The music video for Celine Dion's song "Ashes" from the Deadpool 2 soundtrack subverts expectations by being slow and sad rather than upbeat to match an action movie theme. It features footage from Deadpool 2 of the titular character dealing with the destruction of his relationship, and the visuals are linked to both the song's lyrics about rebuilding from "ashes" and its rhythm. While featuring Celine Dion prominently throughout, it provides a female gaze by showing the male lead dancing in high heels rather than objectifying women. The video also includes multiple references to other films like Titanic, Spider-Man, and NSYNC to connect it intertextually to broader popular culture.

1. Goodwin’s Music Video Theory Ashes – Celine Dion
Genre Conventions
(what do we expect from a music video of
a track written to accompany a feature
film? – does this meet our expectations?)
• goes against our expectations because its really sad and slow and we would expect something
more upbeat and energetic
Relationship between visual and lyrics
(are there links between the action and
the words of the song?)
• The song talks about building on from ‘ashes’ – Deadpool has to deal with the destruction of his
relationship
Relationship between visual and music
(are there links between the action and
the rhythm of the song?)
• the actions of the people are along to the music
Voyeuristic treatment (male gaze)
(are the females in the video positioned
as objects of male desire?)
• the male is dancing in high heals not the female
• it is for the female gaze
Focus on artist (brand recognition)
(is the artist featured prominently?)
• She is on the screen for almost the whole duration of the video
Intertextual references
(are there references to other media
texts?)
• deadpool 2 – footage from film and deadpool dancing with celine dion
• Uses clips from the film
• four different intertextual references to films, titanic, n-sync, spider-man and deadpool