Textual analysis 2



Bruno Mars- Grenade

The first thing I noticed about this video was the medium close up of the rain at the beginning. The rain symbolises that something bad is going to happen, and is iconic of the romance genre. The artist is also wearing a red t shirt which symbolises both romance and danger. He also appears to be in a dark room with a shadow over his face which indicates he is shutting himself away after having his heart broken. The medium close up of him sat on the bed with the rain in the background shows he is dominant but lets the audience know the rain is still present. The medium close up his hands holding a picture of him and his romantic interest is also iconic of the romance genre, particularly when the character has had their heart broken. When the glass on the photoframe smashes it gives the audience an indication of the narrative as it shows he has had his heart broken. From this the audience already know that the narrative of the video is going to revolve around him getting his heart broken.

The close up shots of his hands pulling a piano along with a rope indicates that he is going through great lengths for the women he loves, which is conventional for the romance genre.  This also links to the lyrics of the song as it is about the things he would sacrifice for the woman he loves.It appears to the audience that he is pulling the piano along a busy tunnel, which shows he is representing how a man would be portrayed in the romance genre as it is seen as typically the man's job to woo the girl.  He is also dressed formally  in a suit which is iconographic of the romance genre as a man is usually dressed like this when he is about to take a girl out in romance films. The medium shot of the beggar is symbolic as it symbolises that he would do anything for the girl he loves, as a beggar would do anything for money or food.  The next scene shows him coming into a rough area and about to face confrontation with a gang, but the audience can see that he is not fased by this, which shows that he is determined to get to the women he loves and things like that won't stop him. A gang member knocks the photo of the woman he loves out of his hand, which indicates that he is about to lose her.

The target audience of this media text is young women as most young women dream about having a man that will go through great lengths for her like the artist in the video, therefore the audience is mainstream. The artist Bruno Mars is also often portrayed as being a ladie's man who is good at wooing girls, and a lot of his other songs are from the romance genre. Therefore it has become obvious that the institution has puposely given him this image in order to appeal to the target audience which is young women.

The narrative concludes when the audience sees the shot tilted upwards towards a window where the woman he loves is kissing another man. The major theme of the narrative is heart break as the audience knows from the start that that is what the conclusion will be, as the smashed photograph suggests. It portrays the typical ideology that the man should be the one who goes through great lengths to impress the woman, and also that the woman posesses the power within the relationship as she has him wrapped around her finger. The audience also see him pushing the piano back the way he came, which indicates even though she has hurt him he would still put himself through pain for her. The video is shown to interpret the lyrics as when he sings about how he would die for her the audience sees a medium shot of a priest, which is associated with death. This also shows an indication over whats going to happen next, when there is a medium close up of the lights at a railway crossing the audience are immediately led to believe he is going to put himself in danger.

Overall, this video portrays the ideology that a man should be willing to go through great lengths and risk his life for a woman, and also that the woman is the more powerful one in the relationship as she has the man under her thumb. It is also possible that the main character is just imagining the events that unfold in the video, and in reality is hiding away in the room we first see him in in the beginning, as the shadow over his face would symbolise. This may be because in reality he is too scared to go through all these great lengths for this woman, and is being portrayed as being weak rather than confident as the audience would first assume. This is a convention of the romance genre as it is often the case that the man is initially too scared to face the woman, and only plucks up the courage later on. He is being portrayed as the protagonist as he is shown as the one who is trying to do good, however he is unconventional as the protagonist is normally portrayed as the one possessing all the power. The woman is the antagonist as she is portrayed as being deviant as she goes off with another man, however she still possesses all the power as she still manages to make him feel heartbroken.