*Blog#2*Jamie Collingwood*Media & Society JN201*May 20th 2012*
Introduce:
“Where have you been” By Rihanna
 |
| Behind the Scenes of Rihanna’s ‘Where Have You Been’ |
Describe:
A brief bio of the singer Rihanna~ Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born Feb. 20,
1988 in Barbados and she moved to the US when she was 16 years old to pursue a
recording career. She signed a contract with Def
Jam Recordings and in 2005 produced her debut album and to become the star
she is today.
Here are a few fun facts that you may not have known about Rihanna:
Fact#1.She insured her legs for $1 million and told people they were her main focus when exercising.
Fact#2. Her first number one hit was "S.O.S (Rescue Me)".
Fact#3. Rihanna made a cameo appearance in the 2006 cheer leading romp, Bring It On: All or Nothing.
Here are a few fun facts that you may not have known about Rihanna:
Fact#1.She insured her legs for $1 million and told people they were her main focus when exercising.
Fact#2. Her first number one hit was "S.O.S (Rescue Me)".
Fact#3. Rihanna made a cameo appearance in the 2006 cheer leading romp, Bring It On: All or Nothing.
Description
of “Where have you been” Music Video:
A four minute music
video that has a tribal sound and with the
unique vocals of the one and only Rihanna. This music video was
filmed on March 7th thru March 9, 2012 in Los Angeles, California and
was directed by Dave Meyers. The main idea of the video is to show Rihanna
traveling all over the world "looking
for a male partner who will please her".
 |
| Behind the scenes at Rihanna's "Where Have You Been" video shoot. |
“Where have you been”
Lyrics
[Rihanna]
I've been everywhere, man
Looking for someone
Someone who can please me
Love me all night long
I've been everywhere, man
Looking for you babe
Looking for you babe
Searching for you babe
Where have you been
Cause I never see you out
Are you hiding from me, yeah?
Somewhere in the crowd
[Hook]
Where have you been,
All my life, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
[Beat Break]
[Rihanna]
I've been everywhere, man
Looking for someone
Someone who can please me
Love me all night long
I've been everywhere, man
Looking for you babe
Looking for you babe
Searching for you babe
Where have you been
Cause I never see you out
Are you hiding from me, yeah?
Somewhere in the crowd
[Hook]
All my life, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
Where have you been, all my life
[Beat Break]
Where have you been, all my life
[Bridge]
You can have me all you want
Any way, any day
To show me where you are tonight
I've been everywhere, man
Looking for someone
Someone who can please me
Love me all night long
I've been everywhere, man
Looking for you babe
Looking for you babe
Searching for you babe
Rihanna Where Have You Been lyrics found on
http://www.directlyrics.com/rihanna-where-have-you-been-lyrics.html
~Awards Rihanna has received~
 |
| BRIT Awards Logo Advertistment |
 |
| American Music Award Logo |
11 Hit Singles on the
 |
| Billboard 2012 Music Awards Logo |
Top 10 Rihanna Songs: (from Top 40
About.com)
1. "Umbrella"
featuring Jay-Z (2007)
2. "Disturbia" (2008)
3. "Only
Girl (In the World)" (2010)
4. "S.O.S." (2006)
5. "Don't
Stop the Music" (2007)
6. "What's My Name" featuring Drake
(2010)
7. "Take
a Bow" (2008)
8. "Rude Boy" (2010)
9. "Pon de Replay" (2005)
8. "Rude Boy" (2010)
9. "Pon de Replay" (2005)
10. "Russian Roulette" (2009)
Analyze:
How
is this “Where have you been” Similar to other Rihanna Videos?
It is similar in the sense that is remains in the same genre
as other works by this artist. It has the same general idea of alot of her work but it diffidently went a very different realm than this artist normally goes. Different in the sense of style, choreography, and way less clothing.
How
is “Where have you been” Similar to other videos in the same genre (Pop,
dance-pop, R&B,)? It is similar to Brittany
Spears “Inside Out” Due to the Caribbean feel and bouncy beat and similar style of dance moves.
Interpretation:
Why is this Video important to our
culture? I don’t know if
I would say this video is necessarily an important part of our culture, but I would
say it is very normal part of our culture in the sense of how uninhibited we
have become in society today. Why we think this is a good message to send to the younger generation i will never understand. This song is also sending out the message that is okay to look for someone who satisfies them with passion and not love, for this also sending the wrong message. Is the uncensored a good or bad culture change? I wanna say bad as a mother but i am hoping my overprotective attitude is wrong for the sack of our future.
