Analyse how the Million Reasons music video by Lady Gaga uses stereotypes to represent a variety of images of feminine identity.
Apply comparative stereotypes and theory in the development of your arguments
Lady Gaga's - an influential figure due to her being an iconic figure (and has evolved as a musician), being unique as an artist who stands out, supporting the LGBT+ community, and being an activist - Million Reasons was created when she and Hillary Lindsey were seated in couches and were having a conversation whilst playing the guitar and piano. Lindsey asked questions about the men in her life, including her father and boyfriends, wondering why they would give her a million reasons to leave them, but all that Gaga had wanted was one reason to stay. Gaga's worked with Mark Ronson and Hillary Lindsey to write the song, however, the music video is directed by Ruth Hogben and Andrea Gelardin, two females. The song is a contrasting example of a contemporary music video from a world famous, white, female artist. This particular video marks a change in direction for the artist as media producers make use of media language to construct representations that might attract a broader, more mainstream market whilst not alienating the artist's core fan base.
During the music video, Lady Gaga is first shown lying down in the middle of the fields, showing only the side of her face and down to her mid-chest, with her eyes closed and mouth slightly parted; broadening the stereotype of women being emotional, allowing her to look emotionally transparent. Her body language in this whole scene may be a representation of the need for some time to escape from the reality of the world after breaking up with her fiance, just prior to writing the music track, who she had been with for 5 years; there were rumours of him having affairs behind her back, creating an understanding that Gaga could be insecure about being in a relationship. Gaga can also be shown in the back of a car, being driven somewhere - presumably to where she is to be performing, with blacked out glasses and a black hat on, creating an enigma of perhaps she is trying to hide her emotions (her being depressed) from the world and conceal them. This could link to the depression that she had revealed in a Billboard Woman of the Year interview in 2015, and also told them that she had wanted to quit music, she had been asked by her stylist at the end of 2014 is she wanted to carry on being a pop star any more, to which she had replied "you know, if I could just stop this train right now, today, I would. I just can't. [But] I need to get off now because I'm going to die."
Lady Gaga's wardrobe gets shown in the video and stereotypically, women are known to have lots of dresses and hats, and not to wear a lot of clothing. In the video, it is also stereotypical that she is having her make-up and hair heavily done as she is getting ready for what she is about to do. During the video, alongside the video being in black and white, she looks bored throughout the process of her makeup artists creating her look, making it seems like this whole process is happening a lot and she doesn't exactly enjoy it, creating the enigma of whether or not she would actually consider quitting music - adding onto the interview in 2015 - as she has a lot of reasons to leave the spotlight, but she only needs one reason not to. All the while that Gaga is stereotyping women through her wardrobe and the outfit being pink, she is also counter stereotyping women - wearing a suit and a hat that goes with the guitar, which is usually worn by men.
In the video, Gaga is rushed to by her colleagues and people who are her crew member. This could imply several things - one being that she has people who care (backed up by her receiving a religious necklace from an anonymous person later in the video, the 'sis' on the note could link to her friends helping and it is like she is in a sisterhood). However, this could also create an enigma about her crew really caring - are they doing this out of friendship or are they doing it to get Gaga back on the road so that she can get on with the show so that they can get paid - do they really care about her mental state? This links to Lisbet Van Zonnen's feminist theory as she is being used as a way of emitting attraction from the audience and being used as a way for them to make money. The whole video doesn't portray a traditional love narrative, it rather focuses on Gaga's own team.
The song opens with a quite riff and low piano buzzing in the background (which is probably the way that Gaga and Lindsey had originally created it), setting a more sombre tone straight away. Even in the first line of the song - "You're giving me a million reasons to let you go; You're giving me a million reasons to quit the show" - it is clear that Gaga is not happy with the state of her relationship with someone. Similar to other songs in her album Joanne, there may be a double meaning to these lyrics between an unstable relationship with a man, and Gaga's unstable relationship with her fame.
