Riptide representations

Question 1

Gender representations - women

Answer 1

Stereotypes of women being inferior and vulnerable

• Women are often seen throughout in an objectified and victimised manner (hands being dragged under the bed, women looking scared whilst visibly getting progressively bruised and distressed, a woman looking terrified whilst alone in the woods) - these representations seem to be a deliberate aim to make audiences uncomfortable and question the enigmas created within these shots - the long zoomed shot of this distressed woman adds to the uncertainty and uncomfortableness
• There is a shot of a woman freeing herself from ropes tied to a tree therefore some women are seen as saviours for themselves
• A numerous amount of shots can only be identified as women through parts of their body, multiple shots of the hands, feet, panning up the body - this dehumanises them further and makes them seem like objects to be looked at and admired.
• The shot of the women on her balcony looking through binoculars unsuspectingly being watched through the perspective of the low angled camera shot connotes the idea of someone stalking / hiding from her, further creating this uncomfortable atmosphere
• Women are seen looking glamorous, lack of diversity within the video with just representations of westernised beauty
• Violence against women has been a big topic and issue within the media industry and society in general, therefore shots of a woman hand being stabbed and a gun being pulled being held by a man, further adds to this almost taboo topic of normalised behaviour. Vance Joy himself said that his aim was to combat the stigmas of objectifying women and draw attention to the issue of violence against women, however firstly, this is not made clear, people can be made to feel uncomfortable with images and distressing shots but still not comprehend the underlying message. Also, using women as the bait and victims, the very thing that he is supposedly trying to combat, is still gaining viewers for that particular reason, ironically or not.
  However, due to the countless enigmas and use of an intellectual montage, it could be argued that the audiences are being invited to interpret the video for themselves, without specific indicators on how to feel or what the overall message is of representation

Question 2

Theorists to apply: bell hooks

Answer 2

belle hooks feminist theory - feminist theorists in general therefore may find it hard to decipher the overall point and deeper message of this video, is it encouraging / displaying feminist views in an ironic way or just like many other music videos, using women to perform and entertain men

Question 3

Gender representations - men

Answer 3

• men are often seen watching these women or looking off into the distance, with camera men on the beach filming a model, a man with binoculars, assuming the camera is from the perspective of an individuals viewpoint when looking up at the woman on the balcony - looking at women through the ‘male gaze’
• perhaps reinforcing the image of the patriarchal society

Question 4

Context:

Answer 4

• Due to this being Vance Joy’s first attempt of getting his music and music videos into the American industry it could explain the reason why this video has so many shock factors to it, also the use of all these women and their representations within the video

Question 5

Theorists to apply: Laura Mulvey

Answer 5

Laura mulvey the male gaze - when the theory was coined in the 70s, the film industry was at an all time high consisting of mainly men directors, producers, writers, actors with a substantial role. Meaning that mostly all of the films and media products for this time were made by men, through their perspective. As an audience we are looking through the perspective of men and viewing women within films how they do, explaining as to why women were given such objectifying roles, costumes and constantly sexualised. Another part of the theory is male gaze for the audience, sex and sexualised women are known to sell within the industry, explaining why directors continuously included these aspects, but the reasoning for it is also due to the audience. The male gaze applies to the men who they are selling it to, women are seen as an aesthetic to be looked at and sexualised