Within this video we see a medium close up of Rihanna standing in front of vigorous flames while singing the words “watch me burn”. I believe this could be to show her being vulnerable which is a common stereotype of females however it’s actually quite biased and unfair. We are not sure as to what it means at this point as it is too early to tell but some may say that she is frustrated or angry and the flames are there to express her feelings. However the most important thing to notice in this video is that the two singers “Eminem” and “Rihanna” are singing about a couple; each of the singers have their own setting for their parts in the song until they finally come together at the end of the song but we also are mainly watching the hideous suffering of the female in the couple’s relationship. In the next frame, the couple lay in bed half dressed and asleep to maybe indicate that they have just had sex but more importantly, the setting looks very dull and dingy which is symbolic of the state of the relationship.
We then see the female character sitting down in a dark room with a flame within the palm of her hand. I believe that this is a symbolisation of what she is feeling inside as if she is burning with anger. The same thing then happens again. A quick glance back at Rihanna as she sings and then back to our female subject. Another feature is that at this stage of the song, the tempo and feel is very soft and slow, therefore the rate of cuts is slow and this mirrors how the female character feels, very sad, emotional but not running around in fury. Additionally, the fact that Rihanna’s hair is red is vital to the meaning of the song. Red is hot. It's a strong colour that conjures up a range of seemingly conflicting emotions from passionate love to violence. This could therefore mean that our female character is in a relationship which is passionate but has a lot of violence and heat.
The violence is a very clear and obvious theme in the video as at 0:34 we see the female character (Megan Fox) get out of bed angrily and pushing the man by her side away from her to show that she is most defiantly angry at this man. We are not sure why yet but at 0:40 the violence increases and what’s interesting is that we see the female hitting the man which is going against stereotypes such as men being violent and women being weak. The female is very much in control. However the stereotypes come back into play when the male finally takes over, showing his masculinity (also shown by his muscle). At 0:49 we get the idea that the male character is very much dominant and over powering as he does not allow Meghan to leave which is clearly stated in both the lyrics and their acting. All of these little scenes are trying to convey to the audience that they’re relationship is in tatters, the female is very much being suffocated by the over powering man and she physically can’t stop it.
However when Rihanna’s parts returns, we see the couple kissing against the wall which the man had just punched. This could be to show that even though they fight a lot, they do still love each other. This is also enforced by Rihanna’s facial expressions. They look as if she is in pain, but at the same time look as if she is enjoying the pain.
A very typical scene within this video is seeing a man in a bar on his own with a bottle of beer looking sorry for him and this video has a perfect example at 1:42 approx. It could mean that when men are having a hard time, they result to alcohol. Not all men do result to drinking, so it’s differing between different types of men and we get the impression that this man probably drinks quite a lot and has had a rough time. In contrast to this we see Megan Fox crying in the corridor of her own home to express her anger and distraught feelings. Typically men are stereotyped with being angry and when they do get angry they really do show it, especially like Dominic Monhagan this video. This is displayed at 2:06 as we see him shout to himself, which could symbolise pain. Clearly something he is feeling inside, obviously to do with his relationship with Megan.
I believe that even the characters themselves have been very carefully chosen. Megan Fox is a very sexy woman with an extremely nice body. The person directing the video may have felt that most girls want to look like Megan. From her previous work we can see she is actually a very likeable character so seeing her looking so distraught is actually quite upsetting for some people. However it is promoting a bad stereotype as it is saying all women should have no excess weight, perfect physique and adored by men. The male played by Dominic Monaghan is classified as a very masculine man due to his build and personality and previous works. The director way be trying to sum up a large range of the male population with this one man which is a very bold statement but in saying that, I am sure that a lot of teenage boys and young men would like to grow into something like Dominic.
We then see a series of scenes in which the true male anger comes out; he tears the house apart and hits Megan Fox which is something quite serious in today’s world. The audience will judge him for doing that, but they most defiantly get the impression that he is not in a fit mental state and he takes his anger out with violence. While all this is going on, their emotions and feeling are mirrored in the setting of the singers who have now merged and it set to look like they are standing outside of the burning house that the couple are staying in. The flames are vigorous and blazing and their movements are quite fast and uncomfortable. Then we go back to the scene at the start where Megan is holding the flame. Except now we see her close her hands to put the flame out which signifies that she has had enough and isn’t going to take this anymore; she is going to fight back! To end the song we see a series of shots where lots of things are on fire. Dominic is on fire which could either be to show that he is so angry he is now alight, or that now Megan has finally stood up for herself he is burning away. Megan is also swallowed by flames at one stage which could show that all the burning up that was going on inside is now coming out as she releases it from herself. Just before the end we see the singer Eminem and Rhianna turn to face the burning house which is showing destruction.
