Postmodern music video essay

The music video that I am looking into is Black Widow by Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora. The video was produced by Tim Blacksmith and was released on the 8th of July 2014.

Black widow is a postmodern music video which is based around the film Kill Bill, (director: Quentin Tarantino, released on 17th October 2003). In addition, we also see intertextual references between the film Pulp Fiction, which was also directed by Quentin Tarantino, (released on the 21st October 1994). You can see that Blacksmith was aiming for.... (what type of vibe does Tarantino give off).

Postmodernism is all about the different perspectives of what is actually modern. It tests what the majority of society thinks is actually modern and refines it, therefore the definition of postmodernism always changes and cannot be a fixed definition. 

In the beginning scenes we see a two shot of Rita Ora and her boyfriend Michael Madsen’s sitting down in a diner. Madsen is shown as a stereotypical male taking authority over women. We know this as he raises his voice and speaks over both the waitress (Iggy azalea) and Rita Ora who plays Madsen’s girlfriend.  There is an intertextual reference between the two shot and pulp fiction. Within that film you also see a two shot of two men eating in a diner. This is very similar to the shot in the music video. You can clearly see a link between Quentin Tarantino films and the black widow music video.

When the music starts to kick in we are instantly shown another intertextual reference to the title of the song. This is shown as a close up of a samurai sword with the words ‘black widow’ engraved on it. Following that we then see another two shot of Iggy and Rita. By comparing this mid-two shot to the film poster for Kill Bill you can see multiple similarities. Both characters wear the same jumpsuits, as well as having a samurai sword as blonde hair. Just from comparing the two shots you can easily tell that their inspiration was Kill Bill.

In the first minute and a half of the music video Iggy azalea plays a waitress ad Rita Ora plays Michael Madsen’s girlfriend. Comparing this to the second part of the music video you can see that they play completely different characters. This is known as hyperreality as the characters are playing more that role. This is commonly used in postmodern music videos as it helps to tell the audience that what they are watching is not real. To help further emphasise that it is not real Blacksmith uses special effects to help give a bright futuristic vibe. In addition, the same concept is used in Lady Gage’s music video, telephone. As both Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have multiple character roles. The use of unusual costumes and typical movie conventions help make this postmodern music video.

The next feature s cultural flattening. This is the weakening and devaluation of cultural identities, symbols, icons and traditions. At the start of the music video we know that Michael Madsen is shown as a stereotypical male who takes authority over Rita Ora. This change when Rita plays another character. Both Iggy and Rita are portrayed as powerful female lead roles, which go against the stereotypical/Hegemonic norm of a female character. Furthermore, we are shown a negative representation of Madsen, which leads both female roles to want revenge on his character. The music video is a revenge narrative.

In conclusion, the black widow music video is portrayed as postmodern. This is shown through postmodern features such as intertextuality, hyperreality, and cultural flattening. We are show links between both Quentin tarnation films as well other postmodern music videos such as: Lady Gaga telephone.