How does the Spice Girls' song Wanna Be capture the zeitgeist?
It has been argued for a long time whether Pop Culture is a real form of high culture or just garbage. Some people insist that Pop Culture has its own value, that it cannot be dismissed as fancy vogue because it shows the artists' understanding of the society, conveys it to the people and, sometimes, actually influences the society itself. In this sense, Wanna Be by the Spice Girls, which greatly influenced people in Britain and all over the world, should be understood as real culture. This brings us the necessity for examining the meaning of the music video Wanna Be, how it portrayed the British society.
At the beginning of the music video, the girls try to squeeze between the niches of social structure. As it can clearly be seen, there are two different classes – the poor on the street and the rich in the limousine – and the girls unsuccessfully try to have some connection with both of them while singing "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, Make it last forever friendship never ends." In the next scene, they break into an elegant, big hotel representing the contemporary era, our current society of opulence. The girls want to break disturbing social orders in order to show themselves the way they are. They cast out the paper on the information desk and start to sing, "Yo, I'll tell you what I want, so tell me what you want." This scene puts the girls in the position in which they can speak their own thoughts and about their rights and places in the social system. They clearly express their desire not to be controlled by the grown-ups or the androcentric society. In order to achieve that goal, they take some actions towards the adults, mainly men, namely leaving them behind. They do not waste any of their precious time and do not give them any chance to react.
In the next scene, located on the stairs, our attention is drawn to the girls and the message they try to convey: what the girls really want is mutual understanding based on equal rights. This is why they sing, "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, Make it last forever friendship never ends, If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give, Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is." Their claims do not, however, end with the grown-ups who represent the old conservative ideology: indeed, they try to go for more.
This is symbolized by the appearance of some old people who are surprised by the girls, and with whom they want to party: a woman resembling Marilyn Monroe, the well-known icon of American popular culture, men who represent a government officials and a judge. From that we can clearly conclude that the girls insist in having their way in the various aspects of society, challenging them with their song or the girl power which they represent. For example, one of the girls performs a somersault, usually considered as a manly thing.
In the following scene we see two groups of people, one displaying confusion– as exemplified by the waiter – and the other showing surprise and enjoyment at the girls, like the old women with grey hair. In the final scene, they are running into the bus and beckoning the onlookers and the viewers in the bus. Although we cannot consider it a strong call for action, it is still and obvious sign for people to join the new wave they want to create.
No comments:
Post a Comment