smack my bitch up - the prodigy
The music video to 'Smack My Bitch Up' looks at the concept of identity, and how people often stereotype certain characteristics with a man or a woman. The video begins with a person in a shower, and we see everything from their point of view.
The person could be male or female, yet many audience members will assume it to be a male by the way that they move. They aren't very delicate, which is what people expect of women.
We get a sense of realism when the subject towel drys their hair, as the music becomes unclear as if the hearing is blocked.
They then proceed to shave (presumably their face, however this is not completely evident in the clips featured) and go to the toilet - tasks you would associate with a man.
The fact that the cinematography is shown from a point of view shot leaves the gender of the person down to interpretation. However, there are elements in the mise-en-scene used to sway you. For example, the costume is typically what a man would wear. It consists of trackies, worn trainers and a leather jacket. On a night out it is usually expected of women to wear nice dresses, short skirts and heels.
The subject is also featured in a male public toilet when throwing up later in the video, again suggesting they are a man. The video breaks this stereotype, which leads the audience to assume that the protagonist is a male.
However, other elements of the mise en scene could suggest that the person is a female, for example the pink bedding and what look like chick-flicks scattered on the floor.
The video features a considerable amount of drugs and alcohol, the effect of which is shown through the cinematography and editing. In the opening the subject does drugs and takes some shots, and when leaving the house their vision appears blurry and they seem slightly unbalanced, showing the initial effect of the activity. The clip is cut so that it is slightly jittery, with a few bits missing, representing the confusion in the protagonists mind.
We then see several shots of the beginning of the night out. They are not continuous, but instead the subject is in several different places, showing a short clip of each one. This is meant to show the daze people are often in when drunk, and the fact that they forget lots of the things they have done and the places they have been in.
This is further shown later in the video, where the clips are extremely random and aren't linked. It features the subject throwing up in a bathroom, being in a deserted corridor, pushing a bouncer, and then throwing up again. Throughout this, the footage spins and is distorted, which is showing the extreme effect of the drugs and alcohol, and the disorientation of the character who does not know where they are or whats happening, and has very little control over his/her body.
Many of the actions and characteristics that the subject possess' would lead the audience to believe that the protagonist is a male. Women are stereotypically meant to be classy and elegant. However, the subject is featured drinking beer, which is seen as a 'man's drink.' Some people think women should drink wine and spirits, as these are 'ladylike' drinks.
Also, the subject is seen throwing up and touching people without permission, which is not seen as classy and it is unexpected to see a female forcefully groping another female. The aggression shown in the video is also typically associated with men, as they are thought of as powerful and strong, whereas women are weak, and prefer to verbally attack.
We can see this aggression shown in the video when the subject pushes the bouncer, when they break a chair over a woman's head and also when they throw a rock through the car window. The fact that the protagonists identity is hidden means that people would associate this reckless behavior with all men, instead of just the individual. It is thought that men are often perverted and wrongful, and this video wants to break this stereotype and show that either gender could posses these qualities.
At the end of the video, it shows the subject taking a girl back home and having sexual experiences with the woman. Although in our generation homosexuality is widely accepted, relationships are often still thought of as 'men and women,' as opposed to 'men and men' or in this case 'women and women.' Therefore, the audience will subconsciously assume that the protagonist is a man, as it is what we are taught in education.
When the subject sits up and looks in the mirror, the sudden realization that she is a woman is shocking and completely unexpected. The audience begin to assess the video they have just seen, and will have to re-watch it in order to process the revelation that the subject is a women, although, stereotypically, she is seen as a man. This means that the audience receive a reality check from the video, and they re-watch it to try and make sense of the situation, making the video extremely popular and giving it exciting and unique qualities.