'This is America' Analysis

'This Is America' Analysis

"This Is America": Childish Gambino (2018)

This track was released online in May 2018, while Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) was hosting Saturday Night Live. It has a very string political message, referencing many important topics such as race, gun culture in the US and the police. All these topics have definitely come to light very recently because of the Black Lives Matter movement, and people are starting to address these issues properly. I thought the video and lyrics was very powerful, and made a very emotional impact on me. Gambino didn't treat what he was saying as a taboo topic, his views were very clear on the subjects.

Race

One of the most obvious references is to race. This music video only features black men and women which his very unusual for this media. By only casting people of colour, it makes a statement of how they are normally overlooked and are not nearly represented as much as they should be, and it also makes it clear that this video and message relates to them and shows one of their points of view. We see a separation of white and black people, which is very powerful in itself. One technical convention that caught my eye is the the camera focuses on and follows Gambino as he dances and raps, showing that this song is a message from him and his eye contact with the camera shows he is speaking to us. I think there is a strange intimacy here and a connection he doesn't shy away from. 

Gun Culture in the US

Gun culture in America has always been a huge, controversial problem, that people usually have different views on. However, as he shoots multiple black men and women throughout the video with ease and while still dancing, we can see that he is showing how common and easy it is for people to get away with this crime.  As soon as he shoots the first man, the atmosphere and music itself changes, from a fun and funky afro beat, to a more dark and heavy tone. This technical convention definitely makes me realise that there are way more disadvantages when it comes to guns in America, than benefits, and is something that needs to be controlled. The video emphasises this by including teenagers dancing behind and around Gambino in school uniform. This is clearly referencing all the school shootings in America and how disgusting and preventable it is. 

Police 

Finally, in the lyrics there are many mentions of police and they are seen as a rival to the black community. It is very well known that there are many extremely racist police officers in the US, making it extremely unsafe for people of colour to do daily tasks. Towards the end of the video, the setting feels like a riot, with fires burning, people running around frantically, and cars parked everywhere with their lights on, and at the end of the scene we watch Gambino, who is wearing military style trousers, a symbolic convention, run away from a swarm of people. I think throughout this scene I feel the guilt that goes along side recognising white privilege  and to be able to make your audience feel such a strong emotion through music is very impressive.

In conclusion

This music video is extremely powerful and filled with technical and symbolic conventions. And to address so many controversial and emotional topics all in one go is very hard to do, but here it was done brilliantly. I felt a very strong connection to it and although I can't begin to understand what it must feel like to be put in that position, I can understand the feeling of pain and how it is pushed onto an oppressed community.