Hungry Like The Wolf- Duran Duran (1982)
Music video by Duran Duran for Hungry Like The Wolf (1982)
This video was entirely filmed on location in Sri Lanka. The band are all young, white males which makes them stand out as they are culturally other from the Sri Lankan locals. The locals are shown to be poor & old-fashioned compared to the band members, as shots of beggars & hard-working market-stallholders are juxtaposed with the glamorousness of the band. The Tamil military presence is shown which would truly show a predominantly white British audience that Sri Lanka was a very different world, as Britain is not generally policed by military officers. The country is shown to have many mystical & mysterious properties & inhabitants, such as the snake charmer, the lush jungles that hide all manner of creatures (including an elephant) & the lead female dancer in the video. This video became hugely popular amongst young white people as it is a classic example of white wish-fulfilment adventurer fantasy, as the band (especially lead singer Simon LeBon) are shown to be intrepid explorers in an exotic land in the manner of Indiana Jones. This contrasts with the locals who are all getting on with their day-to-day lives, almost to comic effect as the melodramatic flailing of Simon as he 'hunts' the woman is aided by nonplussed Sri Lankan children who can tell he obviously has no idea what he's doing & is totally out of his depth. The woman he chases is represented as the stereotypical exotic black woman. She is painted in 'traditional'-looking warpaint & juxtaposed with images of a leopard, showing she is animalistic & mysterious like the endangered animal. The townspeople are shown to be hard-working in their bustling market in the middle of the lush green jungle, while both the jungle & the market are shown to be obstacles to the white man's conquest.
Paper Planes-MIA (1982)
Music video by MIA for Paper Planes (2007)
This video by British & Sri Lankan singer MIA is a positive representation of a woman from an ethnic minority, as MIA is shown to be independent & optimistic despite working in a sandwich van (probably not a well-paying job) & hanging around in markets & subways. This video shows that she is optimistic & hard-working & does not let lack of money or status get her down. The lyrics reflect her social situation as she is not part of a wealthy elite but gets by on slightly illegal activities & personal enterprise. The song deals with themes of immigration, as MIA sings about VISAs & getting over borders, which can be read literally as immigrants crossing borders to become hard-working members of larger communities & also as immigrant people crossing personal & interpersonal borders (such as language barriers & being the subject of racism) with hard-work & a positive outlook. MIA is a rap star, but in this video she is working hard in a menial job, which shows how one cannot reach the top unless one is prepared to work really hard, especially if one is from an ethnic minority.
Music video by Duran Duran for Hungry Like The Wolf (1982)
This video was entirely filmed on location in Sri Lanka. The band are all young, white males which makes them stand out as they are culturally other from the Sri Lankan locals. The locals are shown to be poor & old-fashioned compared to the band members, as shots of beggars & hard-working market-stallholders are juxtaposed with the glamorousness of the band. The Tamil military presence is shown which would truly show a predominantly white British audience that Sri Lanka was a very different world, as Britain is not generally policed by military officers. The country is shown to have many mystical & mysterious properties & inhabitants, such as the snake charmer, the lush jungles that hide all manner of creatures (including an elephant) & the lead female dancer in the video. This video became hugely popular amongst young white people as it is a classic example of white wish-fulfilment adventurer fantasy, as the band (especially lead singer Simon LeBon) are shown to be intrepid explorers in an exotic land in the manner of Indiana Jones. This contrasts with the locals who are all getting on with their day-to-day lives, almost to comic effect as the melodramatic flailing of Simon as he 'hunts' the woman is aided by nonplussed Sri Lankan children who can tell he obviously has no idea what he's doing & is totally out of his depth. The woman he chases is represented as the stereotypical exotic black woman. She is painted in 'traditional'-looking warpaint & juxtaposed with images of a leopard, showing she is animalistic & mysterious like the endangered animal. The townspeople are shown to be hard-working in their bustling market in the middle of the lush green jungle, while both the jungle & the market are shown to be obstacles to the white man's conquest.
Paper Planes-MIA (1982)
Music video by MIA for Paper Planes (2007)
This video by British & Sri Lankan singer MIA is a positive representation of a woman from an ethnic minority, as MIA is shown to be independent & optimistic despite working in a sandwich van (probably not a well-paying job) & hanging around in markets & subways. This video shows that she is optimistic & hard-working & does not let lack of money or status get her down. The lyrics reflect her social situation as she is not part of a wealthy elite but gets by on slightly illegal activities & personal enterprise. The song deals with themes of immigration, as MIA sings about VISAs & getting over borders, which can be read literally as immigrants crossing borders to become hard-working members of larger communities & also as immigrant people crossing personal & interpersonal borders (such as language barriers & being the subject of racism) with hard-work & a positive outlook. MIA is a rap star, but in this video she is working hard in a menial job, which shows how one cannot reach the top unless one is prepared to work really hard, especially if one is from an ethnic minority.
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