ANIMATED LYRIC VIDEO of lesbian male gaze? Rita Ora controversy

Rita Ora apologises after LGBT criticism of her song Girls https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/may/15/rita-ora-lgbt-criticism-of-song-girls?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

REPRESENTATION INDUSTRY Swift tailor-made case study

Taylor Swift’s reputation: will her new album silence her critics?

A case study that provides good insight into the changing music industry landscape...

In August, Taylor Swift released Look What You Made Me Do, the first single from her new album, Reputation, which finally emerges from its shroud of secrecy tomorrow. The track and its subsequent video broke three records within a week, including first-day streaming figures on Spotify and YouTube respectively. Swift’s sixth album has already thrashed pre-sale records, selling more than 400,000 copies – partially due to an industry standard reward system that gives early purchasers exclusive priority access to concert tickets.These achievements are fairly typical business for Swift, who often finds herself breaking records that were set with her previous release. She has sold more than 33m albums worldwide, thanks to her reluctance to join Spotify until this summer, keeping her sales robust while most artists have experienced a decline. 

MALE GAZE in video

I've blogged on this many times; just added a fresh look, using Guns n' Roses, Miley Cyrus and Avicii videos as examples, here.

GENDER Tove Lo and Lady Wood

NB: the artist under discussion often swears in her lyrics and interviews, both of which address her sexual identity in a frank manner.

Lo might be a new low for some, her very in your face lyrics and gyrating in her videos leaving little room for interpretation, but she isn't doing anything new - nor is much of the censorious or dismissive critical reaction, and its grounding in gender politics, new.

Pop writing often ignores great female blues and jazz singers who addressed their sexuality lyrically, and each latest controversy somehow forgets Donna Summers, Madonna, even Alannis Morrisette (whose Jagged Little Pills brought some challenging topics to a huge mainstream audience).

Lo is right to be exasperated at the double standards over male performers, and the issue of agency is central here.

Is her sexualised image and performance a reflection of a patriarchal society and a misogynistic music industry (a traditional feminist stance), and Lo therefore an exploited victim, OR is she an assertive, self-assured woman in control of her image and art freely choosing to explore sexuality (a more typically post-feminist position)?

Perhaps there is some truth in BOTH positions? Lo is asserting female artists' freedom to discourse in a manner seen as male territory and unbecoming for women, thus challenging normative, hegemonic gender identity.

BUT ... she is doing this using visual tropes long linked to the male gaze, and which surely are appealing to a heterosexual male audience as much as generating any identification with or aspiration from (uses and gratifications theory) a female audience?

This is seemingly an endless debate. Going back a decade were the Pussycat Dolls empowering role models or a cynical male manager and record label boss' means of putting a positive spin on an exploitative, sexualised image?

Tove Lo: ‘Being open about sex is not a bad thing’ (Guardian)

CONVENTIONS Links - points - playlist: videos I've blogged on

NB: Some highly controversial videos are listed, including 'explicit' versions; some descriptions also contain some strong language.

See this post for some quick links on useful videos to consider.

As I've discussed analysed a great many videos, the list below is partial. The initial order reflects the order from the video below, with the 1st 20 selected to highlight some of the very, very many themes when considering not just conventions of but also reception for music videos. Most can be found in a playlist too - a great way to expose yourself to a wider range of videos than you are likely to be familiar with!!!

More details after the list, but the 20 videos featured in the video (several times more in the playlist) are:

1. Morbid Angel - Existo Vulgore (2012) 
2. Sepultura - Ratamahatta (1996) 
3. PIXIES - Velouria (1990) 
4. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares to You (1990) 
5. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Terry Richardson, 2013)
6. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (ChatRoulette, 2013)
7. Baauer - Harlem Shake (2012) [this is a '10 best of' montage] 
8. Depeche Mode - It's No Good (Anton Corbijn, 1997)
9. Weezer - Buddy Holly (Spike Jonze, 1994)
10. Guns n'Roses - November Rain (1992)
11. Bjork - Crystalline (Anton Corbijn, 2013)
12. Sepultura - Refuse, Resist (1994)
13. Megadeth - Wake Up Dead (1986)
14. Pixies - Bagboy (Lamar + Nik, 2013) 
15. Daft Punk - Da Funk (Spike Jonze, 1995)
16. Rihanna - Pour It Up (Vincent Haycock, 2013) (EXPLICIT tag)
17. Fragma - You Are Alive (2001)
18. Guns n'Roses - Welcome to the Jungle (1987)
19. Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines (Diane Martel, 2013) [parody]
20. Lily Allen - Hard Out Here (Christopher Sweeney, 2013) 

