Old Town Road Flashcards
Shot 1: wide angle long landscape shot
Is conventional of spaghetti western films, and also the relevant to the serif font typography.Suggests that this video is a short cinematic film a rap music video.
whip sound effect and freeze frame.
Code and convention of western film to establish the main characters.Most western films promote white superiority and are racist.Therefore it is unconventional for a black guy to star in a western/country style video.Follows the stereotype of the Black guy being the criminal OR is it just for the sake of the narrative.
Chris Rock is a sheriff and is the representative of authority
Use of Dyer Star theory, and brings in audiences.
Him being a representative is a countertype, however he still does his job badly and could be presented as uneducated, a common stereotype of black people (gilroy)
Postmodern text and Bauldillard
Makes repeated intertextual refrences to modern society and web 2.0 , when people film internet videos and ask for photos.Use stereotypes in an ironic way, and creating a simularcrum.Narrative is broken and non linerar and is self reflective of the parody of other texts
Neale
Country trap film music video.Reinforces and breaks stereotypes of rap music videos and western spaghetti film, essentially making its own hybrid genre.
Racial Stereotypes and Gilroy.
Direct representation of trans-atlantic black identiy.Racial stereotypes are used in a very self- reflective manner but they still do ultimately reinforce and validate their existence.
rap music video conventions
Excessive jewelry,Urban backgrounds, direct address.
There is a binary opposition between the new and the old.Race between the car and the horse, and the past wins.
Vibrant backgrounf and outfit change
Adds a contrast to the muted neutral colours before.Is the settign for the new equilibrium, as he is now rich and has left old traditions like the horse (todorov).
Only in the modern world did he succeed , which can probably present that BAME people can succeed in this society even after the diaspora of their orgins.
Traditional western rep
This music video is a tribute to Louisiana, a tribute to Nas’s hometown.Linedancing, a traditional western style dance represents the culture.
Was rejected from the country Billboard for not being country enough.
This was consperacized that this was due to the deep rooted homophobia and racism in the genre.The music video was delibearitly overly country and westernized( seen through a diverse array of genre signifiers) and this could be done to be a subtle dig at Billboards for saying that the song wasnt “country enough”
Billy Ray Cyrus and the collab with Lil Nas X
Engages audiences, and a country western musician who is famous.Collab with other artists help increase engagment and broaden their audiences.This is an unusal collab as Nas was a small and new rapper at this time, but it could be done to diversify both their audiences.
REP of women
Women are background charecters and are shown as passive.Women are often marginalised/objectified in genres such as rap and country.
REP of masculinity
Audiences may interpret the masculinity diffrent if they are also aware of his sexuality as a gay man.Openly gay male artist is rare to see in music gnres espeically including rap and country.May appeal to LGBTQ audiences hoping to be represented. REFRENCE TO GAUNTLETT.
