Analysis: Music Video: Kanye West - All Falls Down

The video for the song "All Falls Down" by Kanye West is unique because the whole music video is shot as a point of view - the main character being Kanye west. The video is both performance based as well as narrative by linking in with the lyrics, making it easier for the viewers to follow the story.

The music video is quite clever in that, all though it is all in a point of view shot, we do see Kanye West when he looks into mirrors, car windows and sunglasses as well as when he goes through the xray machine - a very memorable part in the video.

It seems that the main focus in the video is towards the girl protagonist, creating a narrative male gaze. The girl's clothes are revealing in itself, she wears a tight blue dress and probably the main focus is that she is not wearing a bra. The camera has a close up onto this aspect in order to intensify the male gaze and draw the audiences eyes towards the bra-less girl. Moreover, the girl is mixed race which, stereotypically, is favoured by men. This shows that Kanye West gets the preferred women and this then shows that he is desired by these women, highlighting his good reputation.

The music video is very materialistic, both with the props that are used and the lyrics being sung. There are many references to wealth, shots of expensive watchs, and lots of cash being given to the girl protagonist by Kanye West. Whenever we see Kanye in the video, it is always a performance; the lyrics show the real person behind all the materialism. For example, although Kanye is seen in expensive designer clothes, the lyrics suggest this is all a facade: "buy alot of clothes but don't really need them".

Furthermore, although he is seen in these good clothes the lyric "i'm so self concious" shows that he isnt wearing these clothes for himself, merely to make a good impression with other people, suggesting he cares a lot about what other people think of him. This is also reflected in the video when mustard is spilled on him, he is very quick to wash it off to avoid embarrassment and disapproval of other people - despite his girlfriend being about to get on a plane. Referring to my earlier comment on the xray machine, when Kanye West goes through it this could be to show that although on the exterior he wants to seem better than everyone else with the expensive clothes, watches and women, underneath he really is just the same as everyone else.

Chloe Singleton