Morbid Angel - Existo Vulgore (2012) [post]
You do need to know the conventions ... but there is much more scope to challenge them than with, say, film, as videos like this, and the following Sepultura example, demonstrate. Rammstein and Rage Against the Machine have also produced examples I've blogged on, bringing Snow White and the Beach Boys into the extreme metal genre.


Sepultura - Ratamahatta (1996) [animated] [post]
A great example of turning conventions and expectations on their heads, this is an animated video by the Brazilian hardcore thrashers! You should also take from this that inspiration can come from anywhere, including music genres (and other media, as with Morbid Angel) you may not be a fan of! [Wiki]

Here's a bonus, highly countertypical further example: old-school (these guys were well established pioneers when I was still at school!) death metallers Obituary, who for their latest single have turned to Flash-animation and a Scooby-Doo style cartoon ... be advised though: it is, nonetheless, gory. You can read about it and watch it here.

PIXIES - Velouria (1990) (one-take video) See Wiki and my posts on this.

Baeble Blog: FKA Twigs alt 20 min art video

NB: The video explores sexual themes (especially in the 2nd piece), though without nudity, and does have 1 instance of swearing about 14 mins in.

The Baeble blog is a good place to look for examples of unconventional work for inspiration, ideas or simply to help evidence and justify some of your own whackier ideas as having antecedents in the diverse field if music video.

FKA Twigs has created a long form video to promote an EP, adopting a style that edges more towards art gallery installation than typical small screen fare.

Link below, but note content warning.

Chris Cunningham would be the most obvious influence, though David Lynch equally came to mind for the horror-tinged elements and general oddness. Some more conventional tropes are present and the final piece recalls Janet Jackson, Madonna and that modern-day mini-Madge, Gaga. 

Whilst somewhat challenging, the second piece, wherein Twigs becomes a literal doll, plaything, is an intriguing exploration (perhaps plain denunciation?) of the male gaze and its impact. 

I'd be curious to see how the BBFC might rate that piece alone; nothing explicit but clearly dark (so arguably disturbing) themes and tone, a borderline 12/15? The one swear word later on would not automatically disbar a 12 by the way.

Noting the content warnings, you can read the article here, or view the video below.

Its clearly been a successful campaign:

Heading towards 3m views (screenshot Dec 6th 2015)

Jarring juxtapositions: twerking in Mastodon vid

This curious countertyping helped Mastodon gain publicity

There can be considerable shock or at least novelty value still in incorporating elements from a contrasting genre; in this example the prog-metal band Mastodon. In their video for The Motherload they incorporate ... twerking!

So, we get some fairly standard, though well-executed (nicely lit, and some effective focus pull), sepia-coloured footage of vaguely demonic figures ... counterpointed with a range of very modern dancers twerking, often in slo-mo and fairly uncomfortable close-up. The point (the 'reading') is debatable, and may simply come down to the shock value, or may be a critique of what the likes of Sinead O'Connor has attacked as exemplifying male industry control over female artists, with Lily Allen's attempted critique itself attacked for allegedly racist undertones.

(skip to the end to view the actual video)

DANCE EG: Fragma - You Are Alive (2001, Ger)

1st shot: an Ibiza link perhaps?

Fragma -

You Are Alive.

Dir: unknown, 2001.

Trance.

Lyrics.

