Research: Intertexuality

What is intertextuality?

Intertextuality is when an idea in a music video is an ideology or refers to other things within the media, existing past events, famous people, films etc. Artist will include intertextuality in their music videos for various for reasons for example, one being because Goodwin mentions in his theory of music videos that intertextual references is one of the key characteristic that should be and is likely to be evident within all the mainstream music videos. This is because this allows audience to engage in the music video as it can be fun and entertaining to them working out the intertextuality behind it. This further allows the success of the video and encourages it to fulfil these common conventions that mainstream audiences expect. Having intertextuality to a music video can be good and bad for example, it could be quite difficult to understand and sometimes may make the audience feel uncomfortable. However, it can also be beneficial as it is likely to enhance the video making it more entertaining to watch.

Examples of Intertextual References

Previous music videos that include intertextuality references include:

• Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith - La La La

This song has the intertextuality from the film 'Wizard of Oz'. The 'la la la' in the song is the reference from the film as the young boy represents Dorothy in her journey as he meets similar characters that was in the film. He finds an abandoned dog which resembles the lion, then an old homeless man who is given a heart by the little boy which associates to the tin man. And finally the boy meets with a man dressed in an animal costume reflecting the scarecrow. This is cleverly done as the intertextuality is not too obvious at the start until we see a the boy give the man a heart just like the film. From the intertextuality in this music video, it has helped promote a message and a true story to the audience.

• George Michael - Outside

George Michael's music video 'Outside' has the intertextual reference to his personal life and the major events that had happened. Due to George Michael's incident in the public toilets with another male police officer, in the beginning of the music video, the audience are presented with a couple in the beginning who are kissing in the public toilets. The man then gets arrested as a result, reflects George Michaels real life event. The intertextual reference to his life is further evident throughout the video as other couples begin to kiss in public places such as boats, cars and buildings. Then being caught by cameras that face consequences as a result of their actions. George Michael made this music video with the intertextual reference to what had happened to him as it plays a huge part of who he is today. This was an official video allowing the public know that he was gay.

• Britney Spears - Oops I did it again

Britney Spears into the future music video has the intertextual reference to the film 'Titanic'. In her music video, her lover gives her a necklace as she responds saying "But, I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean". This is an intertextual reference to when the old lady in the 'Titanic' is seen dropping her necklace into the ocean for her dead lover. The reference made here from the romantic move 'Titanic' is relevant to the couples relationship as it suggests that is as valuable as the couple in 'Titanic".

• Robbie Williams - You know me

In the music video 'You know me' by Robbie Williams is an intertextual reference to 'Alice in Wonderland' as he dresses up as the white rabbit from the film while he performs his song. In the film, the white rabbit is perceived as the character who carries the most knowledge. This further suggest that Robbie Williams is also portraying himself as wise person like the rabbit in the film.

Advantages of intertextuality:

• Entertainment - One of the advantages of having an intertextual reference to a music video is that keeps the audience engaged and entertained. A music video with an intertextual reference is more likely to have better visuals which attracts the audience and therefore is likely to evoke humour from them.
• Allows the audience to get to know the artist better - Intertextual references may be used within a music video for many different reasons. One is to let the audience understand the artists personal opinions and morals they have. This further creates a mutual relationship between audience and artist.

Disadvantages of intertextuality:

• Offensive - Due to the changing values of artists nowadays, they can sometimes have a controversial music video and the intertextual reference they may use might be perceived negatively. It can sometimes be associated with other people that can be quite offensive. For example, Eminem's 'Just loose it' has many different intertextual references of famous people and events and one that is offensive is when he associated with Michael Jackson's nose and Elvis Presley's death, mocking them.
• Influences opinions - Intertextual references are likely to encourage audiences opinions which could potential prevent the audience from having their own thoughts and opinions, instead they take what they see from the artist and feel like they need to agree on what their idol says.
• Spreads negativity - There could be some negative intertextual references which could spread negativity as the audience may be informed about the popular issues that are displayed in the media. Nowadays music videos are broadcasted almost everywhere and can be accessed using different types of media platforms, as a result this could spread the issue widely, epically if the artist has a large, global fan base.
• Artists can lose fans - With controversial intertextual references, it could result in the fans may turning away from the artist, disliking them and the song overall. It contain inappropriate or considered 'taking it too far' and as a result they might not listen or watch the artists content in the future.

Conclusion: Will you use intertextual references in your music video?

After researching about intertextual references and understanding how various artists have used them to either share a personal opinion, send a message to their fans or entertain the audience. I have also learnt that sometimes people can feel offended through the intertextual references that artists use and they could respond in a negative way which could jeopardise their representation or success of their song. I don't want to risk offending anyone as there are many different ways to interpret a reference that's used, someone could perceive differently to the way I initially want it to be intercepted and may offend or upset them.