Analysing Music Videos

'Like A Prayer' - Madonna

Pop legend Madonna is known for her constant reinvention as a performer. Her biggest hits include "Papa Don't Preach," "Like a Prayer," "Vogue," "Secret" and "Ray of Light," among many others. She is a multi album selling artist and inspires many younger artists for example Lady Gaga and her image is definitely the reason for Gaga's early images. She is great at changing images to see what she can attract fan base wise and change depending on the times. She began as a synthetic artist and was very much made up to seem like a young innocent artist however she then grew into an organic artist who had a lot of control with her image.

The fact that the music video starts off in a church would already raise questions on what kind of point she is trying to get across. I think Madonna's aim was to bring as much controversy into this music video as she can so that she can get people noticing her messages in the video and getting discussions going. Madonna was born into a strict catholic family and therefore that side of her clearly is revealed through out the video; it is clearly a splurge of rebellion which Madonna wants to share and cause the Church goers, the christians and people with some faith to look strangely towards the video.

The idea of a different race is demonstrated in the video through the use of a Black saint which would've caused controversy at the time the video was filmed. Many people would've have very much been into not going against the church or the beliefs of the main religion therefore she pushed the boundaries out and raised some questions amongst the fan base and others. She has a relationship with this saint which would cause many issues within the church. Perhaps she is suggesting she is Holy also.

There is a section where she is literally dreaming and this idea comes across as she is released into the skies, almost as if an angel was around her and she was being taken to the heavens. This again brings in the religious aspect of the film in to context and she is tries to push this idea as much as possible just to make some kind of point. In another light, Madonna is suggesting she is taking some kind of a drug and therefore in this paradise which in inexplainable. This is probably why the video is definitely more suited for the older, more mature generation who understand these things.

When she picks up the knife and opens her hands up it gives the illusion that she has had two holes cut into her hands just like Jesus did in the Bible when he died on the cross. This provokes and imitates the idea that she is replicating saving peoples sins and dying on the cross which is again going against the church. Personally it is quite offensive as she is almost taking on the role of Jesus and is making it seem as though she was the one to die on the cross. Maybe she is trying to get across a message on feminism and wondering why is it a man who Christians worship? Later on she begins to dance in front of burning crosses which again is offensive and portrays a sense of destruction and disbelief - enjoying the craziness of ruining the faith.

A message of race is again brought into the video when the black saint is introduced. In the video he gets caught in the police's headlights of their car and is spotted holding the girl. They clearly assume he was the one to kill her because of his skin colour and this is Madonna trying to reveal how unfair humanity is as we treat the darker race in a different
way to how we treat white people, not even realising it. He starts getting beaten and the audience really start to feel a sense of sympathy towards him.


At the very end, the curtains close and the whole cast of the video are on stage, bowing to the audience as if it were a production letting the world know that it was only a play they put on and telling them not to take it seriously. This was probably Madonna's escape goat so that she didn't receive too much hate for it at the time; she can just say how it was just a performance she decided to put on for the video however people know she was just trying to be completely controversial during that time, gaining as much publicity as she can.