The next few lines - "You're giving me a million reasons; Giving me a million reasons; Giving me a million reasons; About a million reasons" - are repeated a few times in the song. The repetition of these lines could emphasise the insecurity that Gaga feels about this relationship. She is constantly questioning the state of their romance and whether it is worth pursuing; time after time, he forces her to reconsider their future together. This could alternatively symbolise her music career and the fact that time after time she has considered quitting the spotlight, however, she has not. "If I had a highway, I would run for the hills; If you could find a dry way, I'd forever be still" - here Gaga plays with words, using "highway" and "dry way" to create a parallel to the phrase "high and dry". To leave someone "high and dry" usually means you have put them in a difficult position by failing to support them. In a way, the composition of these two lines from the song echoes the overall message of this song - this man had given Gaga a million reasons to cut him out of her life, however, she keeps hoping that he will sort himself out so that Gaga won't have to end things. "Dry way" alludes to "drying out" or sobering up, implying that the person Gaga is singing about has issues with the substance abuse, either in reality or as a metaphor for being an unstable presence in her life.
"To cut through all his worn out leather" - Leather is usually thick and tough when compared to other materials, and the fact that it is “worn out” implies that it is strained from continuous use and the buildup of debris. Leather clothing is a hallmark of various “tough guy” personas such as bikers and cowboys—archetypes which Gaga depicts on songs such as Joanne’s “John Wayne.” Though Lady Gaga admits that she’s attracted to bad boys, here leather represents the “armour” these men wear that keeps her from having a stable and open relationship with them. In another sense, “his worn out leather” may represent Gaga’s own scars from these strained relationships that keep her from forming new, healthier bonds. Gaga wants the Lord to guide her on her desire to “cut through” all of her trials and tribulations in order to leave the past behind and move on from it.
"I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away; But baby, I just need one good one to stay" and "But baby, I just need one good one; Good one, good one, good one, good one, good one" - - Contrasting with the repetitive “million reasons” lyrics in the verses, Gaga turns the phrase on its head: though there’s an endless number of rationales for why she should leave the relationship, all she needs is one good reason to cancel out all the bad ones. Given the entertainment-related lyricism of the first verse, Gaga could also be referring to her relationship with show business. There are so many reasons she should just leave the business: relationships in need of attention, a more than sufficient amount of money and power, a clear legacy. Yet she only needs one good reason — her fans — to stay attached. It’s important that Gaga never really explains what this one particular reason is. Perhaps Gaga’s ambiguity is intentional: she leaves it vague so that it can be applicable to anything.
"Head stuck in a cycle, I look off and I stare; It's like that I've stopped breathing, but completely aware" - Many of us know that “head stuck in a cycle” feeling, but she explains that she just “looks off and stare”, holding on to the hopes of a better day, even though there is nothing more to do. She manifests the desperate pain of being stuck in a cycle she cannot break, the feeling of wanting to end a battle she has no control over, plus facing the fact that she is “drowning” and suffering battling another person's battle. In the second line she exhibits how it really feels to be aware of all the damage that he has caused, but still being stuck in the cycle, which includes her endless attempts to help him, even though instead of helping him have destroyed her. She can’t let go.
"To cut through all his worn out leather" - Leather is usually thick and tough when compared to other materials, and the fact that it is “worn out” implies that it is strained from continuous use and the buildup of debris. Leather clothing is a hallmark of various “tough guy” personas such as bikers and cowboys—archetypes which Gaga depicts on songs such as Joanne’s “John Wayne.” Though Lady Gaga admits that she’s attracted to bad boys, here leather represents the “armour” these men wear that keeps her from having a stable and open relationship with them. In another sense, “his worn out leather” may represent Gaga’s own scars from these strained relationships that keep her from forming new, healthier bonds. Gaga wants the Lord to guide her on her desire to “cut through” all of her trials and tribulations in order to leave the past behind and move on from it.
"Hey, ehh, ehh, eyy; Baby I'm bleedin', bleedin'; Stay, ehh, ehhy; Can't you give me what I'm needin', needin'; Every heartbreak makes it hard to keep the faith" - Here, Lady Gaga expresses how much of a - somewhat literal, if she’s bleeding - fight she’s had to try to stay hopeful about their relationship. Perhaps more generally, each time someone lets her down and breaks her heart, she feels herself giving up on people more, making it difficult to trust those around her. By using the word “faith” specifically, she links her faith in these connections with the more religious faith that she displays in the chorus by praying to God. "I bow down to pray; I try to make the worst seem better; Lord, show me the way" - Gaga’s always been open about her faith. Throughout her career, she’s made several references to God and the importance of religion in her life. Songs like “Electric Chapel” & “Fashion of His Love” marry religion and music, and that’s how Gaga tries to improve her outlook on life. It’s important to note she says she makes life “seem better” rather than simply “better,” perhaps alluding to the power of perception in any situation.
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