spread negativity amongst viewers.
• Losing fans is a risk due to the offensive content 
• Very controversial 

Conclusion...
Personally, i would like to use intertextuality within my own music video because it brings me the opportunity to create something very unique. I believe intertextuality can be used to show history of certain topics but also be linked to the current society with live; the idea of this appeals to me and is something i will experiment with when making my own music video.