The Anatomy of Music “Pretty Hurts” by Beyonce

 

Visual Analysis

The video I choose to analyze is Pretty Hurts by Beyonce which was released in 2013. Melina Matsouka is the director of the song. I choose this song because Beyoncé is one of the most inspirational musicians. Pretty Hurt's audience is eye-catching, and appealing to many audiences, especially female teenage girls in the society. The video reflects the struggle women and young girls go through in their quest to conform to the society's high beauty standards. The music video contains a nonlinear storyline, which includes both flash-forwards and flashbacks. This gives the audience a clear picture of what is happening in the encounters, by featuring the past stories, while focusing on the future. Beyonce is a beautiful woman, who feel unsatisfied due to the societal definition of "pretty". Beyonce results in damaging her body in order to fit in.

The music video uses a setting of a beauty pageant, which gave the video a real-life approach. The video shows Beyoncé contesting in a beauty pageant. Her fellow contestants are constantly trying to polish their looks to "perfection". During the pageant, women are trained on how to talk, walk, and wear. Many women are extremely cautious of what they eat and end up falling into depression and eating disorders in their attempts to win the next competition. Physical beauty becomes more important than inner beauty. Clearly, Beyonce is not contented with her physical looks and spend most of her time exercising to keep feet. It is seen that Beyonce has acquired a lot of trophies, but she is unsatisfied as well as unhappy. At the end of it all, the inner beauty of an individual is what matters. Pretty Hurts reveals society issues and the psychological effects they have of an individual. When a woman is alone, without makeup, the reflection of who she really is stares right into her.

This song has two genres; power pop and soul. Both genres contemplate well with the song. The genre has Beyoncé’s strong voice which makes the song outstand from other similar songs. The video uses a lot of video techniques from close-ups to show emotions on the performer's faces to long shots which show Beyonce lying down after losing the contest with her trophies on the floor. For instance, a bird's eye view is used to film Beyonce making herself sick in the toilet. The bird's eye view shows how people would look down on her as a weaker person. The editing of the video shows various shots where Beyonce is trying hard to maintain her beauty. The editing shows the audience flashbacks of what Beyonce was going through before joining the pageant and her motive for joining the pageant. In the flashbacks, she becomes sick and using makeup to hide her weak state.

Use of Digital Effects. A dark lighting effect used to show Beyoncé's sick state in the toilet, to show her struggles in trying to cope with the pressure of the pageant. On the other hand, the lighting on the stage is bright to boost her confidence while performing. The brightness makes her happy and gives her a bring feeling, instead of doubting her abilities. The lighting shows the artificial happiness and beauty Beyonce portrays in the song.

Imagery is portrayed in the dressing where they use color yellow. Yellow is used to portray happiness while on stage, but behind closed doors, the contestants suffer in silence to get to where they want to be. Also, makeup is meant to make them more attractive and hide their flaws. Long hair symbolizes maturity and beauty, as in the pageant, no one has short hair. A flashback is featured showing Beyoncé's award-winning speech when she was younger. She had short hair and never cared about what people thought about her, because her mother had told her what's in her head doesn't matter. The flashback shows how as kids, looks don't matter but as women grow older, they become cautious of everything that happens to their body.

 

Sonic Analysis

The song is given the title "Pretty Hurt" for a reason, it's based on a lady who is doing everything to make her comfortable with herself. The first thing she says when asked in the contest asked by the host is her dream in life is to be happy. The lyrics focus on Beyoncé's satisfaction with how she looks. She recalls how her mother used to encourage her as a young girl telling her to brush her hair and work on her teeth, because what she wears if what matters. She is featured brushing her hair and applying Vaseline on her teeth when she sings the lines saying that this time she is gonna win the contest without failing. Beyoncé's goal is to secure the first position and be crowned ‘Miss Pretty USA'. She feels the need to appear perfect, that she ignores the pain she passes through to feel great in order to win the pageant. The Tempo of the songs starts off with the slow sounds of the piano as the audience view shots of Beyonce. On the stage, she starts by singing the lyrics of the song and the judges are shown writing down comments. At that time, there is a depiction of Beyonce preparing for the performance, where she blow dries and sprays her hair. After her performance and everyone claps, there is a flashback of her throwing up in the toilet, and smearing her makeup. The songs start, and the background song becomes a catchy R&B/ Hip-Hop, and Beyonce begins her lyrics.  The other contestants see Beyonce as perfect but she struggles to show them that she is not perfect. When she loses the trophy, it proves that she is not more beautiful than the other girls.

Pretty Hurts contains a Hip Hop groove and an R&B undertone. The use of synths, minor chords, and drumbeats enhances video's background. The music is played in common time, with a 65 beats per minute tempo. Pretty Hurts uses the B major composition. The song was likened by Beyoncé's vocal in 2008. Beyonce uses the tonal code F3 and E5.

