Analysis of Stupid Girls-Pink

Song- Stupid girls
Artist- Pink
Director- Dave Meyers

Target Audience
The core audience of the music video would be fans of the artist, specifically teenage girls with an interest in pop music. As the video tells a great deal about the artists opinions and views on the new generation it has become subject of many debates attracting larger audiences that might not have necessarily seen the video previously.
Narrative Structure
The negatively portrayed characters in the video are parodies of young female celebrities today. The video reflects the lyrics in which it deplores the lack of good role models for girls whilst encouraging them to cultivate their own independence and individuality. The video highlights the culture's unrealistic pursuit of thinness and drive for physical beauty. The video shows the artist, Pink, as an angel and demon trying to influence the future of a young girl. The angel and demon demonstrate two different directions the young girl can take and will be looked at further in the 'characters' section below. The narrative for this music video fits under one of Roland Barthes 5 action codes, which enable an audience to make sense of a narrative. It meets his 3rd action code; cuttral (prior social knowledge) for example it reflects our attitudes to gender- the scene of pink dancing in a 50 cent video and the stereotypes of "the stupid girl".
Setting
There are numerous locations in this video, each one representing a point that the song is trying to make. For example one of the settings is the artist, pink, dancing in a 50 cent video. Most people are familiar with the female extras in rap videos and this particular setting is a portrayal of women as a sexual object which is seen predominantly in rap videos. The video uses the setting to emphasis the views of the artist and the point that is being put across. The different situations and dramas shown through the setting are displayed as humorous and making fun of certain celebrities. For example; the scene in the tanning salon is over the top and is humorous to the audience as it has taken a normal situation and exaggerated it. The basic spray tan basis is popular for teenage girls, which happen to be the main audience of this video. The viewers can therefore relate and understand the video and the points that are trying to be made. The producer focuses on the situations being slightly unrealistic and exaggerated as it's more entertaining for the audience and reinforces the point of the video.
Characters
The artist plays various characters in this video, all of the characters representing one of two groups; characters that represent the "stupid girls" and the characters that are the opposite of this. She is shown in numerous roles some of which include; a dancer in a 50 cent video, a girl at a tanning salon, a girl attempting to attract the attention of an instructor at the gym and a girl getting plastic surgery. All of these characters fit the "stupid girl" title and are portrayed negatively and are parodies of young female celebrities. The characters playing the opposite of the "stupid girl" are; a finishing school teacher, a female president and a girl winning a game of football. These are displayed as positive characters and the end of the video shows the young girl picking a football over make up and dolls. The demon is defeated.
Costume
The outfits worn are typical costumes of young girls and celebrities. A lot of pink, glitter and fluffy items are used to reflect the girly impression of the "stupid girl". Handbags, sunglasses and statement jewellery is seen predominantly on the characters representing the "stupid girls" and suits, glasses and neat and tidy hair is seen on the characters playing the opposite. All of the costumes are typical of the characters being portrayed. This is known as intertextuality as it's recreating the look and scene's that are typical of each character.
Lyrics
The lyrics are powerful and strong and tell the points that are being put across by the video, the lyrics reflect the video. The video follows the songs lyrics to emphasis and reinforce the points that the lyrics are talking about. The lyrics make the point and the video merely shows the point visually, the lyrics are mirrored by the video. The lyrics where inspired by the lack of good role models for girls while encouraging them to be independent and individual. The song lyrics help to highlight points such as,' the culture's relentless and unrealistic pursuit of thinness and unattainable drive for physical beauty'.
Special effects
There aren't many special effects used in this video. The main effect used is the floating demon and angel which represent the two directions the young girl can take. These are made to float in the air, with just there heads shown as demons and angels don't exist. They're fantasy characters taken from inside the girls head and the special effects help to portray this.
Camera angles and editing
The video displays a number of shots varying from establishing shots to set the setting for each scene, close ups to emphasis certain points, medium close ups, extreme close ups, high and low angles to demonstrate the more powerful and the weak and panning and tracking shots to follow the action of the video. The editing is of a reasonable pace and the camera shots are long enough for the viewer to understand what the image is representing. It isn't however too slow so keeps the viewer interested and compelled to carry on watching. There are sections of faster editing that match the pace of the song, for example 1.08-1.10. In the space of these 2/3 seconds there are 5 different shots which match the tempo of this certain section. As the video is based around telling the viewer a story and is reinforcing a point with each scene, the shots are relatively slow compared to the up tempo music. This is so the story can be clearly seen and understood and the humour of the video can be recognised.