Riptide: symbolic readings and the representation of women

How are women represented in this video?

 The dominant ideology that is presented in the video is that women are vulnerable, women are represented as being a stereotypical damsel in distress. Furthermore, through the use of close up shots that capture specifics parts of these women the producer is representing them as something for heterosexual men to look at. This supports Liesbet Van Zoonen's theory of women's body being used as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences which reinforces patriarchal hegemony.

Most of the women in this music video appear to conform to the hegemonical beauty ideals. The close-ups and the mid shots used show women with feminine hands (manicure), women wearing high heels, dresses with floral prints, women with red lipstick and straight blonde hair, sparkly dresses, etc. 

The close-up shots of a bold woman act as a binary opposite to the rest of the women in the video, the woman has a feminine face structure however when it comes to her hairstyle and makeup, she doesn't conform to the hegemonical beauty ideals. 

In addition to this, the only shots where the woman looks powerful when she is dressing up as a man and doing stereotypically unfeminine things such as smoking.

What are the symbolism of the mise en scene of the rope and the dental brace?

Both shots are taken in low key lighting connoting negative things such as being frightened, being nervous etc. 

Both women in the shots appear to be in distress, the woman at the dentist appears to be trying really hard to keep her eyes wide open - this makes her look in distress. The woman untying herself from the tree is also in an uncomfortable situation. By placing her in what seems to be a forest the producer is creating a scary setting. The rope in its self can have negative connotations, just like the dental brace. They can both cause pain. If we link the rope to the rest of the song, the audience could interpret this as the woman being tied to the man and trying to escape from him whereas the dental brace symbolises the pain he gives her.

In what ways are we positioned as an audience?

The audience is positioned as the man who has fallen in love with her therefore as the man who's causing her all the pain (the creep)

What message about women is constructed in this video, and what hegemonic expectations does this reinforce?

 Women are vulnerable - Stereotypical in other films, intertextuality. Represented as the damsel in distress. Women are consistently shown as uncomfortable and in the way of harm. Lyrics anchors the audience into believing this. Furthermore, they are shown as either being comforted by a man or close to a man. 

This reinforces the patriarchal society and the idea that women are inferior to men. 

Genre conventions

While the music video to Riptide may be a promotional video to an indie-pop song, the video itself has many references to other genres of film. We saw in the last session how the video shares many thematic and visual similarities with the surrealist genre. However, the video also makes explicit reference to the horror genre, in particular classic horror films from the 1970s.

Dario Argento's Suspiria and Riptide = similarities

• dark lighting
• robe 
• shots of women from the back (voyeuristic) 
• Suspiria = swimming pool, Riptide = sea
• Facial expressions showing the woman in distress
• Blonde hair blowing to the wind
• Woman running in the wood, Riptide = woman trying to untie herself from a tree in a wood
• Black High heeled boots,  Riptide = black high heels (both are close up of these shoes) 
• front door on the left = left-hand man

Does the video to Riptide make explicit reference to Suspira? Probably not. But it is making reference to this style of European horror cinema, as well as Italian crime films.

But why?

Riptide combines a range of startling images, including images that are symbolically violent and sexual. We have explored the violent and negative representation of women, but there is another possibility: the director has chucked lots of things together to make a cool video! 

Postmodernism

• ANTI THEORY - REJECTS ANY DEFINITION
• A postmodern text can be characterised by wilfully breaking the rules and conventions of media texts.
• Criticism of metanarratives – postmodern texts usually try to distance themselves from traditional ways of making meaning and will break the rules of existing metanarratives such as religion or science 
• Rejection of high culture – postmodern texts will often use a deliberately ‘trashy’ aesthetic
• Breaking rules – postmodern texts often break fundamental rules of making media, for example by ‘breaking the fourth wall’
• Intertextuality – postmodern texts often routinely make reference to other texts, cultures and times = RIPTIDE MAKES REFERENCE TO HORROR GENRE
• Style over substance – surface meanings are seen as more important in a postmodern text than any deeper meaning = Woman standing with her arms up to the sky and the wind blowing

 Why postmodernism?

• Using postmodernism is a great way to make reference to a variety of different texts and styles in a media text. It allows the author to complete freedom to use a variety of styles from different times and places. It can arguably challenge the audience's perception of how we use media... or it could simply be an opportunity to look cool without considering deeper meanings too much. For these reasons, adopting a postmodern perspective works especially well for music videos, which are obsessed with intertextuality and providing endless style over substance.
  
  When discussing postmodernism, it is best to make sure you tick the following boxes:
  
  
  • Identify what aspects of the text are actually postmodern
  • Consider why the producer has used these stylistic choices, and what effect they may have on the audience
  • Consider the purpose of music videos, and exactly what they have to do to get the attention of the audience
  • Explain the ideology of the producer, and question the use of postmodern aspects