Intertextuality in music videos
Sabahat Kashif
The term Intertextuality refers to the process of creating references to any kind of media text via another media text. In other words Intertextuality essentially means for a type ofmedia(film,television,music etc) to pay homage to another media text.
The literal definition of intertextuality is as follows
The two images below are an example of intertexuality being presented through media texts such as music videos. The image on the left is a clip from the 2009 Pop music video 'She-wolf' in which the singer Shakira preforms an anti-gravity lean dance move.This can be seen as a use of intertextuality in the music industry as this maneuver, is very identical to the anti-gravity lean which was famously preformed by Michael Jackson in his 1987 Pop single 'Smooth Criminal'.
In Smooth Criminal this anti gravity lean was achieved through the use of a hitching mechanism in the floor of the music video's set that would latch on to Jackson's shoes attaching him to the floor and therefore allowing him to preform this feat.
Shakira herself had stated in an interview on the american television programme 'Good morning America', that the purpose of her preforming this dance move that was made famous by Michael Jackson in 1987 was so that she could pay tribute to him, in her music video as claimed that 'He was the king of artistic magic'.
2009 'she-wolf'
Michael Jackson in his 1987 Pop single 'Smooth Criminal'
Another example of intertextuality in music videos is in Lady Gaga's 'Paparazzi'. Front pages of newspapers and articles are featured throughout the video promoting this media text. The photographs taken by the paparazzi of Lady Gaga after being pushed off a cliff cover newspaper articles with bold and dramatic headlines.
Robbie Williams's music video 'You Know Me' is a hybrid video of performance and narrative styles. It features the artist following the famous story line of Alice in Wonderland with an added modern twist at the beginning. The singer falls into a deep dream and climbs through his dressing room mirror into Wonderland dressed as the white rabbit. Intertextuality is created between the music video and film due to costumes, props and location used which is all very similar to the film and book.
Robbie Williams 'you know me'
Alice in the wonderland
Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love' (Donovan 1986), alludes to fashion photography and has been parodied many times for its use of mannequin style females in the band fronted by a besuited Palmer. Shania twain copied it for her 'Man I feel like a woman' (Paul Boyd 1999)
Shania twain 'Man I feel like a woman' (Paul Boyd 1999)
Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love' (Donovan 1986)