Taylor swift you belong with me textual analysis
- 1. Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me L.I.I.A.R. Analysis
- 2. Language This music video is a pure narrative video as there is no performance or abstract element in it. The narrative of this video is about two high school teenagers who are talking to each other as friends through the use of writing on paper and showing this to each other through their bedroom windows, but they both actually love each other. However, the male character has a girlfriend, stopping them from being together but at an American football game he catches his girlfriend cheating. Then at the prom both the male and female protagonists join together with a sheet of paper each which reads ‘I Love You’. The lyrics tell the female protagonists feelings and hopes of being with this boy and I think that this has been done in order to appeal to the target audience as they can relate to the storyline and the lyrics because most young girls dream of meeting the right guy, falling in love and having a happily ever after. Plus, despite the video being a pure narrative one Taylor Swift still lip syncs in this video to make it seem more like the lyrics are just what she is thinking of to make it more clear to the audience that the lyrics are direct to this character and it shows
- 3. Ideology The main ideology of this music video is about love, happiness and heartbreak. Most music videos tend to be aimed in one of these areas and this music video tells a typical story of how two people fall in love and become boyfriend and girlfriend. One of the messages of this music video could be that sometimes the people who are always there for you and care for you, perhaps even a close friend, could be the person you was looking for all along. In my opinion this message is good to have in a music video because it makes the audience feel happy and they can perhaps relate to this, think about this or perhaps hope for this. Another message of this music video is to never give up because Taylor Swift wasn’t going to go to the prom but the male protagonist said that he wishes she was and during the prom Taylor turns up and ends up with the two characters kissing and having the fairytale ending. A final message that is contained in this music video is that looks aren’t everything and that you should look for someone with a beautiful heart, not a beautiful face, body or popularity. This is very empowering for
- 4. Institution This song was co-written by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose and was produced by Nathan Chapman, with the help of Taylor Swift. This song was off her second album titled ‘Fearless’ (2008) and the song was released on April 18 2009 by her independent record label, Big Machine Records. Big Machine Records specialise in country music and other artists that are signed to this record label consist of: Danielle Bradbery; Laura Bell Brundy, Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw. This song won Favourite Song at the 2010 Kids’ Choice Awards and received nominations for the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It became very successful as it got into the top 10 in Austrailia, Canada, New Zealand and USA. The single was certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song is one the best-selling
- 5. Audience I would say that the target audience for this music video is young girls aged 13-19 because it is a typical fairytale/love story to appeal to ‘girly’ girls. Also this music video is set around school life (i.e. prom and American football games) which would target this age group more because they can relate to these events and feel more involved in the video as these are situations which could occur to them or has happened to them. Also you see Taylor Swift trying on many different outfits which represent different social groups/stereotypes that are held within a school, in order to appeal to a wider audience within this age range.
- 6. Representation In this music video Taylor Swift is represented as a typical school girl that is one of the ‘unpopular’ girls of the school. I know this due to her mise-en-scene which consists of glasses, jumpers, high-neck tops, floral patterns and naturally curly hair, which shows that she isn’t making much of an effort whereas if she had straight hair she wouldn’t look ‘unpopular’ because it would look as if she has made an effort and looks tidier. This is backed up because the ‘popular’ girl has got straight hair to show her effort towards getting ready and that she has to try and look more presentable due to her status. At the end of the film Taylor Swift turns up at the prom and has curled her hair to make them look controlled and this now shows that she has made an effort for the prom but she hasn’t straightened her hair as she doesn’t want to be seen as one of the ‘popular’ girls. Also she is reading a book, alone, on an empty bench which reinforces who she is representing in this music video. The ‘popular’ Taylor Swift is represented with this image due to the fact that she drives a convertible car, is a cheerleader and flirts with lots of different boys. Plus, the colour of her car, dress at