Does it reflect a trend in our culture? So I think this video is a good indicator of how numb society
today has become as far as nudity and a vast difference in music today compared
to how we viewed things 20 years earlier. I remember when Madonna put out her book "Truth or Dare" and the huge uproar that caused in the 80's and that was from a book which gets a lot less circulation than a music video. So yes I will have to say that this video is huge indicator of a huge trend in our culture today.
Target audience? Teenager girls 12-16
Stereotypes/Offensive message? I defiantly feel that there is an offensive amount of nudity shown for the target audience and an underline stereotype of “Mr. Right” involved in this video. I hate saying that because I really enjoy Rihanna’s music but I was thinking for more my age group not the targeted age group and I have to say that as a mother I have to say I wouldn’t want my preteen looking to Rihanna as idol. even though she is incredibly talented and famous I feel her image and attitude to promote herself to the younger generation is alarming. If instead of stripping off her clothes and prancing around and she choose to show a little self respect and self preservation then maybe she could be idol material.
Stereotypes/Offensive message? I defiantly feel that there is an offensive amount of nudity shown for the target audience and an underline stereotype of “Mr. Right” involved in this video. I hate saying that because I really enjoy Rihanna’s music but I was thinking for more my age group not the targeted age group and I have to say that as a mother I have to say I wouldn’t want my preteen looking to Rihanna as idol. even though she is incredibly talented and famous I feel her image and attitude to promote herself to the younger generation is alarming. If instead of stripping off her clothes and prancing around and she choose to show a little self respect and self preservation then maybe she could be idol material.
Evaluation:
Strengths~ Originality in the genre
and willingness to be uninhibited as an artist are a plus. The dancing in this
video is pretty amazing.
Weakness~ Targeted age group is not inappropriate to
the content of this video and the lyrics are quite repetitive with a no values.
Overall~ I
feel this video is mediocre. I feel as far as Rihanna is concerned that this
isn’t her best work but isn’t her worst piece of work either. It is diffently
more original than other pieces of her work I have seen. I enjoyed the Caribbean
feel of this video. I don't appreciate the message she is sending out and I know maybe she is pushing the envelope to show the public she is a woman and not a chiId but if she was truly an adult she would be thinking of those who idolizes her instead of how she wants to attract the wrong kind of attention. I feel that it is memorable in the sense of how much nudity
Rihanna willing to do for this video and for Esquire Magazine, but as far as the
music quality I am afraid it will probably fade fairly quickly. I would not recommend this video to my children or anyone else's children. Overall I give this a......
2 Star Rating
The Wall Street Journal praises the “impressive dance sequence,
but notes the following: “In between dance numbers, fancy computer-generated
imagery gives her multiple heads and arms — we’re not so sure those scenes were
better than adding more footage of Rihanna dancing.”
UK’s Mirror quips, “Rihanna’s always had the same
view on clothes that we have on low fat chocolate — why bother?”
The Huffington
Post was also feeling RiRi’s fancy footwork:
“Rihanna doesn’t normally do extended dance scenes, so it’s interesting to see
the singer go the path of the Brittney's and Christina's before her and delve into
some deeper choreography.”
My Family/ Friends
Opinions of this “Where have you been”:
I thought I would share how my whole
conversion on Facebook went while I was gathering opinions for this blog music
review.
I posted this with a
link to the YouTube video of Rihanna’s “where have you been”:
Me ;
ALL seriousness I need my FAMILY/FRIENDS help!!!!! I am doing a review of this video for one of my classes and i need some REAL opinions from MY FAMILY/FRIENDS SOOOO PLEASE HELP ME By telling me what you think of this video THANK YOU XOXO Jamie Collingwood
ALL seriousness I need my FAMILY/FRIENDS help!!!!! I am doing a review of this video for one of my classes and i need some REAL opinions from MY FAMILY/FRIENDS SOOOO PLEASE HELP ME By telling me what you think of this video THANK YOU XOXO Jamie Collingwood
.Jay Keesee: it is a really good song and a awesome video too
Me:
Thank you Jay Keesee
Thank you Jay Keesee
Me:PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I need as many reviews of this song as I can get PLEASE HELP!!!!!
Meghan Shirley:it looks so cool, and she looks amazing as always, i really like this video!
