M.I.A.'s music video "Borders" depicts the hazardous journey of refugees through European seas. Through its raw and blunt portrayal, the video aims to confront societal issues and tackle opposition to refugees. Various shots are analyzed for their representations of current affairs and the refugee experience. One striking shot shows refugees in focus with M.I.A. out of focus, suggesting their exploitation. Another shot shows refugees working together to spell "Life" on a border, emphasizing their struggle. Overall, the video uses stereotypical portrayals but also aims to depict refugees as more complex individuals in an effort to increase understanding and support for their situation.

1. Representation Case Study
How is representation constructed in ‘Borders by M.I.A.’

2. Context and Background
Borders is a self directed indie rap music video released in 2015 made by M.I.A. following a large group of refugees on a hazardous
journey through European seas. This sing features on her albul AIM considered to be her final ever LP. M.I.A. tends to confront
issues within society using a platform which is accessible to everyone – her experience fleaing from violence in the past when she
was 9 years old adds a sense of intimacy to the song. Her video was banned in select European countries but soon became free to
watch. This video shows great similarity to her previous song ‘Swords’ which overall when set beside her song ‘Borders’ is
considered “a truly global and characteristically DIY MIA project. The two pieces will ultimately come together in a larger
body of work that explores the concept of Borders, an element of which will be a full-length album and film experience
entitled Matahdatah.”. M.I.A wanted to tackle the national opposition to refuge in this video, constructing a very raw and blunt
piece of work. This could be considered as typical of the genre yet it is something that is very cautiously approached in the media
as diversions away from hegemony to talke real world issues can cause problems with producers and even higher power

3. Representation of current affairs
This initial strikingly composed shot generates an image that identifies
well with current affairs surrounding refugees. The shot instantaneously
identifies how society – all that above refugees – have their back turned
on them, reducing the hope needed for them to live good lives. In this
shot in particular, we see how M.I.A is wearing clothes which are of
relative quality, which could idealise how they have been made through
working labour, further identified by the way that the running refugees
are out of focus. Refugees in countries tend to be used for work against
their rights and this could show a prime example of their exploitation and
disadvantage. Regarding mise–en-scene, the setting is very desolate
which could connote vulnerability of the refugees and the idea of no
place to go. The representation here is strong due to how it will identify
with the audience as M.I.A is identifying how ordinary people either turn
their back on issues within the world or tend to not even realise what is
going on. Another connotation from the wide landscape is how it
demonstrates how the world as a whole is so vast and it would be hard
or everyone to realise and contribute to solve issues within the system.
Therefore, in this video, M.I.A. is trying to convince the audience to help
and identify what is going on past their ordinary lives. This video
complies greatly to Goodwin’s theory of music videos as the lyrics
comply with the videos connotations. As she takes things such as ‘Smart
Phones’ and the idea that ‘Love wins’ and deconstructs them to be parts
of society that should be irrelevant.

4. Contextually about Refugees
This shot connotes a vast range of ideas – directing realisation to the
audience. It initially connotes how the refugees constantly live their ‘Life’
trying to get past borders to live happily. This composition is greatly
impactful and good in representing how there is a great sense of reliance
between all the refugees. Mainly due to how in the shot, the refugees are
working together to generate the word ‘Life’ on the border, this is especially
hard hitting as it would emphasise how they have to thrive and work hard to
achieve a standard of ‘Life’ that they seem bearable. Alongside this there is
a high implementation of boats and water travel, again emphasising the
struggle of finding sanctuary in other countries. Also making clear that
refuging to live somewhere else isn’t as easy as just moving city, its more
about moving country. The way that this second shot is composed gives the
refugees great power, inferring that they have abilities far beyond that of
which is put upon them. The ending shot in particular demonstrates how
refuge will continue in such a distressing way without the assistance of the
public. This is evident through how when M.I.A. is with the refugees, they
have boats, whereas without her, they trek through the water. In this, M.I.A.
is acting as a revolutionist opposing the government who benefits those in
need. Whereas when a government system is in place with no true leader,
they follow an individual and restricted lifestyle, inferred by the single file
line. The overall editing of the video links well to the structure of the song
itself, with a lack of fast paced cutting which in turn generates a very basic
effect. This is strong in the context as it helps the audience understand the
message being conveyed rather than making it too difficult to interoperate.

5. Theorist Conformity
Tessa Perkins derives the idea of stereotypes to be based on realistic attributes. This can be applied to ‘Borders’ as it details the
image of refugees. The refugees are, in the video, pictured in simplistic clothing of which may appear dirty at some points, these
refugees also carry no luggage and appear in masses. Although to an extent it can be considered rather stereotypical and
somewhat offensive to portray these refugees as poorly as they seem – it is empirical purely due the reality of the matter. The way
that the video is composed defies these stereotypes in an aspect that depicts refugees as more than they initially seem. The close
up shots of the men give a strong aspirational feel, providing the audience with an image of individuality and respect. As well as
this, the idea of a community is hinted towards frequently. Regardless of how it is a stereotype that refugees travel in large groups it
provides a factor of community and happiness which isolates from the other, more hard hitting stereotypes. This focus on
stereotypes seems to be somewhat intentional as it would hopefully identify how harshly refugees live and how they have far more
to provide in society than how they are categorised.
How it can be applied
The idea of this video is to put a light on the issues that are important and real. The way that the song questions the importance of
‘Love’ for example could develop an alternative interpretation of my music video production. The way that my video will be produced
will depict the idea of love as a loop which ends where it starts, creating a very in depth – personal - reality of which isn’t the reality
of the world. This could link to Baurillard’s idea of how there is a hyper reality with blurred walls and boundaries to form another
reality – considerably linking to how the stereotypes of refugees have blurred the realistic representations of them. This could then
be seen and idealised in a way that allows the audience to develop a wider and less naïve sense of realism providing a greater
aspiration to help the issues faced outside of the mainstream box, so to speak. Overall, this video greatly represents the issues
within society regarding refuge in an attempt to create new and more important priorities for the audience/s in a more empirical and
true way.