Music Video Analysis: 'Like A Prayer'

A music video is one of the three elements that create a successful music campaign and is the one that allows audiences to feel as though they’re getting closer to the artist. The main purposes of a music videos are to attract audience members to buy the album or single, to market and increase sales for the product and to build or create an artist’s/band’s ‘star image’. The music video usually reflects the genre and personality of the album and artist however, in Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ video, the genre and her reputation where deeply effected. Much of the music in the 80s was very similar with the same upbeat and happy feel which as a song, ‘Like a Prayer’ does somewhat conform to but her video made a huge statement by being seen, even today as the most controversial music video of all time. Many people think that her decision to make a scandalous video stemmed from the idea that products that are more defamatory equate to greater success. The video emphasises key elements of Richard Dyer’s star theory referring to a set of traits that together construct a commodity that labels exploit to make money. The binary opposite between her religion and rebellion created a very disjointed presentation of Madonna that intrigued audiences and thus, created a greater pool of consumers.

Through the use of costume, Madonna is presented as controversial and promiscuous. She wears a red dress that emphasises her physical attributes which, especially in the 80s would have been extremely inappropriate. This is contradicted however, with the necklace that she wears with a crucifix pendant. This binary opposite symbolically connotes both Madonna’s religious and yet rebellious mannerisms, which to a young audience of the time, would be appealing as they too would feel rebellious listening to an artist with such a controversial stigma. This is reinforced by the use of technical conventions such as close ups which revealing her seemingly innocent facial expressions at the beginning and then her insubordinate later on.

One of the most controversial elements of the video are the burning crucifixes that Madonna dances in front of. This symbolic convention has direct links to the extremest Christian organisation, the ‘KKK’, that would light a crucifix on fire on the land of a black person who’s family member they had or were going to burn or lynch. By dancing in front of the crosses, Madonna was associating herself with this extremist cause which would have

in turn, effected her image. Whilst dancing in this bizarre setting, Madonna is presented as superior through the use of technical conventions such as low angle shots and long shots. Many audience members may feel that this radical decision would make them feel distanced from Madonna causing a decline in her following however, by being so vexed, young audiences would be attracted to the traits in which they have in common with her, in this example the key similarity is their rebellious nature and as teenagers and young adults form the largest consumer category, being frowned upon by older audiences wouldn’t have effected her name.

The presentation of race throughout the video is contentious and especially in the 80s would have been highly scandalous. Within the video there is a gang murder that takes place in front of Madonna. The attackers are all white males and are brutalising a white female. As they run away, a black male enters and runs to help the woman however, when the police arrive, they arrest him instead of the true assaulters. The use of lighting when

he’s arrested emphasises the issue of racial profiling by condemning an assumed attacker because he’s black even though he was trying to help, would have really tackled the racial stigma of black people in the 80s. Black people in the 80s would have only ever been perceived as dangerous and irrational so to present them as the hero would have been very surprising. So, when Jesus and God are played by a black male and female, Christian audience members would have been very perturb. Not only were their deities black but to have God as a woman was completely unheard of. This juxtaposed presentation of race assists in the scandalous image that Madonna was creating for herself. 

The relationship between Madonna is suggested to be more intimate than anticipated through use of technical conventions such as close ups and panning shots that present them to be sexually attracted to one another. The idea of having an amorous relationship with a deity would have repelled older audiences and would suggest a sense of godliness in Madonna. This is supported by the stigmata created on her hands when she picks up the a knife from where Jesus was stood. The stigmata connotes that she is ‘saint-like’ and as someone who is pushing all the boundaries within religion in her video, ‘saint-like’ is probably one of the last phrases that would be used to describe her.