Mindy Pickens;
Do you just need to know if we like it or do you have a more
specific question like do we agree with her message, or do we relate to her
story, or what do we think the song says about her demographic?
Yvonne Claunch:
You want to know what
I think..Well here goes..... I think this is once again a vulgar display of
legal pornography. The "lyrics" are suggestive, the mode of dress is
wanton, and the dance is a vile display of groping sex with ones self. I do not
like it and am now ashamed that I listened and watched. I will feel sorry that
this is part of your curriculum. Prayers go out to you your classmates and your
instructor.
LOL Yvonne just so you can rest a little easier this video
actually wasn’t a part of the curriculum. I actually picked this video for
reason which I will share after I get a few more opinions.....Mindy please feel
free to share whatever appeals to you or comes to mind when you watch this
video....I would appreciate honest uncensored a opinions. I am looking for
Critic reviews of my friends and family I do not have a specific question I
need answered just opinions of how this video makes you feel and I think you
all will be very surprised to know Rihanna demographic (Target Audience). I
will be sharing this info online and with my class so if for some reason you
don’t want your name mentioned please let me know, so I don’t include you in my
review(blog), but I appreciate all opinions it is of great help to me!!!! Thank
you
Well, I will do my best to give you my reaction in this
limited forum. In many ways this song is every pop, hip hop and country song
popular over the last 20 or so years. Essentially this song says "my
purpose, my quest, my life is pointed at and centered around finding a person
who satisfies and pleases my wants & needs". In our culture that
experience is called "love". It is ultimately a small and deeply
dissatisfying type of love that reduces men and women commodities, with
features we like or don't. This message is all over, so Rhianna isn't saying
anything new. In fact her song had about two sentences and that's the complete
message. The images in her video say the same thing as the song, "look at
me, I am beautiful, I am sex, I am intoxication, I am willing to worship you if
you can please me". She makes herself the same as something shiny on a
store shelf with a price tag & marketing that sends the message, "You
want me, give me what I want and you can have me". Many people will be
especially sensative to this video because its closer to hip hop than it is to
other genres but honestly this message permeates most popular music. You can
find a very similar self focused, "meet my needs and we'll call it
love" attitude even in some popular Christian music. I think Rhianna, and
every other woman, person, is infinitely valuable and therefore it saddened me
to see her make herself a mere vessel of sexual power. When we fall into the
lie that love is pleasure, its being satisfied & viscerally wanted we
damage ourselves and those we ask to love us. I don't think her dress &
dance is becoming but that is a small issue compared to the smallness,
weakness, and hollowness of her message--the message of our generation and the
next.
The things that really should be mentioned and looked at is
what she is acting like and portraying is ok for our culture and age groups.
How about having a few morals and values because, look at what our kids are
watching and looking at and wanting to dress like and for the way she dresses
it sends out the wrong message for men, just looking at the way men treat a
women in todays generation compared to back when our grandparents where raised
a man definitely was not called a gentleman if he disrespected a woman. With
the way she dressing men will take it the wrong way and treat her less than she
is worth. I know that being a father myself I sure do not want my daughter to
be seen dressed like that because I know my daughter deserves better than the
crowd that attracts.
I just want to say thx to everyone who helped with my
homework project and I will be posting my blog hopefully in a few hours ....I
hope when I do I could get some feedback I am a little nervous about this
project for some reason.....well I hope everyone enjoys there day and thx again!
Engage:
I cant say I would run out and buy this album today but I cant say that about any album because it has been years since I actually went out and bought a CD. If you are the curious type of individual? Maybe the indepent, opinionated, logical or level headed kind of person then you know there is no other choose but for you to make your own opinion and the only way for you to do this is by checking out this video yourself!!
Summery:
I learned in doing this blog that there is a
lot a research involved when doing a review and there is a lot of various
opinions floating around, but to be a
true to myself and true to what you think and believe, even if it isn’t what I originally thought or with what others think is a delicate task. My values, beliefs and concern for the welfare of the target audience and the welfare of our society. Brought up huge questions about why there isn't more parents (myself included) doing more about censorship. Being honest and straight up about how I feel about this video was at first a scary move considering the overall opinion of this video with it's outstanding rave reviews . I have to say thanks to my Face book friends/family that backed how I was feeling, with their opinions and it made it way less intimidating. I would appreciate continued feedback and opinions to be shared by my posting this blog and also suggestions and comments on this blog would be greatly appreciated.
