In 2018, rapper, comedian, and cultural icon Childish Gambino supplemented his chart topping hit “This Is America” with a music video unlike any other. Gambino and frequent collaborator Hiro Murai use unique visual storytelling techniques to convey the story of black people in America today.
This story is dark.
It’s violent.
Yet, Gambino and his ensemble joyously dance their way throughout the madness. This juxtaposition, mixed with other key visuals, truly amplifies Gambino’s themes of black oppression, police brutality, and the general state of the common black man in America today.
The choreography in this video works against the other visual elements that are present in the song. Childish Gambino has an array of different movements that can be interpreted in many different ways. I’m not necessarily educated on all of the cultural easter eggs these moves allude to, so I’d like to discuss the ideology behind the dancing in the first place. Gambino is leading a group of young black teenagers wearing school uniforms. Each of them have a giant smile on their face, as they gleefully participate in a routine that’s mixed with topical hip-hop dances and moves that resemble black vaudeville performance. While dancing and rapping, Gambino and the kids act oblivious to the havoc occuring behind them. There’s people running away from police, while trashing and burning cars, and people getting killed for no reason. This sight represents the normalization of gun violence and police brutality, specifically in black communities, in today’s society. Everyone continues to smile and dance to show that nowadays these brutal acts against black people are becoming an everyday thing. Black kids who should be able to go to school peacefully have to worry about the potential school shooting that could occur, or the possible police encounter that could become violent. The dancing, and the lighthearted gospel-filled track juxtaposing the violence in the background just shows how black people in America today are beginning to become immune to these issues. America is lacking to right these wrongs. They keep on happening like it’s normal, and the choreography highlights this normalcy.
One plot point I’d also like to touch on is the scene of Gambino dancing on top of a car alone, in a lot of cars surrounding him. It’s very common for a modern day rap song to have a music video with rappers flexing cars, jewelry and women. They glorify this idea of an artist with “clout”, and many black kids are growing up to idolize these artists. Gambino is dancing on top of a station wagon, in a lot of inexpensive station wagons. This image is to bring us back to a grittier reality that most black people in America have to face. Gambino is exposing the facade that is the rap industry, and bringing us back to earth. In this scene, he’s showcasing that luxury for black people in America is only set for a common few, and most are forced to do with society’s leftovers.
The music video for Childish Gambino is cinematic and real. It will be taught in classrooms for years to come, as he does an amazing job of highlighting the racism black people in America face through great visual storytelling.
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I really like after the opening you put “This story is dark.” and “It’s violent.” on their own lines as it shows the importance of those two lines and lets people know that it is really dark and really violent. The way you mention the kids in school uniforms and how they smile and dance and act along with Childish Gambino and they all act like nothing is going on behind them is very true and I think is a big part of the video.
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I really liked the picture you chose to use for your background image on your homepage, as i think its very calming. Your This is America analysis was very precise and one of my favorite things about it was the way you organized it. The spacing you used added more detail when you stated how the story is dark, violent. Your introduction paragraph was also well stated, as providing some history about who Childish Gambino is as a person and not only him, but the person he collaborated with as well was important for readers to understand their backgrounds together. Also, I believe your use of diction was essential to strengthening your argument and helped your argument flow better as well. I felt the same way when you brought up how gun violence and police brutality has become normalized specifically in Black communities. Your conclusion by using the “clout” example is extremely important for people in our generation to understand as all of these materialistic things are glorified. Overall, I really enjoyed this analysis.
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