I know, I usually write about movies but, this time, I’m going to write about a music video for it’s incredible artistic expression and cinematic style. It’s been haunting me for days and I can’t stop watching it so, here it goes…
So, all of you by now have probably seen Donald Glover a.k.a. Childish Gambino’s music video for “This is America.” If you haven’t, you need to watch it now.
I’ll wait.
Now that you’ve watched it, you can see what I mean. It’s layered with so many references, some I got right away, some I didn’t catch until after numerous viewings (as I have become slightly obsessed/fascinated with this beautiful work of visual art). Some of the references, I still haven’t gotten or just recently read about them. Regardless, the multi-layered music video should not only be praised as a work of art but, also as a social commentary so relevant right now, it should be taught and viewed and talked about in schools… especially in this highly gun-violent society we are living in right now.
There’s been a lot of videos and blogs and just internet buzz, in general, interpreting the symbolism of the context in the video but, Donald Glover (and director Hiro Murai), truly knew exactly what they were doing in making this. Donald wants to leave US responsible for what we get out of it not only as individuals but, as a society. In the video link below on his press junket for “Solo- A Star Wars Story,” he declines his explanation of the video and its meanings and eloquently leaves it up to us. It should start at 2:22…
References to slavery, Rodney King, the Bible- The Book of Revelations to be exact, Jim Crow, Richard Pryor and The Parkland Massacre all make an appearance in the video. Lyrics describe the recent, unnecessary shootings of two black men, Michael Moore and Stephon Clark, both senselessly killed by police of multiple gun shot wounds because the officers mistakenly thought their cellphones were guns. The lyrical wizardry, Gambino/Glover delivers is, in my humble opinion, pretty much pure genius and the music is not only driving but, mesmerizing. The choreography is intricate and also just as expressive as the visuals we see through out and just as significant, with various styles of dance being incorporated to entertain and distract us from the violence that runs rampant through the piece. Even the cars in this video are symbolic. The detail is so precise, down to the Civil War/Slavery era buttoned trousers he’s wearing in the video, the older model cars when we are used to seeing high end luxury cars in “rap” videos, here we have everyday cars from the late 70’s and 80’s, the list goes on. Everything is here in this video for a reason… it symbolizes something within our history, usually an ugly history. I dare you, the reader, to find all the references and historical importance. There’s SO much there interwoven in that 4 or so minutes. (I’m still trying to figure out the man jumping to his death in the middle of the video).
Donald Glover and Hiro Mutai should not only be proud, they should be praised. It’s a brave thing to make something so beautifully symbolic and yet so scary because of the message it speaks. It’s about race. It’s about violence. It’s about US! It’s shown to us as a piece of entertainment but, the shock of some of the brutality within the video is definitely trying to tell us something and it isn’t good. Unfortunately, right now, this IS America… and it’s ugly. Maybe some day we can get rid of this ugliness and confusion and chaos. I’m skeptical but, I also believe in the human spirit that MAYBE we do have a chance. With brilliant works of visual art like this reminding us of what schmucks we can be, maybe we can turn it around.
The video is a cultural phenomenon. Plain and simple. We can learn something here… on many levels. Donald Glover really is a genius.