Movement is vital to a video because it compliments the music. In "this is america" movement was achieved by dancing in beat to the music and the movement of the camera, showing the rest scene.
the video references “Jim Crow,” a caricature of a clumsy, dimwitted black slave. “Jim Crow” came to be a derogatory term for African Americans, and in the late 19th century it became the identifier for the laws that reinstated white supremacy in the American South after Reconstruction. The demeaning character symbolically rationalized segregation.
'Minstrel show face' is also referenced, The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people specifically of African descent.
Another Intertextual reference is death getting a police escort which is a biblical reference to the 'end of time' with death riding a pale horse but in this case, we see a cloaked figure and alongside him is the police.
other references include the chase scene like in the film gets out. the 17 seconds of silence to denounce gun violence and tribute to the 17 people who lost there lives in Florida. As well as the church shootings another is the dancing kids who reflect appropriation of black culture.
2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?
American culture and history is violent. the video also touches on gun violence and its implications as well as its ties to the African Americans experience. it parallels the impact of violence and racism.
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson. Write a short paragraph for each theory.
Gilroy states that black culture doesn't t have any solidity. instead, black people experience liquidity of cultures. Gilborn believes that the black diasporic identity links to the slave trade and the huge cultural influence on modern America. this is America highlights this by showing racism and white supremacy. this is showcased in the injustice of African Americans and never truly belonging.
Hall states that there is a blur between race and class which leads to people associating particular races with certain social classes.. hall believes that western cultures are still white-dominated.
Rose believes that commercial hip-hop has appropriated black culture and this is a reference with the dancing children who are seen as a reflection of appropriation. however, rose also believes that hip-hip gives a voice to express themselves.
Dyson defends hip-hop and black culture and suggests“Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such critics. Sadly, the enlightened aspects of hip hop are overlooked by critics who are out to satisfy a grudge against black youth culture…”
Now read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
One interpretation is that he is playing jim crow.
he's dancing to distract us from the violent riot behind him.
he's taking on the police.
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'? Choose two and explain what the comments are suggesting.
''Childish Gambino shows his sanity and humanism by showing and condemning random violence and madness. '' Gambino is exposing humanities biggest flaw as they condemn violence and allow others to suffer or do the suffering themselves.
'' Shines a beacon on American cultural absurdity. Guns, patriotism, the police state, racism, hate speech, disinformation and violence.'' explains how lost America is and what the effects of the acceptance of bad things have done to the area.
Media Magazine - This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest
1) The article offers an excellent textual analysis of the opening of the video. What are some of the suggested meanings and references the writer discusses? Can you link this analysis to any of the theorists we have studied?
we hear an African choir chant what sounds like a joyous refrain as a barefoot man plays a finger-picking melody on an acoustic guitar. As the camera pans, we see a topless figure – Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino – standing in the middle of the warehouse. He jerks his body in time to the beat. As he turns and starts to dance towards us, his movements become more exaggerated: his body rolls, he grimaces, pops one eye wide open, and stops behind the seated man, who is now hooded and without his guitar. The topless dancer pulls a gun from thin air, aims for the head, and shoots. As the dead body falls, a rumbling hip-hop rhythm kicks in and Glover turns to the camera, casually saying: ‘This is America’.
Rose who believes that commercial hip-hop has appropriated black culture and this is a reference with the dancing children who are seen as a reflection of appropriation. however, rose also believes that hip-hip gives black men and women a voice to express themselves.
2) What does the writer suggest are the main political themes in the video - and why is the message unclear?
it interrogates and criticises American gun culture and racism past and present. however, the message is also unclear as the video itself is seen as deliberately problematic: the video’s entirely black cast means that its ‘crimes’ are all perpetrated by black people.
3) What meanings and suggestions does the writer highlight in Beyonce's video for Formation?
Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ made headlines for its ‘unapologetic blackness’,
recalling Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’, which juxtaposes imagery referencing the NewOrleans floods, the antebellum South, and modern police brutality. It even has its own Easter eggs: for example, a fleeting shot of graffiti reading ‘Stop shooting us’, a message associated with Black Lives Matter. Beyoncé and her director Melina Matsoukas leave it to the viewer to connect the dots, though the video’s
4) What is notable about Glover's comedy-drama TV show Atlanta?
He wanted to have a black writing team. The show was notable for its refusal to ‘translate’ the black experience for a white audience.
5) What examples does the writer provide of hip hop as a political genre? What theorist can we link this to?
