Analysis - Dance For You (Mia) and Me, Myself and I (Devonte)

Dance for You and Me, Myself and I 

In the music video Me, Myself and I by Beyonce the video focuses on Beyonce's independence and self-reliability as she faces relationship conflict and decides to take control then leave. The start of the video she says "ladies if you feel me help me sing it out" encouraging women to be confident, referencing how the song is surrounding an issue females mainly struggle with and it's a relatable situation. The video is mostly self-centered highlighting her independence and a representation of her personality, Beyonce's glamorous clothing signifies her fashion that she uses as a reference of self-love and self-worth she has now found and accepted, the lyrics "me, myself and I, that's all I got in the end that's what I found out and there ain't no need to cry I took a vow that from now on imma be my own best friend" perhaps suggesting she has been let down or betrayed which has led to her becoming self-centered linking to her theme of women empowerment. Also Beyonce packing her suitcase to leave links to her narrative of women's rights, this would make her an inspirational role model to her audience. In contrast, In 'Dance for you', the video focuses heavily in the idea of women being a sexual object of desire for men, as the female protagonist (Beyoncé) talks about doing anything to show the man represented in the video that she 'appreciates' him. This is made evident through the lyrics, because even the opening line 'I just wanna show you how much I appreciate you' shows a sense of devotion that the protagonist has towards the man, with the lyrics being heavily centered around how she wants to prove herself. This is done through the constant focus on the word 'you' being used in the lyrics, with the female protagonist barely referencing themselves. Aside from this side of Beyoncé's personality, through her costumes she demonstrates the characteristics of someone who portrays an expensive and wealthy lifestyle, especially in the first scene where she is depicted in expensive looking jewelry and a silk dress.  This helps to represent her as a desirable female, demonstrating the objectification of her character. 

In addition, Beyonce uses her partners family and friends warnings on her relationship to highlight how blind sighted she was on his true intentions, this is made evident when she gets into a physical fight with her partner towards the end of the video and he grabs onto her trying to forcefully hug her emotionally then she pushes him off and he goes to sit down, eat and smoking implying this is his normal behavior that he thought she will be accepting of, but sees it as she's being dramatic as he's being rejected and not caring about her complaints anymore. When Beyonce holds the knickers to his face it could be a representation of him cheating on her which broke their trust and love and in result her relying solely on herself as she knows whats best for her as she says "I know that I will never disappoint myself". The fight she has with her partner coveys how she's dominant and not allowing the man to play with her emotions or love. The title being "me, myself and I perhaps directly helps women understand their worth that men are seen to downgrade. Beyonce was committed to this relationship meaning her life experience has led her to representing females toxic relationships. Dance for you focusing on Beyoncé being an object of sexual desire is further shown through the representation of voyeurism that occurs throughout some section of the music video. This is shown through the times that Beyoncé is dancing with her male counterpart, the close up and extreme close up shots showing the man staring at the provocative dancing that Beyoncé is carrying out. One example of these close up shots is when we view the man staring at Beyoncé, but the shot is placed just behind her legs. This is also viewed as quite sexual and demonstrates Mulvey's male gaze. This idea of men being the dominant power in the video suits the setting of the video, considering we are made to believe that the video is set in the 40's, when these ideologies were seen as right and were enforced.  This also explains why the video is set in Black and White. 

Moreover, in the video Beyonce's performance is dramatic and full of rage, whilst the motion of the camera was fast to promote her anger then as she starts to realise the truth and focus on her self it slows down to highlight her independence. The fighting scene shift highlights her rejection to be oppressed, which links to Beyonce's key narrative of female independence. The medium to bright warm lighting throughout the video could be used to reveal the truth and the realness of male reality of using women to their pleasures. The camera reversing her fur scarf and silky colourful dresses suggests she's wealthy in her relationship but goes back and fourth to basic black comfortable style. Whilst the camera angles in Me, Myself and I promote the rage in Beyoncé's performance, the camera angles in Dance For you further represent the sexual themes and undertones of the video through the different close up and extreme close up shots. This is demonstrated through the fact that the extreme close up shots are being used to demonstrate the tension between the man and the woman, whereas the long shots are used to demonstrate the dancers, representing the different in atmosphere in different aspects of the music video through the choice of camera angle used in each shot. The lack of editing and the fact the video is in black and white make it seem like an old video that was shot in one take, bringing an element of realness to the events that are occurring throughout the music video. Her body language in this very sexually explicit throughout the video, however this also helps represent her as a femme fatale due to the dominance that she shows through her dancing and movement. This goes against the stereotypes that were prevalent in the 40's (when this video is set) as it makes Beyoncé seem predatory and like she's the one in control. 

In conclusion, 'Me, Myself and I' and 'Dance for You' are filled with differences, as one focuses on female independence whilst the other focuses on male dependency, and both explore their main themes in many different ways, using camera angles, editing etc. to control the narrative. Although there are some similarities between the two, for example the wealth aspect in Beyoncé's character and the sense of dominance her character portrays through her personality, they follow two completely different narrative and focus on wildly different themes, demonstrating the main contrasts between the two music videos and songs in general. This is mainly picked up through the different lyrical meanings, however there are also many different factors that contribute to this.