Response to Dreamworld - Brooke Dinsmore

This is the second time I have watched Dreamworlds 3 and if anything it was more disturbing the second time. I am not someone who ever really views media images without critically engaging with them but when they are isolated from their context and set to ominous background music they become so much more disturbing. However I think what is most important to take from Dreamworlds is the constructed nature of these images; as the movie notes, they are not natural but carefully constructed. I think many people’s reaction to negative images in the music videos is to start talking about the individual; to say that women consent to be in the music videos so they can’t really be that problematic. This is an inadequate dismissal because as the movie addresses, especially for female artists, to be successful, to be promoted by a record company, you must fit into the script of the dreamworld.

Like when we watched Tough Guise, I also like to ask the question of how does much remains the same. Has it changed since the documentary? And like Tough Guise, I think the answer is largely that no, nothing really has changed. These are still the dominant images of male and female sexuality in music videos. However I think the issue of female artists and images is an interesting one to address for the here and now. 2011 was a huge year for female artists – they had seven of the top ten albums. I also think that there has been some change since Dreamworlds 3 in this area. There is a slight bit more diversity. Four of the female artists with top ten albums fit squarely into the sexual role ascribed to women in Dreamworlds, namely Katy Perry, Rhianna, Nicki Minaj and for all her supposed radicalness, I would also argue Lady Gaga.  However Adele and Taylor Swift had the first and second albums respectively and neither of them fits squarely into the Dreamworlds role. However I would argue Taylor Swift is merely the other half of the virgin/whore dichotomy. Her sexuality is that of the virgin but it is still undoubtedly there and just as surely as her songs do it is centered around men. Adele can be in many ways be argued to be a deviation from the norm for female artists; she is remarkably non-sexualized. She performs in sixties-esque modest dresses and doesn’t in any way writhe or touch herself seductively.  However what I think is key is that all her music still revolves around the presence or absence of a man. In this way she still fits into the script of the Dreamworld.