Music Video: Million Reasons - Lady Gaga

Million Reasons - Lady Gaga

Liesbet Van Zoonen: Feminist Theory - Suggests gender is constructed through discourse, and that its meaning varies according to cultural and historical context. Advocates that the very presentation of women’s bodies as objects to be looked at is a core element of western patriarchal culture. Also presents that in mainstream culture, the visual and narrative codes that are used to construct the male body are different from those used to objectify the female body Codes- a system of words, letters.

bell hooks: Feminist Theory - Propose that feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression and the whole ideology of domination. Suggest the idea that feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice. Advocates that other factors, such as race and class, as well as sex, determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against or oppressed.

A million Reasons is a contrasting example of a contemporary music video from a world famous, white, female artist. This particular video (from the album Joanne) 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. 

Stereotypes

Wearing pink
Emotional
Wardrobe full of dresses and hats
Make-up and hair is heavily done
Love Children
Doesn't know anything about sports
Their main priority is getting married
Caring
Cooks
Domestic behaviours
Bad Drivers
Self-centred
Weak - Physically and Mentally

Why is Lady Gaga an influential figure in music?
Iconic star - evolved as a musician
Unique - artist - stands out
Support for the LGBT+ community
Activist

Lyric Analysis

"You're giving me a million reasons to let you go; You're giving me a million reasons to quit the show" -The song opens with a quiet guitar riff and low piano buzzing in the background, setting the more sombre tone straight away. Even in the first line, it’s clear Gaga isn’t happy with the state of their relationship. It’s easy to find flaws in the subject, they give Gaga every justification to cut the affair off. Like other songs on Joanne, there may be a double meaning in these lyrics between an unstable relationship with a man, and Gaga’s own unstable relationship with her fame. In Lady Gaga’s 2015 Billboard Woman of the Year interview, she admitted that she had been very depressed and wanted to quit music: At the end of 2014, my stylist asked, “Do you even want to be a pop star anymore?” I looked at him and I go, “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.”

"You're givin' me a million reasons; Give me a million reasons; Givin' me a million reasons; About a million reasons" - The repetition of this line emphasises the insecurity Gaga feels about this relationship. She’s constantly questioning the state of their romance and whether it’s worth pursuing. Time after time, he forces her to reconsider their future together.

"If I had a highway, I would run for the hills; If you could find a dry way, I'd forever be still" Lady Gaga plays with words here, using “highway” and “dry way” to create a parallel to the phrase “high and dry.” Leaving someone “high and dry” means you’ve put them in a difficult position by failing to support them. In this way, the composition of these two lines echoes the overall message of this song—this man has given Gaga a million reasons to cut him out of her life, but she keeps hoping he’ll sort himself out so that she won’t have to. “Dry way” alludes to “drying out” or sobering up, implying that the person Gaga is singing about has issues with substance abuse, either in reality or as a metaphor for being an unstable presence in her life.

"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.

"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.

"And if you say something that you might even mean; It's hard to even fathom which parts I should believe" - Perhaps one of the “million reasons” why Gaga is considering walking away from this relationship is because the man in question is dishonest. Gaga is obviously insecure about this relationship and seems to suspect that he’s been feeding her lies to keep her complacent and invested. However, she’s caught on, and she’s watched it become such a regular occurrence that she truly can’t separate his honesty from the sweet nothings he whispers into her ear. After all, her most recent ex Taylor Kinney was rumoured to have had an affair.

"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.

Video Analysis

Black and White - Getting ready for her performance

Friends help - sisterhood

Religion - "Lord, show me the way"

Pink - Girls

Suit and hat - Boys

Depressed 

Body language

Wants to quit music - has lots of reasons to leave the spotlight but she only needs one reason to not quit

Hiding emotions behind glasses

Insecure about relationship

Wearing outfit to go with guitar- usually worn by men

Just broke up with fiance - had been together for 5 years - rumours of him having an affair

Has people who care

Wrote the song with Mark Ronsons (a man)

The music video was directed by 2 females

The people who came to her were her crew - does the crew really care or are they just there to get on with the show so they can get paid - do they really care about her mental state?

Doesn't portray a traditional love narrative, rather focuses on Gaga's own team

Gaga is emotionally transparent

Stereotypes

Assumptions that are held about a social group.
They are often used in a negative or prejudicial sense and are frequently used to justify certain discriminatory behaviours.
Stereotyping is an important concept in terms of representation.

Stereotype production is based on

Simplification
Exaggeration or distortion
Generalisation
Presentation of cultural attributes as being 'natural'.

Stereotypes associated with women in the music industry

Not to wear a lot of clothes

Love songs

Stereotypes associated with women and femininity in advertising magazines

Young

Slim

Overwhelmingly white

Conforming to our image of ideal beauty (perfect skin, hair and alluring gaze)

Liesbet Van Zoonen: Feminist Theory - My Understanding

Women are objectified 

Men are admired for how they got that body and how they got to look like that - women are used to just emit lust and attraction
Gender is constructed through the media (discourse)
The representation of women changes depending on where you are in the world and what time you are in history

bell hooks: Feminist Theory
To be a feminist you have to politically active
To be a feminist you have to be a feminists
The class, culture and ethnicity changes the amount of discrimination that you receive

Screenshots from the video

Analysis Part 2
Wide shot at the beginning - slow pan - vulnerability/emotional
Close up shot - emotional
Headshot - soften - subverts Van Zoonen's theory
bell hooks - women are objects and can be owned  by people - women exploited - discriminated
Dull lighting - connotations of not wanting the spotlight - wanting to be alone
Alone sad in the desert