Media Coursework

1. Gender Analysis
By Matt Murphy

2. Robin Thicke Blurred Lines
When the song starts playing, we as the audience
see this as a funky, upbeat song that engages the
audience. The panning shot of the women being
held by the main artist ‘Robin Thicke’, as he draws
attention to himself as well as the women that leads
to the binary opposition which is countertypes vs
stereotypes, ‘male vs female’. There is instant
voyeurism in the video as Pharrell Williams’
observes the mid shot whilst singing to the song.
However the video has sexual content throughout
the video due to mise-en-scene (clothing) that the
women have to wear. But the women are antagonist
are holding a goat which can be seen as a form of
innocence and stereotypically implying that women
are followers just like the goats.

3. Engaging The Audience
As shown throughout the entirety of the video,
one of the ways in which the artist(s) have
captured the audiences perception is through the
use of hashtags (#) which is a modern way of
spreading awareness about a particular subject or
in this case the song. Therefore this will grab the
attention of most of the young audience as they
frequently obtain new trends though the use of
the hashtag. Therefore by hash tagging will lead to
an upcoming trend then a common trend which
will then lead to global awareness which is
important when targeting the younger audience
through global reach.

4. Mise En Scene
Through the tempo of the song and the items of
clothing, we can see that this is classed as pop due to
modern day clothing such as the smart suits as well as
how the media portray women in a stereotypical way
through how they are dressed which is a crop top and
mini skirts. As we can clearly see is that the women are
dressed sexually and look inferior to them. However this
video’s main target audience are typically stereotypical
towards gender.
Through the entirety of the video, the Mise En Scene is
based in one location which is very different in
comparison to the conventional music video. Therefore
the background is constantly a pink / white colour which
could lead to the stereotype of women as the
connotations of pink is normally associated with women.
This can be seen as feminism as this video is seen to be
targeting women who struggle to obtain equal rights
within the society.

5. Sound
The diegetic sound played in the background, “I
know you want it” which is a form of the
Hypodermic Needle Theory as the male
characters are trying to create a message for the
audience. The ideology is consistent throughout
as for all of the video contains sexual references
and content.
Another common utterance within the video is
“You’re far from plastic, talk about getting
blasted”, is seen to be an insult towards women
as the men are sexualising the women as the
sexual object. Also another sign that conveys an
insult toward women is that it depicts patriarchy
and the gaze of men in the video is used pretty
much throughout. Yet again supporting the
conventions of pop for portraying gender
throughout the entirety of the video.

6. Sound
The lyrics suggest that the men are
portraying the women as animalistic, “But
you’re an animal, baby it’s in your nature”.
Suggesting that men are taking advantage
of the women which is supported by the
low angle shot of the women making the
men have greater presence and
dominance throughout the video.