Analysis of Music Video using Goodwin’s Theory: Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball

This music video is from the pop genre. It was released in August 2013 and was the second single from the album 'Bangerz' to be released.

This music video initially led to a lot of controversy, as the media compared Mileys new video to Sinead O'Connor's music video 'Nothing Compares2U'. Cyrus said that this reference of intertextuality was inspired by O'Connor's video which led to O'Connor's sending Cyrus an open letter regarding how she thinks Cyrus has been 'pimped' and exploited by the music industry.



This is Miley Cyrus's music video for Wrecking Ball, which starts very similarly too Sinead O'Connor's scene at around 15 seconds in.



As you can see, there is an obvious comparison to O'Connor's music video close ups as there is to Cyrus's close ups at the beginning of her song.

As I found out from a previous blog, Goodwin's theory suggests that there are certain things that can be found in music videos that are used in order to sell a song or music video. Nowadays, record labels purposefully use this in order to sell an artists song or music video as they know its been tried, tested and has been successful and therefore there is no reason to go against the generic conventions, not to say some music videos don't go against this.

Goodwin’s Theory suggests that in music videos, lyrics will match the visuals that we as an audience can see. This is visible in this music video. The music video is a performance piece in a variety of locations. It has a simple narrative to it, although this isn’t consistent throughout. The visuals often match the lyrics of the piece and this therefore allows the audience to be able to understand the music video better. By doing this it means it is very simple to follow and makes the audience link the lyrics with the images they can see, helping engage the audience better. An example of this in the music video is where we see Miley swinging on a ‘wrecking ball’ and at this time we hear her sing the lines ‘I came in like a wrecking ball’. This therefore shows an obvious link between visuals and lyrics and makes it obvious to the audience what it is she is singing about.

This is Miley Cyrus on the Wrecking Ball, at this time we also see her lip synch the lyrics 'I came in like a wrecking ball' which is an example of when her lyrics match the visuals.

Also we can see lots of cuts throughout this music video that match the pace of the video. This helps the music video flow, and gives it a mellifluous feel.  

In order to sell the artist as a star, the record label uses lots of close ups on Miley. In order to do this, the record company include slots of shots of Mile partially dressed, or doing provocative poses. By showing off her body, Goodwin’s theory would suggest that this is voyeurism as the female body is on display. This is for the benefit of the male viewers, and therefore links with the male Gaze Theory by Laura Mulvey.

A prime example of the Male Gaze Theory. This suggests that the camera is the males eyes, and suggests that men objectify woman to be sex objects.

Intertextuality is the final point in Goodwin's theory, it suggests that music videos may have intertextual references that link them to other media products. As mentioned previously in this post, in Mileys video she has intertextual references to O'Connor's music video. This helps the audience link one media product to another, and should help promote a music video. Another good example of intertextual references in music videos is  Robbie Williams' 'Millennium' music video. We see Williams dressed like James Bond, which is an intertextual reference to the Bond films, also an example of cross media convergence.

Close up Shot from Mileys music video.

Close up Shot from O'Connor's music video, showing very similar shots and to an audience, this shows how Miley has used intertextuality in her music video to link it to O'Connor's.

This post has helped me to understand how music videos are all very similar, in terms of things that they actually have within them. It has helped me see that most music videos are very similar in terms of the process of producing them and ensuring that key generic conventions are within the video, however the narratives or storylines are all very different.