Both ‘This is America’ and ‘Formation’ were praised for their undiluted blackness, which is a culture of white hegemony is seen as a powerful political statement in itself. hip-hop has been an inherently political form since its inception as far back as 1971, This links to Dyson who defends hip-hop and black culture and suggests“Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such critics.
the video references “Jim Crow,” a caricature of a clumsy, dimwitted black slave. “Jim Crow” came to be a derogatory term for African Americans, and in the late 19th century it became the identifier for the laws that reinstated white supremacy in the American South after Reconstruction. The demeaning character symbolically rationalized segregation.
'Minstrel show face' is also referenced, The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people specifically of African descent.
Another Intertextual reference is death getting a police escort which is a biblical reference to the 'end of time' with death riding a pale horse but in this case, we see a cloaked figure and alongside him is the police.
other references include the chase scene like in the film gets out. the 17 seconds of silence to denounce gun violence and tribute to the 17 people who lost there lives in Florida. As well as the church shootings another is the dancing kids who reflect appropriation of black culture. 2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?
American culture and history is violent. the video also touches on gun violence and its implications as well as its ties to the African Americans experience. it parallels the impact of violence and racism.
3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson. Write a short paragraph for each theory.
Gilroy states that black culture doesn't t have any solidity. instead, black people experience liquidity of cultures. Gilborn believes that the black diasporic identity links to the slave trade and the huge cultural influence on modern America. this is America highlights this by showing racism and white supremacy. this is showcased in the injustice of African Americans and never truly belonging.
Hall states that there is a blur between race and class which leads to people associating particular races with certain social classes.. hall believes that western cultures are still white-dominated.
Rose believes that commercial hip-hop has appropriated black culture and this is a reference with the dancing children who are seen as a reflection of appropriation. however, rose also believes that hip-hip gives a voice to express themselves.
Dyson defends hip-hop and black culture and suggests“Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such critics. Sadly, the enlightened aspects of hip hop are overlooked by critics who are out to satisfy a grudge against black youth culture…”
Now read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.
4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?
One interpretation is that he is playing jim crow.
he's dancing to distract us from the violent riot behind him.
he's taking on the police.
5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'? Choose two and explain what the comments are suggesting.
''Childish Gambino shows his sanity and humanism by showing and condemning random violence and madness. '' Gambino is exposing humanities biggest flaw as they condemn violence and allow others to suffer or do the suffering themselves.
'' Shines a beacon on American cultural absurdity. Guns, patriotism, the police state, racism, hate speech, disinformation and violence.'' explains how lost America is and what the effects of the acceptance of bad things have done to the area.
Media Magazine - This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest
1) The article offers an excellent textual analysis of the opening of the video. What are some of the suggested meanings and references the writer discusses? Can you link this analysis to any of the theorists we have studied?
we hear an African choir chant what sounds like a joyous refrain as a barefoot man plays a finger-picking melody on an acoustic guitar. As the camera pans, we see a topless figure – Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino – standing in the middle of the warehouse. He jerks his body in time to the beat. As he turns and starts to dance towards us, his movements become more exaggerated: his body rolls, he grimaces, pops one eye wide open, and stops behind the seated man, who is now hooded and without his guitar. The topless dancer pulls a gun from thin air, aims for the head, and shoots. As the dead body falls, a rumbling hip-hop rhythm kicks in and Glover turns to the camera, casually saying: ‘This is America’.
Rose who believes that commercial hip-hop has appropriated black culture and this is a reference with the dancing children who are seen as a reflection of appropriation. however, rose also believes that hip-hip gives black men and women a voice to express themselves.
2) What does the writer suggest are the main political themes in the video - and why is the message unclear?
it interrogates and criticises American gun culture and racism past and present. however, the message is also unclear as the video itself is seen as deliberately problematic: the video’s entirely black cast means that its ‘crimes’ are all perpetrated by black people.
3) What meanings and suggestions does the writer highlight in Beyonce's video for Formation?
Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ made headlines for its ‘unapologetic blackness’,
recalling Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’, which juxtaposes imagery referencing the NewOrleans floods, the antebellum South, and modern police brutality. It even has its own Easter eggs: for example, a fleeting shot of graffiti reading ‘Stop shooting us’, a message associated with Black Lives Matter. Beyoncé and her director Melina Matsoukas leave it to the viewer to connect the dots, though the video’s
4) What is notable about Glover's comedy-drama TV show Atlanta?
He wanted to have a black writing team. The show was notable for its refusal to ‘translate’ the black experience for a white audience.
5) What examples does the writer provide of hip hop as a political genre? What theorist can we link this to?
Both ‘This is America’ and ‘Formation’ were praised for their undiluted blackness, which is a culture of white hegemony is seen as a powerful political statement in itself. hip-hop has been an inherently political form since its inception as far back as 1971, This links to Dyson who defends hip-hop and black culture and suggests“Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such critics.
