Rihanna Disturbia Analysis
The song Disturbia by Rihanna
is a very catchy electro pop song. The word Disturbia means being disturbed. In
2008, at an interview in ‘This Morning’ she stated that the song
is about mental anguish, anxiety, and confusion. Throughout this song there are
different references to the mental illness or dark thoughts trying to take over
you. I think in this video that was the main point she wanted to get across,
for the viewer to watch it and see what it may be like inside of a mind that is
being taken over by evil or is going through a mental illness. I think that
this is quite relatable to people because they may be able to understand some
of these feelings, like at some point they may have felt some type of mental
anguish, anxiety, and confusion.
When looking at the
music video, I got to understand the concept and the narration she was trying
to show. In the beginning of the song, we can see that she is in some type of a
surrealistic torture chamber, she is dressed
in black and has very dark make up on her, and I can also see that her long
black nails while she presses the keys of a big dark piano and looks into the
camera.
Here is a still from this scene:
In this scene, the first thing I noticed was when she looks
at the camera, the camera is filming this in eye level and it doesn’t move,
this suggest to me that she is very powerful which led me to believe that her
wearing black must be the representation of the dark entity. I also believe
that by her opening the video by playing the piano, in a creepy horror movie
way, which then starts the beginning of the music, it makes me think that she
is going to try and control the listener with the song. In the next scene, we
see a man chained up while looking quite emotionless. To me this represents,
which he is may be under some type of mental illness that makes him feel
nothing and makes him not control his emotions.
In the next scene we can see Rihanna in a thrown that is
spinning her around, which is controlled by a man pushing her around dressed in
black & white striped clothing, he is pushing some type of big steering
wheels which connect to the throne. This connotes to me that this man must be
under her spell or something similar because he is doing what she is saying. In
the same scene, we see another man sitting down, he also wears the same
clothing as the man helping pushing Rihanna on the chair. This also tells me
that he also must be under her spell too, there must be also something wrong
with him.
In the next few scenes, We see two women where one is lying
down on the table fanning herself, she is wearing black clothing with hints of
red, this makes me think that she looks quite glamourous, while the other women
has her hands tied together and is rhythmically moving animal like to the beat.
This shot is shown in quite high and medium angles this makes me think that
these two women may also be slaves to Rihanna therefore, they don’t move
outside the table unlike Rihanna who probably is sitting there on the outside.
The actual song only begins when the first scene of Rihanna
spinning on the throne comes back, this time she is looking directly at the
camera. This is shot in a low angle which makes her look very powerful. This
indicates that we should be scared of this side of her.
Throughout the few scene we see she is trapped behind bars,
her eyes are not visible and she is guarded by two guys at the side of the
cage. This indicates to me that she is a monster in this scene because her
movements seem not very humane and the way she is sticking out her hands, while
the lyrics from the song starts with “what’s
wrong with me? Why do I feel like this? I’m going crazy now” this states
that she is going through something that is not understandable by her and that she
doesn’t have control over her body.
There are some other shots throughout the first verse the
thing that catches my attention was the lyrics “feels like I’m going insane” while she is signing this part we can
see a version of Rihanna that has red lipstick on while we can still see the
monster version of her, this tells me that the Rihanna that is more colourful
then the one behind bars must be the real one since she is the only colourful
one shown through the first part of the video, she is shown as if she different
from the versions we are seeing in the video, I think this because we are not
shown a full body scene of her, only a close up of her face with a focused
lighting on her face so we can see her eyes and her lips which makes her
standout, also we can see the difference between them because she is calm where
as the monster version of her is moving quite eerie indicating that she has
gone crazy.