SUMMARY

For me, one of the worst promos I've ever seen, though it is very professionally produced with strong cinematography. There is little going on bar the incessant objectification of the vocalist, who we often see running, Baywatch slo-mo style, or dousing herself on the beach wearing sheer clothing, plus the 'exotic' (depending on the viewer of course) setting - which seems utterly incongruous for the track. Also features an attempt to eroticize fruit! We follow the singer through a village, though this is a world away from The Verve video which tracks the singer walking along; our location here is left polysemic, as if anchorage might detract from its exotic 'otherness'. The track itself features a ridiculously long fade-out: 20 seconds!!!
I make some comparisons below to Bond movies and a Lita Ford video....

The cinematography is sharp; variable focus is used to good effect, a particularly suitable diegetic 'effect' given the musical genre

DANCE EG: T-Funk feat Katie Underwood - Be Together (2006)

Mise-en-scene is used effectively throughout

T-Funk feat Katie Underwood -

Be Together.

Dir: unknown, 2006.

Eurodance/House.

Lyrics.

SUMMARY

A basic, single location video lacking SFX, centred on a powerful female protagonist (the singer), tho' framing focussed on dancers' busts seems dubious. Despite the simplicity, the unusually frequent cutting to the beat, effective use of all the possibilities of the single location, and a strong performance from the singer make this a successful production likely to boost the appeal of the track.

1ST SHOT

Polysemy is initially retained

This is a word I'll use many times in discussing this basically effective vid: simple. A simple example of narrative enigma: we fade up and tilt up to slowly reveal part of a face in CU, with half the frame given over to the mise-en-scene. It takes several shots to fully anchor the club setting, let alone the narrative of a woman setting out to pick a man. The ear-rings, hair styling and heavy make-up are also notable, so too the direct gaze which quickly emerges as a feature of this vid.

DANCE EG: NG3 - The Anthem (2003); post-feminist?

Costume and lack of 'big hair' denote accessible; aud can identify with?

NG3 -

The Anthem.

Dir: unknown, 2003.

Eurodance/R+B.

Lyrics.

SUMMARY:

A simple video with a linear narrative, using movie signifiers (especially titles). Lyrically centred on women

Filmic titles are used

standing up to men and demanding respect, it can be read as hypocritical or assertive depending on whether or not you buy into the post-feminist position. Key to it, either way, is that the performers costume and appearance ensures that young F viewers could identify with the trio.

1ST SHOT (see screenshot above):

Fade up into a simple ML 3-shot, cut to the 1st beat of the track. The location is a 'grand' hall, but the 3 F performers are fairly plain in terms of clothing (leisure/sports wear) and general appearance - hair tied back rather than scaffolded using enough hairspray to euthanize the ozone layer.

DANCE EG: 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor (1996)

(Click pic to enlarge) These screenshots provide a sense of this act's approach

2 Brothers on the 4^th Floor -

Come Take My Hand.

Dir: Arcade Creative, 1996.

Eurodance/Happy hardcore (Dutch).

Lyrics. Wiki. Videography (eurokdj.com), YT Channel.

NB: Dance music is a genre I have some familiarity with, but lack a broad enough knowledge to be picking up on intertextual links with other dance vids; if you spot any, let me know via a comment below. At the end of this post I've also added a couple of pointers on how to go about blogging on a single track.

SUMMARY OF KEY FEATURES: 

1ST SHOT contains many key characteristics of the vid

• CGI is very evident; very sophisticated at points, fairly simplistic (intentionally low-tech/non-realism?) at others.
• Playful, surreal and offbeat (visual at times) humour, with characters that could be in a David Lynch movie; there is no coherent narrative (beyond getting off a bus, walking, and re-boarding). Pomo playfulness, aka deconstructionism, is evident, eg revealing the daft fake moustache.
• Interesting gender countertypes with the male a mostly decorative, passive presence; also notable that overt sexuality (clothing, framing/shot selection, dance moves) largely absent.
• Cinematography has an Anton Corbijn feel: monochrome with occasionally oblique angles and framing. Panning and tracking are common, but vertical movement is limited, with smooth, steadicam action (and no zooms). Also signifiers of Soviet realism through lighting, framing, angle, subject choice and facial expression?
• Editing pace isn’t frantic but still zips along, with no take more than a few seconds, and increased pace/cutting to the beat for only short periods in the track. Cross-fades are common.
• Diegetic intro and outro.
• Lipsynched MCU 2-shots are dominant, but there is considerable cross-cutting between these and non-lipsynched 2-shots, plus other characters and even CGI creatures and a vortex; successful in shot variety terms despite the simplicity of the setup.

