Dreamworlds III

Stephen Crawley

LIT 3312

November 2, 2010

Dreamworlds III

Filmmaker Sut Jhally created an informative and startling documentary on the hyper-reality created in advertising and especially music videos called the Dreamworld.  In the Dreamworld men are expected to take what it is they want and women are supposed to give in to their latent insatiable desires.  The gender roles set out for women in the world of music videos are sex-crazed, aggressive and willing to please any man in their general vicinity.  Women in the Dreamworld need men to define themselves and give them worth which is depicted in the repetition of several themes present in music videos.  Jhally removes the transition scenes normally present in music videos which would buffer the instances of male sexual dominance and aggression as a way of illuminating the subconscious messages present in the medium.  The director moves beyond the messages that are left beneath the surface juxtaposing the implied sexual nature of women in music videos with the blatant sexuality found in pornography.  The blurring of the two mediums is more than an assumption of the director as numerous performers and producers are shown to transfer back and forth consistently without reproach.  By placing shocking aspects of actual society alongside fictional depictions that almost perfectly parallel each other the director is able to make a compelling argument regarding the effects of the Dreamworld. 

With the repetition of the common trope of numerous women clamoring over a single man the director expounds the claim that women in the Dreamworld not only want men but actually need them as a source of identity.  This perspective is gained in the film in the scenes when the director discusses the need of women to be possessed by a powerful man who does not even have to be a man.  The implied incongruity of an adolescent boy possessing multiple adult females enhances the idea that women need to be dominated by any man who happens to be around them.  It is easy to assume in the context of the Dreamworld that women might want to be possessed by a man but when the possessor is shifted to a teen the director is able to highlight the strangeness of the entire concept.  The sexualized reality found in the Dreamworld of music videos can initially be interpreted as coming from within the medium but by showcasing the numerous instances of direct contact with the porn industry.  Jhally discusses several artists including rapper Snoop Dogg who have produced actual pornographic films which make the underlying messages found in their music videos transparently clear through the comparison.  Directors of pornography who frequently produce videos for teen pop stars such as Britney Spears would seem unimaginable but in the Jhally’s Dreamworld the connection is unmistakable.  Another strategy of the director is to place real world instances of sexual assault against women next to instances of congruent excepted behavior found in music videos.  The director juxtaposes the events of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York’s Central Park with numerous scenes in music videos in which women are similarly doused with liquids and sexually assaulted.  By placing an event in the real world which created a nationwide wave of appall next normal everyday images found on basic cable Jhally is able to make a powerful argument related to the hypocrisy of the Dreamworld.