Another scene would be where Rihanna is being held by others
upwards which shows power and the way she moves indicates she is crazy, this is
shown by the fast paced edited movement of the head and her body. The setting
of this scene is quite dark and hell-ish, I think this because the lighting at
the background make it look like Rihanna and the other s are in a fiery place,
which I translate to hell because the place looks like it is on fire and the
smoke coming from the bottom helps that theory. This scene it looks like as if
these people are followers/ worshippers of evil and they are trying to make her
become one of them or become a higher evil entity. This theory is also
supported by how she dances which reminds me kind of thriller-esque, which were
portrayed as zombies, therefore, this scene tells me that everyone in this
scene most be dead and supports my theory of it being in hell.
After that scene, there is a scene where she says “Ain’t gonna play nice, watch out you might
just go under, better think twice, your train of thoughts will be altered so If
you must falter, be wise” these lyrics indicate to me that she has been
changed and now she is warning others about what may happen to them, almost as
a warning to make them stay way and if they don’t they may face what she did.
Another scene would be where she is tied to a empty bed and
she is trying to get out of it, this to me indicates mental problems like sleep
paralysis, I think this because she is tied to it and can not get out of it no
matter how much she tries, this is how its like to be in sleep paralysis. Near
this scene, I saw that she looked at the mirror to look at her self but she
jumped away seeing herself, this tells me that she is afraid of what she has
become and it is very different to what she may have been before.
Another scene that caught my attention was, where Rihanna is
tied to a big piece of wood pole with her hands tied behind her so she can’t
escape. There is also fire everywhere in the ground this tells me that she must
have very little space to breathe that that she feels very suffocated in that
place. The lyrics in this scene are “I
gotta get out” This tells me that she really wants to get out of the state
she is in. The make up on her makes her seem like she is been there a long time
and this shows us that it may have taken her a long time to get to the decision
where she now has decided to get out of it and is willing to be better.
The next scene is, where Rihanna is lying down with a man
doll, where they look like they are trapped with metal comb webs around them,
this tells me that she is controlling the mannequin which may represent her
mind like she being the evil entity has the power to control the lifeless
mannequin. Also the metal comb webs indicates to me that she is trapped and she
doesn’t have a way out or she doesn’t know one. The lyrics in this scene are “...a disease of the mind, it can control you”
she also follows that up with “I feel
like a monster”. This tells me that these things she is feeling is fiercely
changing her against her will and now that she has changed she doesn’t feel
herself anymore.
Another scene is where she has her arms and legs stuck
inside of walls and she is only wearing a thin piece of metal spine corset on
her body and she has a tarantula on her arm. She at this point looks completely
consumed and this also shows that she feels very trapped and doesn’t have any
ways to move to be herself, its like she has no control of herself and that her
body has been taken over by evil. In this scene she says “it’s like the darkness is light” This tells me that she has given
up to the point where she thinks evil is good, and now she is not trying very
hard to regain her mind. She also says “Am
I scaring you now?” meaning that because of her change she is scaring
everyone she meets or sees her, also when she says this her movements are quite
scary, this scene is a mid shot of her in the cage, the monster version of
herself, looking directly at the camera, which makes it seem like she is
talking to the viewer instead herself.
Another scene would be where she is trapped inside a small
room on a chair, she has her arms and legs chained to the ground. She is saying
“release from this cure I’m in” this
means that she wants to really get out because she can not handle it anymore and
that is more afraid of her state of mind now then she was before.
The Music video ends with Rihanna on the throne again, she
is looking directly at the camera like the beginning of the music video. This
shows the power the evil entity has and now that she is looking right at the
camera it looks like she is looking right the viewer warning them that they
could be next.
Throughout these scenes I can see that the actor’s
impressions and acting makes them feel very scary and it fits well with the
horror genre of this video. The way they move and act shows that there is
something not normal about this video because usually in pop videos we would
see a lot of colours and the actors would usually be happy and are shot in a
way that even if it’s sad you will still be able to tell that it’s a pop song.
Therefore, When I look at those Music videos then look at Disturbia, I feel
like there is a huge difference between the two music videos because Disturbia
is more dark and scary where the real narrative is quite evident but you also
have to think a lot about what something represents.
