Interspersed with the codes of musical performance, music video employs predominately visual codes from a range of socio-cultural disciplines and enterprises. Provide a like to a music video/s that you consider is emblematic of particular socio-cultural codes. Detail the extent of encoding apparent in the work and discuss how the various codes construct (or deconstruct) the visual and/or narrative sensibility of the work.
Satisfaction by Benny Benassi
The dress code of the women within the video is very much indexical of the socio-cultural codes of female promiscuity and stereotype. Since the advent of prostitution, and the displays of women in highly sexualised contexts, there has always been some sort of dress code association made. A stereotype of promiscuous clothing would be something that does not comply with the cultural normalities of the time. For example, a harlot of the late 1800s would be wearing a bodice that revealed too much bosom, have tresses of hair falling in her face and would be lavished in make-up, things which were not acceptable for the ‘pure woman’ to display. [1] To a great extent, these stereotypes can also be applied to today’s society. The showing of too much skin, specifically in the areas of the bust, midriff and bottom is something which in today’s society, many associate with a more promiscuous woman, or at the very least a woman who is seeking the attention of men through her clothing, or lack there of. Excessive use of makeup, concentrated on the application of foundation and eye makeup, is also something that is somewhat associated with this social stereotype. Benassi’s video uses a potent combination of all of the above aspects to encode the female promiscuity and stereotype within his video. Each woman features clothing, which reveals bottom, bosom and midriff and in some cases wearing a bikini revealing almost all flesh. This clothing stereotype combined with the heavy makeup, sky-high stilettos and tanned bodies, dripping with sun lotion, evokes an undoubtable stereotype which speaks of the promiscuous woman, but also highlights the stereotypes of the female appearance.
Non-verbal communication is the most predominant code that is used in this video to encode the socio-cultural codes of female promiscuity and stereotyping. This form of communication can be broken into two main groups: facial expressions and choreography. Choreography can be classified as a composition of steps and moves for a musical performance, and the use of choreography can be clearly seen within Benassi’s video. Each female has been choreographed to make some sort of movement that falls in time with the music. This can clearly be seen, for example, when the masonry drill is introduced in the video. At this point we are confronted with a woman kneeling a wiggling her hips and bottom in time to the music. This style of choreography is reflected
