Run the world and Dior

addict
Audience Q2c
Target/appeal/attract/position/res
pond

Target/ appeal/attract
Primary audience: Teenage
girls/young women, who are fans of
pop/ RnB music.
Secondary audience: Teenage
boys/young men, who are fans of
pop/ RnB music.

Headdress

 The track features an empowering message

- that women "run the world". The Cleopatra
headdress connotes power- this links to
Egyptian matriarchy. It may appeal to
young women/teenage girls, who may aspire
to be confident and dominant. Teenage girls
may find her role model gratifying in this it
helps them create a sense of personal
identity (Blumler & Katz), teaching them
how to be attractive and in control.

Beyonce is seen taking the wallet

from a man

 Beyonce is seen taking the wallet

from a man, and he appears
powerless and doesn't protest. This
appeals to young women's desires to
be in control of men.
Maybe due to the patriarchal society
we live in.

Sexual poses and dance

moves

 Beyonce's costumes are very provocative,

revealing her cleavage and exposing her thighs.
The "skimpy" and "sensual" costumes may appeal
to the sexual desires of young men. However, it
also provides a model of behaviour for young
women who want to know how to look appealing.
The video features a range of interesting and
attractive fashion. The fashion may appeal to
women's desire to look attractive, but also to
express themselves through their clothing.
Beyonce uses many sexual poses and dance
moves. The dance moves may appeal to men as it
may offer them some sexual arousal (Blumler &
Katz).

Positioning

Forefront of every dance and

singing part

 Beyonce is shown to be in command

of all the women dancers and the
male prisoners. When she dances
the rest of the girls follow her lead
and she is always at the forefront of
every dance and singing part,
reinforcing the idea that she is the
wizard that runs the world. This
challenges Berger's observation that,
in art, "men act and women appear".

Lyrics

Who run the world girls

 The text has tried to position the

audience to agree with what Beyonce
is trying to portray - that women "run
the world".

Beyonce in chainsthen
revealed

 The video subverts the idea that women are

repressed, there is a mid-shot of Beyonce in
chains reinforcing the notion of patriarchy.
There is a straight cut to a long shot of
Beyonce, where we see the chains are
actually holding two hyena's which she whips
into control, connoting she is powerful and
dominant. This could also position the
audience to consider the hyenas as how
Beyonce sees men - weaker than her and she
is in power over them.

Headdress

 The use of the Egyptian headdress

suggests that she is powerful, this
positions the audience to think of her
as a modern day Cleopatra and being
in control.

World in a post-apocalyptic
state

 Also the mise-en-scene of the video

is showing the world in a postapocalyptic state which could
suggest that the answer to the lyrics
Who run the world? was men and
that they screwed up and now
women are in charge trying to sort
everything out - equilibrium and
disequilibrium.

Beyonce is seen taking the wallet

from a man

 Beyonce takes the wallet from the

man, showing she has ownership
over the man. The man does not
protest symbolizing he is scared of
her and she is in control. This
subverts the stereotype of women
being passive (John Berger)

Respond
As Stuart Hall has argued, audience
can oppose the intended message of
a text. This is very true of the
Beyonce video for the song Run the
World (girls), which many people
have read as sexist and patriarchal.

Breast thrust

 It could be argued that Beyonce and all of the

background dancers are catering for the male
gaze, which is demonstrating that the only
reason that they are seen as powerful is because
they arent wearing many clothes which entices
men, and apparently means that the females can
control men through their looks and seduction
alone (reinforcing the Beauty Myth (Naomi Wolf)).
At the beginning of the video, Beyonce thrusts
her breasts, which instantly positions her as
catering for the male gaze (Laura Mulvey).

Dustbins on fire/ Mess/ Deserted

place

 Although Beyonce is positioned to Run the

World, which is a positive thing, the world that
she in fact runs appears from the mise-en-scene
to be a crime ridden, messy, unappealing, world,
we can see this though the visual signifiers of
dust bins on fire, deserted bikes, burnt out cars
and so on. This portrays her as being a poor
leader of the world that she is supposedly
running with all of the girls. This positions girls
in a negatively and harsh light, seeing that they
are running a world that is so out of control.

