Textual Analysis of Til It Happens To You by Lady Gaga for my Alevel Media coursework

1. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF TIL IT
HAPPENS TO YOU BY LADY GAGA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWBrN7QV6Y

2. NARRATIVE
• The narrative begins with an ambiguous woman walking down a
hallway, peering into doors before she finds a girl in her room playing
a keyboard. The camera cuts to a trans man shirtless in the bathroom
and then cuts to two girls who go to a party together.
• These three narratives are the focus of the story and each of the
characters are raped and assaulted: the first girl is physically
overpowered by a friend; the two girls at the party are drugged and
taken home by a man who rapes them one by one; a young trans
man who is raped when using the men’s toilets – an issue many trans
people face as there aren’t always gender neutral bathrooms to use.

3. CAMERA SHOTS
• The camera shots used in the
music video are intended to
focus on the victims to
create empathy for them.
Although the abusers are
filmed as well, the majority
of the focus is on those
being abused in order to
show the situation.
• By using close-ups of the
victim’s faces whilst getting
assaulted allows for the
audience to see the pain and
upset on their faces, evoking
empathy from the audience.

4. CAMERA SHOTS
• The video interchanges between a still camera
on a tripod and moving like a handheld camera
and these stark differences are used to present
the desperation in the struggle of the assault.
• There are more handheld close-ups in the first
half of the music video suggesting that this is
the more personal time where victims struggle
to begin with before the camera draws out into
a wide shot to show them with friends, talking
to them and explaining the hardship they’ve
struggled with.

5. MISE-EN-SCENE
• The mise-en-scene is simply used to
depict university life with young people in
dorms and sharing rooms etc.
• Each room is unique and shows the
victims interests e.g. the first girl and her
music interests.
• Shows a stereotypical university party
with balloons and dancing people
• Long empty hallway is representative of
the feeling of being alone and that the
victims feel as though they have no one
to turn to.

6. MISE-EN-SCENE
• A huge part of rape culture is the idea of victim blaming with one being “What were
you wearing” so shows the victims wearing a variety of normal outfits without wearing
clothes that are provocative.
• The first girl wears a modest outfit. The second victim wears a binder and is a trans
man. The third set of victims have trousers and a long skirt on. This variety of clothes is
representative of the idea that it isn’t the women's clothes that are the problem, it is
rapists.

7. LYRICS
• Society seems to say that rape victims simply need to be
strong and that, with time, things will resolve themselves
but Gaga says how this is unrealistic to place these
expectations onto victims.
“You cannot expect them to simply forget about what
happened and leave the past behind. You cannot
expect them to go around sharing their experience
with rape, especially due to the social stigma that
surround rape victims – a stigma that states that it is
the victim’s fault for the crime of the rapist.”
• “Til you’re at the end, the end of your rope” this part is
in line with the national statistics of suicide rates within
rape victims and, when the victims in the song are sitting
after their assault trying to ‘act normal’, this part is sung,
suggesting that dark thoughts plague abuse survivors
and it is not something to be taken lightly.

8. LYRICS
• Th main theme of the song is really presented in
the bridge, a repeated concept throughout
Gaga’s music.
• “Standing in [someone’s] shoes” reminds the
audience of this idea of empathy and
compassion for other’s situations and reminds
the audience that, if they were put in the
situations of the victims, they would want the
same compassion
• We cannot approach the topic of rape with the
general mentalities that people who have not
experienced rape exhibit as these mentalities
may be skewed and inconsiderate of a rape
victim’s struggle.

9. EDITING
• The majority of the video is edited to be in slow-motion
which creates an almost memory like scenarios with the
exceptions being the original assaults and the standing
together which creates the impact of being the truth and
being able to have the help and support victims need
• The video has a black and white filter in order to evoke the
sombre and emotional vibe that was intended. The video is an
artistic piece used to bring light to sexual assault within
universities and the use of the greyscale makes this more
impactful.
• Both the warning at the beginning of the video and the
statistic at the end are used for shock value in order to create
a stir in the atmosphere and get people to understand the
horrors of sexual assault.