1ST SHOT (see screenshot above):

Diegetic intro: ELS of bus, rapid editing (ellipsis to ensure this isn’t a slow start) + good shot variety; beach setting; narrative enigma: where is this/who’s getting off bus?; surrealism – bus on beach!; monochrome/B+W

CENSORSHIP: Rihanna's top 5 controversies

Speaks for itself: http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/876929-top-five-controversial-rihanna-moments
[to which we can now add her new album celebrating her domestic abuse? plus her shambolic - omnishambles?! - album launch PR plane...]
See also http://musividz.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/rhianna-says-censors-helped-her-sell.html

Female pop vids - issues and challenges

[There are further pertinent points in the post: http://musividz.blogspot.com/2011/07/3-summer-2011-vids-examplebadriddimnics.html]

I dare say some of you will be thinking of female pop artists to use as your track, so a few quick points to start thinking about...
Jess has blogged on Rhianna's Umbrella and Katy Perry's California Gurls (which you may recall was featured in the quiz...) [plus Spice Girls, Village People, Eminem, and Iron Maiden!]

Perry's vid targets the crucial female tween market through cutesiness, but with sassiness and sexuality it also targets older females AND males (gaze). Taken overall, it is part of an environment that teaches us what to expect of women, what the correct or desirable appearance is, and of the differentiated gender roles (with Snoop Dogg, in pimp mode, literally playing with the females here)

Female pop artists typically sell most of their records to young females - tweens and teens, with 'aspirational' a key notion to consider. You can see how the cutesy element of Perry's dirge would appeal to young fans (the whole fantasy element strikes me as lifted from the classic comedy Beetlejuice btw...). The typically heavy make-up is also something that will influence aspirational t(w)eens, forming part of their cultural socialisation (or, as Judith Butler might put, teaching them how to perform gender).

Every female pop performer also has to consider appealing to a male audience, and sex is bluntly used by most. This is clearly a delicate issue to think through if you were working on just such a vid yourselves - the example of The Vixens from Latymer school is a good one to look at: provocative poses and attire, but nothing explicit.

These A2 Media students went beyond blogging: they also worked up detailed MySpace and other social media sites. They had to consider the balance between provocative poses or 'sassiness' - helping to convince, or achieve verisimilitude - and overt sexuality which wouldn't fit well within a school context (and which would arguably undermine any intended positive element to their representation of gender). Again, don't get trapped into over-emphasizing male gaze: are males their core audience?

Perry appears largely nude, and Rhianna appears fully nude (the body paint, and even that particular pose, not to mention the female sexuality-signifying triangle, have all appeared in vids and classic shots before). Rhianna of course was much-referenced by the PM Cameron when he welcomed a report into how media (especially mags and music vids) prematurely sexualise young females, with the furore over her (and Xtina's) X Factor final appearance. Many of the dance moves are blatantly sexual (ditto the lyrics!). Perry's squirting-bra is a perfect example of how the seemingly cutesy and the simply sordid/sexual collide (as flagged up in the quiz...).

So, yes the male gaze theory would come in here - but its also interesting to consider the male performers. Firstly Snoop, in the Perry vid, is in his famous pimp outfit, hardly a tween-friendly reference, let alone a feminist representation! Perry is his plaything, a very passive role. If you were to compare this to, say, a typical Madonna vid, you'd see a radically different representation of a sexual but strong, in control, woman.

Rhianna, reflecting her Jamaican heritage she might argue, is noted for being scantily clad and sexually provocative dancing. The umbrella arguably takes on a phallic signification, and her whole performance could easily be transplanted to a strip bar! The dancers surrounding Jay Z aren't as near-nude as with a typical male rapper's vid, but their bodies nonetheless are very clearly the key element. The contrast with the male dancers who surround Rhianna towards the end of the vid is clear: they're fully clothed, seemingly 'buff' but they're not required to display their bodies.
The Perry vid is clearly a high-budget effort, tho typifies the absurdity of any claims she ever makes about positively representing women - in my view at least! The Rhianna vid is actually the more interesting. The SFX are expensive - the detail of the water hitting her and bouncing off is impressive.