Bodyguards in front

 The fact that most of the way

through the music video Beyonce has
two male bodyguards stood in front
of her shows that, although the
females are being portrayed as
powerful, they still need men to
protect them.

Dior addict
Primary audience: affluent,
heterosexual young women.
Secondary audience: affluent,
heterosexual young men who would
buy the product for their
girlfriends/wives.

The picturesque town

 The mise-en-scene consists of three

key places; the beach, the
picturesque town and the bar, all
conventionally desirable places. This
offers the utopia of 'abundance'
(Richard Dyer), which may be lacking
in the audience's lives.

Beautiful and carefree

 This would appeal to Aspirers (people

who want to appear rich and
attractive) In this case, women (and
teenagers) would want to aspire to
be beautiful and carefree like the
subject in the advert.

On-looking men

 The female subject is the only woman

represented in the advert, surrounded by
handsome on-looking men seemingly
hypnotized by her beauty. This may gratify
some young women, who could make a
personal connection with that image.
Young women and older women could gratify
with the subjects aura and swagger as she
strolls through the town, gaining a sense of
personal identity (Blumler and Katz) and that
they too could achieve this sex appeal.

slow-motion Close-Up

 The female subject (model Daphne

Groeneveld) wears sexually arousing clothing
(bikini on the beach and a very short skirt in
the bar). The provocative exposing body flesh
of her slow-motion Close-Up shots of the
subject slowly rubbing her hands up her legs
and onto her upper body + a different CloseUp shot revealing the subject lifting up her
short skirt,thighs and bottom would appeal to
heterosexual male audiences through sexual
arousal (Blumler and Katz).

Dior fashions & revealing clothes

(Bikini/ red skirt)

 The video features a range of Diors

latest fashion - gratifying the
audience through information.

Positioning

upbeat and fast paced music (nondiegetic sound)

 The upbeat and fast paced music

(non-diegetic sound) sets the adverts
tone, helping the audience to believe
wearing the perfume will shape them
to become sexy, youthful and
carefree, just like Daphne
Groeneveld.

provocative dance / flesh

 In the bar scene it appears the

female subject is performing on the
table for the men with a provocative
dance (connotations of a stripper),
suggesting when women wear the
perfume they are more sexually
arousing.

Beauty

 The text has attempted to position the

audience to buy the Dior Addict perfume,
so they too can be empowered with a
sense of desirability which will result in all
men giving them attention.
By reinforcing the idea that beauty
catches people's attention - the audience
is positioned to beauty as a form of power,
reinforcing Naomi Wolf's idea of the
Beauty Myth.

Lyrics

big money, big

fame
No no no I dont need it

 The lyrics: big money, big fame

No no no I dont need it, suggest
you do not need money or fame to
attract the male gaze, but rather
positions the audience to think that if
you wear the Dior perfume you can
be sexy and achieve this happy
lifestyle.

everything in the advert is in a state

of equilibrium

 There is no state of disequilibrium,

everything in the advert is in a state
of equilibrium (the beautiful mise-enscene, the weather and the attention
she is receiving from the men etc.).
This positions the audience to see
the product (and the lifestyle that
comes with it) in a positive light.

Respond

sexualised construction

 Stuart Halls Reception Model (1980) theory; auidences

have contrasting responses to the same texts; preferred,
negiotiated and oppositional.
Although the audience is being positioned to think of Daphne
Groenevled as a dominant character, this has only been
achieved through her sexualised construction, which
reinforces Naomi Wolfs Beauty Myth theory, suggesting
women are often valued by how beautiful they are.
Therefore, it could be argued the female subject only
achieves the male gaze and her dominant positioning
through her beauty, as there is nothing she does which
requires any form of intellect. An audience could therefore
reject this positioning on this ground, considering this as
reinforcing negative stereotypes of women.

required the assistance of the two

men

 Furthermore, the fact the female

subject required the assistance of the
two men in the bar to help her get
onto the table reflects she was
unable to achieve that as a
independent woman and relied on
males for help

The narrative - before/after

spray

 The narrative suggests the female

subject is alone at the start on the
beach, yet after she uses the
perfume she suddenly becomes
active and desirable. Oppositional
responses to this adverts narrative
could suggest without male attention
women are passive and have nothing
to do and are bored and unemployed