Ideological Analysis

The main theme that is presented in this song is woman empowerment. The video discusses the beauty standards in society and a woman's body image. Self-image is a huge factor in any woman's life. Women strive to be the best version of beauty. Communication forum like televisions, advertisements, and social media plays a huge role in giving society the idea of what people should look like. Beyonce shows how painful it is for women to portray perfection in society. Pretty Hurt shows the negative effects of perfection on different people.

At the beginning of the video, the pageant girls are fighting and giving bad looks to each other. A man is shown taking Beyoncé's weight measurements. Unsatisfied with the results, he begins thorough coaching on how the girls should walk, how to talk, and clothes to put on. The video shows the disappointment in Beyoncé's face when she steps on the scale, despite her efforts to constantly work out. When the pageant's host asks Beyonce what her inspiration is, she is featured drowning in water confused on what answer to give. Finally, she says her inspiration is to be happy.

Also, the next scene in the video shows an unsatisfied Beyonce, who smashes all the trophies she won from other contests. Girls swallow cotton wools steeped in orange juice, while others vomit the food they had eaten in the washrooms. Girls spray themselves to smell good and to have shiny hair. In addition, Beyonce gets a facelift, but despite all her efforts, she does not win the pageant. Beyoncé's failure shows women that the painful struggles for u unrealistic beauty are not worth it. The video shows how women have focused on their flaws, forgetting that they are beautifully and wonderfully made. Also, the video shows how society's perception of beauty does not positively build a person but slows down a person's progress.

The Pretty Hurt song gained a lot of support from the society, because people wanted someone to talk about the fatal effects beauty perfection has on young women. Showing people the negative consequences of perfection plays a vital role in helping people accept themselves the way they are. People learn to do what pleases them, and not based on peoples' opinions. The breaking of the trophies is a symbol of Beyonce breaking away from the societal view of pretty. She shows the importance of self-love and acceptance. Also, the trophies constantly remind her of the struggles and pain she had to go through in order to win the contests. The trophies are meant to give her a sense of achievement, but she feels empty inside. The video poses as more effective than the lyrics and people can see the emotions in the performer's faces. It creates sympathy in views for the young girls in the society.

Also, postmodernism is revealed in the song. The video shows that the media and reality have come together to create the most unrealistic version of beauty. In the song, Beyoncé shows hoe the TV suggest bigger is better, and thinner is better. The media plays a big role in the need for perfection because they only feature petite women. This gives the viewers the idea that petite is better, and they aspire to get thinner. According to research, a big number of women turn into plastic surgery when they feel challenged, and do not have the power to naturally change their outlook. Many aspire to look like TV personalities who seem to have perfect everything. Therefore, the media should aim at promoting self-love amongst viewers by featuring average sized women in shows and advertisements.

 

 

 

 

 

Beyonce- Pretty Hurts

"Ms. Third Ward, your first question:
What is your aspiration in life?"

"Oh, my aspiration in life would be... to be happy"

Mama said, "You're a pretty girl"
What's in your head, it doesn't matter
Brush your hair, fix your teeth
What you wear is all that matters

Just another stage
Pageant the pain away
This time I'm gonna take the crown
Without falling down, down, down

Pretty hurts
We shine the light on whatever's worst
Perfection is a disease of a nation
Pretty hurts, pretty hurts

Pretty hurts
We shine the light on whatever's worst
We tryna fix something but ya can't fix whatcha can't see
It's the soul that needs a surgery

Blonder hair, flat chest
TV says, "Bigger is better"
South beach, sugar free
Vogue says, "Thinner is better"

Just another stage
Pageant the pain away
This time I'm gonna take the crown
Without falling down, down, down

Pretty hurts
We shine the light on whatever's worst
Perfection is a disease of a nation
Pretty hurts, pretty hurts (Pretty hurts)

Pretty hurts (Pretty hurts)
We shine the light on whatever's worst
We tryna fix something but ya can't fix whatcha can't see
It's the soul that needs a surgery

Ain't no doctor, or pill that can take the pain away
The pain's inside, and nobody frees you from your body
It's the soul, it's the soul that needs surgery
It's my soul that needs surgery

Plastic smiles and denial can only take you so far
Then you break when the fake facade leaves you in the dark
You left with shattered mirrors
And the shards of a beautiful past

Pretty hurts
We shine the light on whatever's worst (Pretty hurts)
Perfection is a disease of a nation
Pretty hurts, pretty hurts (Pretty hurts)

Pretty hurts (Pretty hurts)
We shine the light on whatever's worst
We tryna fix something but ya can't fix whatcha can't see
(Pretty hurts)
It's the soul that needs a surgery

When you're alone all by yourself
When you're lying in your bed
Reflection stares right into you
Are you happy with yourself?

Stripped away the masquerade
The illusion has been shed
Are you happy with yourself?
Are you happy with yourself?

Yes

 

YOUTUBE LINK:

(2017, 11). Pretty Hurts Beyoncé. Essays24.com. Retrieved 11, 2017; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXQLa-5n5w