Tuesday 27 September 2011

Intertextuality and Gender Representation in 'Stupid Girls'- Pink (2006)



The video I have chosen to comment on in reference to intertextuality is Pink’s ‘Stupid Girls’ which sees the singer assume various roles parodying the stupidity of image obsessed Hollywood-ites with references to the celebrity culture that surrounds and influences us. Not only is the video littered with intertextuality and low culture references but also comments on the portrayal of women in the media and questions the lack of positive role models for young girls.
"I live in L.A., so it's obvious what I'm surrounded by. ... I don't need to name names,"-Pink




The video was directed by Dave Meyers, a well known Grammy award winning American Music Video director in 2006. The song deals with the idea of aspiring to be more than just a ‘stupid girl’ encouraging individuality and ‘outcasts and girls with ambition’. When asked about the lyrics, Pink said "there's a certain thing the world is being fed and my point is there should be a choice."


Echoing this, the music video begins with a young girl watching television as an angel and devil Pink appear on either side, a frequently used metaphor in film and television for her conscience. The girl flicks to a channel showing an etiquette class in black and white, displaying the dated ideals of how women should behave- flicking their hair and copying the teacher, robotically and devoid of emotion. She then changes channel to see a young female celebrity visiting a Fred Segal store dressed in the popular at the time Boho-chic style, mimicking Mary Kate Olsen. Fred Segal is notoriously known as a hang out for wealthy celebrities and trust-funders, a paparazzi photo opportunity with Pretty Women-esque shop assistants. By including this reference Pink and Meyers are already painting a picture of the type of people the song and video are poking fun of. She is then seen walking into a glass door which is immediately juxtaposed by a clip of Pink as a female president, displaying a common theme that continues throughout the video of a fragmentation of sensibility- cross cutting clips of female empowerment such as a president and football player with those of airhead clones. Through this Meyers forces the audience to challenge the superficial stereotype and explore their potential by promoting alternative positive role models for young girls and ridiculing the negative. His efforts are similar to ideas in feminism of women taking control of their own lives and being seen as equal to men both professionally and personally. 

Throughout the video Pink also assumes roles as a dancer in a 50 Cent (played by his own cousin!) video, a girl trying to impress a male trainer at the gym, a woman with inflatable breasts, an orange girl at a tanning salon, a bulimic, a mutton-dressed as lamb type wearing a pink tracksuit and a girl getting plastic surgery. These are all clear references to stereotypes of our popular culture but there are also other intertextual references, in the forms of parodies of young female Hollywood celebrities. This includes a girl sexually washing her car (Jessica Simpson), a redhead distracted by her reflection driving her car into people (Lindsay Lohan) and a girl making a sex tape (Paris Hilton- ‘One Night in Paris’).

Pink and Jessica Simpson

Pink and Lindsay Lohan

Pink and Mary Kate Olsen

Pink and Paris Hilton

The video is a post-modern pastiche commenting on society’s obsession with appearance and fame, portraying it so comically to the point of stupidity…as the song suggests. The video however has wider significance, illustrated through the character of the young girl. The fact that this behavior is all around and is permeating the minds of women of all ages is worrying and thought provoking. Although funny on the surface, the video has deeper meaning, using recognisable intertextuality to appeal to its target market of females. The issues raised, particularly that of the bulimic in the toilet make people sit up and take note and it is worth mentioning this video was released around the time of the ‘size 0’ furore. The fact that the video ends with the girl choosing her computer, football, books, dance shoes and keyboard over make up and dolls reinforces the idea that a rounded selection of hobbies trumps vanity and sets out a positive example.

The video was well received by audiences and won the 2006 MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. It was also heralded by author J.K Rowling on her website where she praised it for ‘satirising the talking toothpicks held up to girls as role models’.



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