1. Unit 29 – Music Video Production
Music Video Analysis Worksheets
Music Video Analysis - Gender Roles
Song Title: Miss Nothing
Artist: Pretty Reckless
Directions: As you closely watch the music video, answer the following questions with
as much detail as possible.
1. What are the men/women doing? (Dancing, sitting, swimming, etc.)
This music video is primarily performance based; therefore it only features the band members.
Throughout the music video the female lead singer (Taylor Momsen) breaks the stereotypical
representation of women by singing to the camera whilst dancing on a table and smashing
things up creating a very aggressive representation of women. Intertextuality to Jesus has been
used in this music video by having the mise en scene constructed to resemble the famous last
supper and due to Taylor smashing everything on the table it creates a negative representation
of her, almost like she is rebelling against religion, adding to the aggressive representation of
women which is portrayed through this music video. Throughout the whole video the male band
members stay sat at the table ignoring Taylor’s aggressive behaviour creating the idea that
women are constantly ignored, even when they become really aggressive.
2. How are the men/women dressed? How much skin is revealed?
All the male band members in this video are dressed in black clothes with a lot of black make up,
creating that aggressive male representation which is stereotypical in the rock genre. At the
beginning of the video Taylor is wearing a brides veil and a white dress throughout, which both
have connotations of purity and innocence, binary opposite to the way Taylor is behaving and
the fact that she has a lot of skin revealed, again adding to that rebellious representation of
women whilstalso creating that provocative representation of women often seen in music
videos therefore you could argue that women are objectified within the media.
3. Are there more, fewer, or the same number of men as women?
In this music video there are roughly 8 men and just the one female, anchoring the fact that
Taylor works in an industry that is dominated by men. The fact that Taylor is smashing things up
and being so aggressive creates the idea that she, like many other females wants to break away
from this male dominated place. However it could also create the idea that she is craving the
males attention and will try anything to get it even by smashing things up, however the males in
this video just ignore Taylor, therefore representing women in a negative light by creating the
idea that men are superior to women.
4. Describe the body language of the men/women: are they sitting, standing, gyrating,
mugging, etc.?
The body language of Taylor breaks the stereotype of women in this particular music video due
to her having very aggressive body language. However she also has very provocative body
language too, therefore adding to the argument that women are objectified within the media.
5. Do the men/women have power? How do you know?
Although Taylor is the main focus in this particular video and she comes of strong and rebellious
by smashing things up, I feel that it gives the representation that men have power over women.
This is due to Taylor being in a male dominated environment no matter how much she tries to
break from this representation of women being dominated by men , and get their attention she
is still completely ignored by the male band members in this video and they sit looking dis
interested in what she has to says or does, for example in one particular shot she hits a male

2. Unit 29 – Music Video Production
Music Video Analysis Worksheets
band member over the head with a glass, and he does not react to this in the slightest by sitting
there as if it never happened
6. What’s the message of the song?
The message behind this song is about a woman losing her loved one and losing her mind, whilst
feeling that she tried everything to make him love her but nothing she did was ever good
enough for him. This is shown not only through the lyrics “ as I watched you disappear into the
ground, my one mistake was that I couldn’t let you down” but also through the mise en scene
by having all the male band members throughout ignoring her, no matter how hard she tried to
get there attention.
7. What type of music is the song?
The genre of this music is rock, emphasized through the aggressive representations throughout
the video and the mise en scene for example in the setting there are skulls on the table which
have the connotation of death, a dark theme which is commonly associated with the
grunge/rock genre.