Textual Analysis

Missy Elliot - She's a bitch


Missy Elliot - She's a Bitch
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This song by Missy Elliot is a performance based video which consists of no males. At the start of the video we get a very sinister vibe from the artist, however the beat is very hip hop which is conventional. The dull/dark colour scheme used challenges the generic codes for the video.

At the start of the video we see Missy Elliot wearing a black costume which to some extent challenges the female conventional code as they do not wear this type of costume/clothing. This type of clothing is wore by male and is clearly identified through mise-en-scene. Here we can already see that there is some intertextuality referencing to the movie blade. The main character in the movie is Blade. His role in the movie is of a brave heroic vampire slayer, this role would not be suitable for a women to play, as heroes are mostly men, who are brave and strong. Here pepresentation of gender is immedtiately noticed as this is not expected. Looking at her costumes we can see the similiarity with the movie Blade. This particular video challenges the idea of feminism and post feminist views. From the video, we can see that Missy Elliot doesn't care what people think of her as she has her own style, She embraces that she is different and enjoys it.
Blade the character was was half vampire and human, the intertextuality referencing is very interesting, however there may be some post feminist views as she is in control of what she doing. She is not doing it to please oyher, she is saying this is who i am. Missy Elliot seems to reject conventional representation of women free from objectification. Furthermore, the video sticks to the typical feature of a female hip hop artist video. We see a high angle shot on her for quite long, and this could be representing how the industry looks down on her and how she challenges the standard of getting recognition in the music industry. After we see a low angle shot of her walking which could represent that she is determined towards something with her new image. This particular video is seen to be one of the most expensive videos of all time. Missy Elliot puts her messages across that she isn't a normal/average artist, her style in this specific video counters feminism. As the vidoe goes on we see her in a car, which yet again, goes against conventions of a female hip hop video, She doesn't conform to stereotypes of gender representation.
However, we see some female dancers in the video, which is a common convention of a hip hop video but Missy Elliot doesn't wear provocative clothing like them. Instead, she wears mens clothing which is another unconventional feature by her, this makes her different.

In conclusion, approach to music has allowed her to have an image of her own, one which has worked succesfully. However, there is still a post feminist vibe to the video but Missy Elliot has done it in her own unique way. Furthermore, the video is not completely post feminist as she doesn't go for a sexy female approach like the other females. By doing this, Missy Elliot has given a differnet impression of typical female artist in the Hip Hop genre. She has made her own unique and different image whilst enjoying and being herself. She opposes feminsit views strongly as has acted like a male in this particular video.