This is America, textual analysis

History of the music video 

- 'This is America' music video was released in the US on the 5th of May, 2018 to coincide with Donald Grover's hosting of 'Saturday Night live', which is one of America's most known TV shows.

- The genre of this song is hip-hop with an added element of Afrobeat which was done completely intentionally. 

- The song did not have a specific previous announcement before its release instead it appeared online while Glover was live on TV during his SNL performance. 

Who is Childish Gambino?

- Childish Gambino is the stage name of Donald Glover who is a musician, American actor, rapper, comedian, writer, and producer. 

-As Donald Glover, has multiple mainstream Hollywood movie credits, including playing the young Lando Calrissian in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story '. He also voiced Simba in ' The lion King' remake. 

- Donald Glover is also known for successful TV work in the US and is a double Emmy and double Golden Globe winner for 'Atlanta', a show that he stars in and created.     

Contextual analysis 

 In the opening scene of ' This is America,' it shows a mid-shot of a man strumming a guitar alone to choral sounds. In the first few minutes, Gambino shoots the man, who has been tied up and has a bag over his head. Straight after Gambino shoots him he passes the gun to another man, who safely wraps it in a red cloth as the man who got shot gets dragged away. This scene follows the lyrics of the chorus: ' This is America, Don't catch you slippin' up'. The weapon is treated with more care compared to the body of the person who was just killed, this reflects the gun culture in the US.   

Guthrie Ramsey, a professor of music history at the University of Pennsylvania explains that 'the central message is about guns and violence in America and the fact that we deal with them and consume them as part of the entertainment on one hand, and on the other hand, is a part of our national conversation, ' Ramsey continues by saying ' You're not supposed to feel as if this is the standard fare opulence of the music industry. It's about a counter-narrative and it really leaves you with chills' 

Ramsey continues to talk about the lyrics and more of the meaning behind the song he talks about the main scene where a choir is present ' He's talking about the contradictions of trying to get money, the idea of being a black man in America, It comes out of two different sound worlds. Part of the brilliance of the presentation is that you go from this happy major mode of choral singing that we associate with South African Choral singing, and then after the first gunshot it moves right into trap sound'. I personally believed this was a very impactful transition of sound as to make a strong statement on how America is seen as a place of hope and freedom but it changes so quickly into a land of violence. 

Childish Gambino is seen to be dancing with children in what I would argue to be the second scene, during this a lot of illegal activity is going on behind them, such as violence, gangs, etc, with what seems to be the police not visible, just the car being there, this could be argued to be a metaphor that America ignores it's problems and focuses on this rosy picture by ignoring and covering up the problems. 

Gambino throughout the video is seen to be shirtless and wearing bland coloured pants which could be representing his freedom and the fact that he is human, and that it can be anyone.

This video was very cleverly made and created a lot of interest, the video itself got shared multiple times over multiple different media's as it had so much to say about the cultures of America and how scarily people related to it, it was clearly presented that people related to it through the comment section as well as people commenting on its impact, this video created so much hype articles were written on it including an article written by the Times. 

 

Ramsey's perspective of the kids dancing while violence was going was that ' the dancers could be there to distract viewers in the same way black art is used to distract people from real problems plaguing America' he continues by saying ' it's better to absorb the video as a whole because America itself is a country of very strange juxtapositions.' 

This section was a key example of the juxtapositions as the kids and Donald glover seem to be happily dancing whereas the society behind them is falling apart with crime and violence I believe that this is another example of a political statement that suggests that America will gloss over the actual impacts of societies problems and not address and fix the damages that are being caused. This video depicts the idea that America only shows the public what they want them to see and try to cover up it social, political and racial problems. This mid panning shot really expresses this idea as it shows the masses of action and destruction behind them while blurring out their faces presenting their irrelevance while dancing with the children who are seamlessly unaware of the situation as they are happily smiling and dancing with Donald glover, the mise on the scene suggests the children are unaware of the circumstances they are within. 

In this close-up mid-shot Donald pulls out an imaginary gun and it is at this point that everyone runs away from him, this is an interesting perspective as it builds upon the racial stereotypes created in America as the assumption is that Afro-Caribbean boys are more likely to commit crime, therefore everyone believes by his movements that he has the intention to kill, cleverly the costume and mise on scene demonstrates him to be fully natural only presenting the colour of his skin using a plane grey background to accentuate it which supports the idea that he is suggesting the racial stereotypes that exist. 

At the ending of the video, the man is seen to be running away from the cops and the lyrics that accommodate are 'You just a black man in this world, you just a barcode', which can be assumed to be an example of one of the main current issues in America of Gun violence and police brutality, especially with is relevance connecting to the George Floyd incident. The shot presents Donald running away in fear in a dark space which could be reflecting of the fear and unknown that exists with the justice system in America. The lyrics express how people in America are not respected as lives but rather as a number in the societal system.