How are different groups represented: Robin Thicke - 'Blurred lines'

Blurred lines is by pop singer Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. It is the lead single from Robin Thickes album, 'Album of the same name'. It was in the charts in over 30 countries and has over 450 million views on Youtube. It was directed by Diane Martel and came into a lot of controversy when the video has indications of rape and lyrics like 'i know you want it' indicating that all women want him and that he has total power over them.

The video represents women as inferior and promotes an unhealthy attitude towards sex. In the explicit version of the video it starts with Robin Thicke laying on a mattress with a naked girl next to him. The mise-en-scene shows how the women is shown as an object and not as a person. Robin Thicke is wearing a suit and this connotes ideas of wealth and power however the women is naked and this shows her and being powerless and that she isn't in charge of the situation at all because he is just using her as an object for his own pleasure.

Figure 1

The lyrics make women seem like objects as well and that they have no power over men. The lyrics of 'I know you want it' show a sort of rape mentality in the music. These lyrics represent women as sex drived and the only thing they want from men is sex, but also that men can control women by sex. These lyrics got the song into a lot of controversy as the issue of consent for sex was raised by the media as they were not happy with the fact that the song promotes sex even if the woman has not had a say in the situation. An article from The Guardian from 2013 'Blurred line, the most controversial song odf the decade' stated "It promotes a very worrying attitude towards sex and consent," explained Kirsty Haigh, EUSA's vice-president of services. "This is about ensuring that everyone is fully aware that you need enthusiastic consent before sex. The song says: 'You know you want it.' Well, you can't know they want it unless they tell you they want it." The song and music video blew up in the media and the use of representing women in a derogatory way meant that the song had a lot of backlash. The use of the lyrics linking with the music video uses Laura Mulvey's theory of 'Male Gaze.' This is where a media text is created in a way that reflects the viewing pleasures of a hetero-sexual male. This is evident in the sense that these women are wearing a costume that is very provocative to please the singer and to also please the viewer too.

Figure 2

The representation of women being powerless is often a convention of pop music videos, figure 2 shows how the women are represented. The use of the men in suits and women in underwear shows the power imbalance and how the men are in complete control. This is an example of the 'male gaze' in the composition as the girls are on the rule of thirds and this makes   

Figure 3

them in the perfect position for the viewer to only look at them. The male gaze is a convention of pop music videos as it is mainstream music that emphasises the power imbalance between man and women. This is also shown even in artists who are women. The women are used in the male gaze to allow the producers to sell the song and them. For example Rihanna is overly sexualised to allow her to sell records to both genders. Men want her and women want to be her. The pop genre represents women as being the lesser sex as it allows them to sell records to both genders. This is shown in figure 3 as the men are just looking at the women which will encourage the audience too as well. The men will be satisfied and the women will want to be her as she is getting a lot of attention.

This links to Andrew Goodwins theory of music videos as he states that music videos often have frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The visuals often link to the lyrics and this is the case in Blurred Lines and the use of the women looking into the camera, this is used in a seductive way to further represent women as being overly sexualised and powerless.