Rhianna also deploys sexuality - but is it too simplistic to see this as playing to the male audience? Does this not also help her appeal to a heterosexual female audience? To support such an argument we could make reference to theories such as the Uses and Gratifications model of audience, which looks at the psychological role media texts can play in the lives of audiences, or Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. You'll need to explore ideas such as these for Q1a+1b of your exam, as well as your Evaluations.

But I also really like the use of her gesture to push away water to create a transition; a wave leads us from LS into CU with water rippling out and revealing the CU.

The variety of shots for even the most mundance passages is also a key factor in making the vid work - look at the sheer number of different shots used from around 1:41 as she dances in a great hall. The cuts are often timed to match the beat too. We also get frequent use of focus pull simultaneous with a judder or shake effect, nicely signifying bass, as if the screen was a speaker, but also with sexual connotations.

The Spice Girls, btw, launched the girl band notion back in '96, when 'girl power' became a buzz word, and they saw their status as role models as important - compare their early vids for a comparative lack of plain sexuality.

So, if YOU were thinking of making a vid along these lines, what would you have to consider?

• SEXUALITY: can't be ignored, but clearly there is a line of acceptability - and you should carefully consider how you want to represent gender.

• again, The Vixens' vid is a good reference point: heavy make-up, somewhat provocative clothing, movements and gestures, but nothing explicit

• confident performers are rather important - you'll see a lot of direct address through looking into the lens, and the next point could be a key factor in casting...

• CLOTHING/COSTUME: a key ingredient: a shared look for a group for example? If you're thinking skimpy, where should you draw the line - and are you confident your choices will be agreeable to your cast? Costume changes - most vids feature multiple costume changes, and...
• LOCATIONS: Megan/Emmie's 2011 Backstreet Boys vid is a good example of how multiple locations can render a vid a success. For many pop vids tho, you'll be thinking of interiors you can set dress, even something as simple as all white.
• DANCERS + CHOREOGRAPHY: Again, Megan/Emmie did a pretty good job getting their boy band to pull off some convincing dance moves (even Jem!). How ambitious do you want to be with the dancing? Do you want opposite sex performers to dance around your singer/s?

I could go on, but I'd like to hear from you - what other issues do you think might be thrown up?

Rhianna... [Umbrella]

The always atrocious Perry... [California Gurls]

Spice Girls (zig-a-zag oh ... very deep stuff!) [Wannabe]

Latymer School's Vixens - good shot variation + strong performers cast


This a great example of a student-produced female pop vid. There's no question that there are sexually provocative elements - some of the dancing, costume choices, heavy make-up and elements of the direct address to camera - BUT nothing explicit, and nothing that would break watershed guidelines. The use of FX, the coherent concept and the all-important choice of set/location, but most of all the fantastic shot variation and tight editing, all make this a very strong vid. The absence of male performers is an interesting choice too.
I still think they missed a trick though: they could have made more of the concept, with the 'voddoo child' line offering opportunities to intercut clips of someone manipulating the comparatively innocent protagonist. Any thoughts?

It later struck me that Xtina would indeed be a good reference point here: controversially explicit BUT many of her lyrics do directly tackle gender issues, as reflected in this battle of the sexes vid...
[Christina Aguilera - Can't Hold Us Down]


Of course, they all learned from the pioneering example of Madonna, once a credible and compelling artist long before she hooked up with the Mockney king and reinvented herself as English rose. Here she is in a narrative vid, with some performance shots intercut, taking on the always controversial  topic of teen pregnancy:
[Madonna - Papa Don't Preach]

There is a great Wiki entry on this, as with many music vids (and directors):

