Textual Analysis 3: Popular Song

Popular Song by MIKA and Ariana Grande is an example of a music video with a narrative. The music video follows closely to what seems like a story of both singers in high school of being bullied about not being popular. The lyrics follow closely to the storyline, showing both the characters' high school memories about their problem. The story also builds up to their plan of revenge as they're seen stirring a pot of unknown substance. This is amplified throughout the music video which shows that it is relevant somehow which is proved near the end of the video. This music video is effective because it keeps the audience interested in the storyline of the song and makes them want to know what eventually happens to the bullies in the high school.

The kitchen is where the storyline starts. Both MIKA and Ariana are in the kitchen stirring up their revenge. This engages the audience within the first few seconds because the audience will wonder the relevance of the potion. In the near beginning of the music video, a pan shot shows Ariana facing in the camera's direction and miming to it. However, this also has another meaning. The girl in front of her is the one that portrays the bully from her experience. MIKA is also sat behind her. When this scene happens, Ariana sings,

"you were the popular one, the popular chick,

it is what it is, now I'm popular-ish"

This implies that she's singing to the girl ahead of her to give the audience an identification to who she is. These lyrics mean that times have changed for the characters in the music video - the popular girl turning out to be not-so-popular and Ariana who was the non-popular girl actually becomes popular in the future.

When MIKA starts singing in tilted angle shot you can see Ariana next to him looking at the girl we saw in the first storyline scene of the music video. The setting of the music video is obviously planned out to look like a high school, therefore telling the audience that this was a story of high school. It can relate to the younger generation (e.g. teenagers and people still in high school) but it also can related to older people too - it may bring back memories of past experiences that they've had in their time at school. This is effective because it enables audiences to connect with the music video and while most music videos are about dancing, parties and money, this is clearly a different take on the pop genre because it has a deep meaning and a storyline. In the video when MIKA sings, he sings,

"standing on a field with you pretty pompoms,

now you're working at a cinema selling popular corn"

This enabled us as an audience to understand that both MIKA and Ariana went through the same type of bullying and shows that most schools have people that are popular and like the ones in the music video.

This close up of MIKA shows his sinister look on his face, adding more storyline for the audience because we then know that he has a revenge plan for the rest of the music video. Here he sings,

"you're only ever who you were"

implying people don't change and the people who are trying to be friends with MIKA are just doing it to try and be popular again.

The mid-close up of the lead singers in the music video shows the facial expressions of both people when they're 'cooking up revenge'. It could also show how different genders deal with bullies. Ariana's face lacks any emotion showing that girls may tend to hide revenge and do it in secret, whereas MIKA's face is clear that he's up to something and doesn't seem to care to hide it.

There are numerous settings in the music video, most of which are in the high school. However, they're all related and gives the audience a sense of plot, going from high school to the dining room in a mansion. The music video is shown to be a Gothic type high school, maybe resembling what MIKA and Ariana dressed/acted like at that time. This could show that now it is the opposite way round - in high school the lead singers were both Gothic and everyone else was popular but now it's reversed - both singers are popular and the other people are Gothic like, in a sense saying 'now you know what it feels like to not be popular'.

In the music video there are a lot of shades of purple. Purple has many meanings and some of the few are conflict, mystery and truth. These meanings fit with the music video well because it's all about the conflict of MIKA and Ariana, the mystery of what they're going to do to the bullies and truth in that their version of events is dramatised of what people would like to do about the bullies but true in what the message is trying to get across.