Case study of Goodwin's theory on Gold Digger

 

 Goodwin's Theory On Kanye West Video-

Gold Digger

In Goodwin's theory there are 6 different

perspectives. Each of which I have looked at and found in Gold Digger

 Lyrics and Visuals

 

The message of the song is portrayed through

 many different themes such as the lyrics. 

On some occasions when Kanye says a line, a word is shown to represent it. For example when Kanye says ‘we want pre nupt, we want pre nupt’ a picture of a girl with the headline ‘pre nupt’ appears on the cover of a magazine. The mise en scene in the video is the use of loads of different beautiful girls who are obviously what Kanye West is referring to. The girls are all dressed quite provocatively which makes it obvious that the video is aimed at a male audience. 

                                                                                    Sound and Visuals

During the 20^th-23^rd second there is very quick cut editing of a woman in a shaky motion.  Each cut flashes to the sound of a drum beat. There are several images that the audience’s attention is drawn to in this editing which are the woman’s eyes, lips and body  which all looking very enticing for a male audience. 

 Genre characteristics 

Gold digger is clearly an R&B song and you can tell this in the music video through the video revolving around women who are wearing very seductive clothing. The dancing is also a clear convention of an R&B song as the music is upbeat adding to the clubbing feel.

 

                                                      

                                                       Demands of the record label

The demands of the record label are promoted on a couple of occasion during gold digger. For example Kanye’s known for starting the ‘shirt half tucked in half tucked out’ trend which he does in the video and many others. Also another that could be mentioned would be when Kanye is teaching one of the women his signature dance. There are a few close ups high lighting Kanye although it is usually expected that there would be more to help promote a set image of the singer.

 

 

 Emphasis on the look

As I have mentioned before, there is a lot of emphasis on women, with very few men in the video. There are loads of close ups of female body parts and women dancing and posing which supports the male gaze. The women are often looking straight forward into the camera connecting the audience with them

 Intertexual reference

 

 Intertexual references in the video are from the beginning where the signs ‘Beware’ and ‘Gold Digger’ are shown making it look as if it is a film. Throughout the video you see women on spread sheets of magazines making them look like models.