For the music video Madonna sported a complete image makeover. She changed the heavy jewelry and make-up, and adopted the gamine look, which is notably applied to describe the style and appearance that Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn used during the 1950s.^[38][39] In the video Madonna played a tomboy, dressed in jeans, a black leather jacket, and a slogan T-shirt with the caption "Italians do it Better". The video alternated between tomboy shots and those of a sexier Madonna with a more toned and muscular body, cropped platinum blonde hair, and figure-revealing clothing, consisting of a 1960s-style black bustier top and capri pants.^[40] It was directed by James Foley, who worked with Madonna in her video for "Live to Tell",^[41] produced by David Naylor and Sharon Oreck, and Michael Ballhaus was in charge of the photography.^[42] Actor Alex McArthur was signed to play Madonna's boyfriend and the father of her child in the video. Madonna had spotted McArthur in a small role as a naive youth in the 1985 film Desert Hearts, and she thought he was a natural to play her mechanic boyfriend.^[43] "I was out in the garage working on my Harley," said McArthur, "I answered the phone and a voice said, 'Hi, this is Madonna. I would like you to be in my next video.'"^[43]
The music video starts with shots of the New York skyline, the Staten Island Ferry, and character close-ups.^[44] Madonna plays a teenager, who is seen walking along a lane. Then it shows her thinking about her father, played by Danny Aiello,^[40] and how much he loves her. She then sees her boyfriend, played by actor Alex McArthur,^[43] coming along. The images are juxtaposed with shots of Madonna dancing and singing in a small, darkened studio. Madonna then moves away from her friends, who warn her from her boyfriend. She and her boyfriend spend a romantic evening together on a barge where they reflect upon their lives after watching an elderly couple. Then Madonna finds out that she is pregnant and after much hesitation tells her father. They have a few days of tension between them. Her father eventually accepts the pregnancy, and the final scene is a reconciliatory embrace between father and daughter.^[44]
Georges-Claude Guilbert, author of Madonna As Postmodern Myth, compared her look in the video as a "combination of Marilyn Monroe, Jean Seberg and Kim Novak." He added that it was hard for him to believe that "[Madonna] did not know that she was going to cause a huge controversy with the video.... With such a song and video, she was throwing in America's face the image of a country ravaged by the abortion debate, which is far from being resolved."^[45] Lynda Hart, one of the authors of Acting Out: Feminist Performances, felt that the video "alternated between two competing representations of Madonna... Charging coercion, both sides make the video as an invitation to a certain way of life, in the process denying it the stylistic invocation of a rhetoric of self-authorization."^[46] At the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, the "Papa Don't Preach" video won the Best Female Video award, and was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Overall Performance.^[47]

^{And here she is again with the gloriously ironic track that helped make her a household name, and cemented her appeal to a broad male and female audience:
[Madonna - Like a Virgin]}

Again, the wiki entry on this is superb:

The music video, directed by Mary Lambert, who worked with Madonna in her video for "Borderline", was shot in Venice, Italy and partly in New York City in July 1984. Madonna was portrayed as a knowing virgin, a figment of the pornographic mind, as she walked through marble rooms, wearing a wedding gown. It alternated with scenes of a slutty-looking Madonna on-board a gondola.^[44] She commented, "[Mary] wanted me to be the modern-day, worldly-wise girl that I am. But then we wanted to go back in time and use myself as an actual virgin."^[45] The video starts with Madonna boarding on a boat from the Brooklyn Bridge and travels to Venice. As she steps down into the city, she moves like a stripper and undulated sinuously. She wears a black dress and blue pants with a number of Christian symbol embedded jewellery around her neck.^[46] She sings the song at full volume as she watches a lion walking between the columns of the Piazza San Marco of Venice and along the statute of Saint Mark.^[46] A number of game-playing involving carnival masks, men, lions, werelions are portrayed with allusions to eighteenth-century practices and Saint Mark.^[47] Sheila Whiteley, author of Women and popular music: sexuality, identity, and subjectivity, felt that Madonna's image signified a denial of sexual knowledge, but also portrayed her in simulated writhing on a gondola, thus underpinning the simulation of deceit. The intrusion of a male lion, confirmed the underlying bestial discourse of both mythological fairytale and pornographic sex. Whiteley observed that in the video, Madonna's lover wears the lion's mask and while cavorting with him, Madonna sheds the veneer of innocence and shows her propensity for wild animal passions. Having instilled desire, metaphorically she turns her lover into a Beast.^[48] Madonna commented about shooting with the lion:

"The lion didn't do anything he was supposed to do, and I ended up leaning against this pillar with his head in my crotch... I thought he was going to take a bite out of me so I lifted the veil I was wearing and had a stare-down with him and he opened his mouth and let out this huge roar. I got so frightened my heart fell in my shoe. When he finally walked away, the director yelled 'Cut' and I had to take a long breather. But I could really relate to the lion. I feel like in a past life I was a lion or a cat or something."^[45]

With the video, scholars noted the expression of Venetian vitality in it. Margaret Plant (2002) commented: "With the lion of Saint Mark and the virginal city to the forefront, old sacrosanct Venice was propelled into a pop world of high-energy gyration, and endless circulation."^[49] She also noted that Saint Mark was a symbol of a time when sexual crime was punished severely in Venice and acts of rape, homosexuality and fornication incurred the loss of a nose, a hand or sometimes life itself. Madonna appeared to challenge such brutality and stretch the boundaries of tolerance in the video. As the lion-man carried Madonna to the Venetian palace, it symbolized an instance of the Saint taking the simulated Virgin, where Madonna became a symbol for La Serenissima, the Republic itself.^[50] Plant also noted that Madonna, in the video, restored the energy and eroticism of Venice, which had its name taken from Venus in familiar elision. As she exchanged her blue top for a black one during the video, Madonna demonstrated her mastery and bravery of the city, which had a reputation of turning out its visitors as victims.^[46] Carol Clerk (2002) commented that with the video, "Madonna's days as a cheap and cheerful video star were over. She was moving into serious spectacle."^[6]

In 1985, a live music video of "Like a Virgin" from The Virgin Tour filmed in Detroit, was used to promote Live – The Virgin Tour video release. This version was nominated for Best Choreography at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards.^[51] The live performance of "Like a Virgin" from the Blond Ambition World Tour in Paris, France was released as a music video on May 9, 1991 to promote the documentary film Truth or Dare. This version was nominated for two awards at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards in the categories of Best Female Video and Best Choreography.^[52] This video was ranked at position sixty-one on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos.^[53]

Dance, sexism and (postmodern) irony

Two examples here of dance vids (the sub-genre 'house' might be more accurate). On the surface, both are 'blokey' and crudely sexist, framed blatantly around the male gaze.
That seems problematic for the type of music though; intended to be experienced in a club setting as well as on home/personal hi-fi/music player, alienating half an audience would seem boneheaded commercial suicide.
The Danzel vid could be argued to fall between two stools: centred around conventionally galmorous young women BUT with a rather camp chap presenting it all (a judgement well reflected in the comments the vid has attrated on YouTube).
The Alex Gaudino feat. Shena is again a feast of eye candy ... BUT serves this up whilst lampooning the couch potato gamer gents, the very (stereo)type such material conventionally targets. These two are rendered as moronic Beavis and Butthead (returning to our screens after 14 years) facsimiles.
The issue of control is also more subtle, or polysemic, than at first glance. To what extent are our pair of buffoons really in control? Clearly the video employs some of the media language of pornography, but the players are notably skilled, aggressive and competitive; countertypical of the representation we might expect. The referee, far from an alpha male reinforcing any reading of this text as misogynistic or patriarchal, is again made to look foolish, and is a familiar comedy trope (seen often through the career of Bert Kwouk, not least with C4's late-night show Banzai - see the clip below). The whole precept of female players as lads mag 'babes' rather than sportspeople is a further satire of FIFA president Sepp Blatter's notorious suggestion that the women's game should learn from beach volleyball and play in tight hotpants to increase audience interest!
So, are these music videos slices of postmodern irony and satire - with the conventional gaze rendered ridiculous - or just blatant old school sexism with a postmodern fig leaf?
Its notable that there are a good number of 'dislikes' along with the 'likes' on the YouTube pages.