NAME OF MUSIC: TE AMO
“Te amo” is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, taken from her fourth studio album, Rated R. It was made in 2010 when R&B was and still is one of the most popular genres. The main target audience for Rihanna tend to be between 15- 25 due to the fact that most teenagers are more sexual at the age of 15. The music video is narrative driven with a linear structure set in a sexual world. The audience watching this video will experience voyeurism, which means the notion that erotic pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object or people engaged with intimate or provocative behaviour. This is how most well-known woman R&B music artists present their music videos. It characterises a highlighted sex appeal of women and this is seen very much throughout this video. The title “Te Amo” is Spanish for “I love you” and in this music video, the viewers will notice that it has a very Spanish texture to it which is very much been portrayed through the use of mise-en-scene.The lyrics express the feelings and passion between Rihanna and the other female that is in the video e.g. the first line Rihanna mentions “Te Amo, Te Amo she says to me. Te Amo, Te Amo means I love you, I love you”. This emphasis the sexual tension between Rihanna and the Spanish woman. The fact that she mentions the line “she says to me” emphasis that she could perhaps be a lesbian.
The chorus states “Te Amo, Te Amo, then she put her hands around my waist, I told her no, and she cried Te Amo”. This connotes that the woman really has deep feelings for Rihanna. However Rihanna says no and refuses to be with her as if she is teasing her. Moreover in the chorus She says “Dont mean I love, Think it means I love you. This indicates that Rihanna is not sure whether she loves the woman or not and this is repeated throughout the song.
The video starts up with a close up pan of a black car going through frame as we hear a very distinct strong ambient sound of the wind blowing and the leaves rustling in the trees. This connotes that the mise-en-scene is set in the woods somewhere. Moreover the wind blowing and the leaves on the trees rustling show that the car is the only thing around. We then cut to an establishing shot of a big mansion as the black car stops in front of it.
The scene then fades into a close up of the car door opening and
the camera slowly pans down to the ground as the audience can see just the legs of the person coming out of the car. We immediately know it is a woman as we can see tights on the legs and the smooth curves. The camera then slowly pans up to reveal what the woman looks like a Latino (Spanish) woman in black clothing. She starts to do sexual poses in front of the car. This immediately gives the audience a feeling of a sexual Spanish vibe. This connotes that she has sexual feelings for Rihanna.
The music then starts with a cut to a medium shot inside the mansion as we are introduced to Rihanna. The camera cuts to Rihanna in long shot of her to show her sexual body posture as she is leaning against a wall. In close up we see the make-up and the costume that she wears defines who she is, the black eyeliner, black lipstick, black dress etc; it all allows the audience to believe that Rihanna is a very sexy and dominant female. It characterises highlighted sex appeal of women and this is seen very much throughout this video. The lighting in this picture is very well planned. The background is very dark however the whole room has a darkish red light which is coming from the fire place in the mansion which gives a distinct “red light” district sexual atmosphere. It also indicates that not only is she sexy and dominant but also dangerous and in some ways demonic. This is done to allow the audience an insight into what the artist is represented as before the song begins. The camera continually keeps cutting between Rihanna and the foreign woman to connote that they will soon meet up with each other.
The camera then focuses on Rihanna, with a close up of her starting to s
ing, her fingers slowly sliding down from her mouth to give the impression that she wants sexual attention. This leads the audience to believe that Rihanna is a woman who is extremely sexual and this catches the male audience attention. We also see the foreign woman in the mansion wearing different clothing. This time we see that she is showing a lot of her body skin with just a black bra and a black skirt, a common leather black bra used for women in strip clubs. This shows that the woman is extremely sexual and perhaps planning to seduce Rihanna.The scene then cuts to a long shot of both women dancing without touching each other to insinuate that both of them are trying to tease each other and wanting to see who the most dominant female is. This could also suggest that only one woman is in love with the other as one is not as Rihanna states in her song “Te Amo does not mean I love you”. Every time Rihanna says “Te Amo does not mean I love you”, the camera adopts a long shot and cuts back to the room and we notice that the room is not as dark and red as it was at the beginning. This denotes that the passion for each other has died out.
Due to the fact that the music has got quite fast a tempo, a lot of short takes are used. The camera adopts an over the shoulder shot with the two women facing each other. This suggests the passion that the two women have for each other. It could also show the tension as the room at this point is has an even brighter red. We then see a close-up of Rihanna’s face to identify her facial expression of sexual tension at this point in time. This allows her target audience to engage more with her and feel more attached to her. Rihanna keeps a very straight face while looking at the other woman to show that she is not intimidated by her and she is more dominant than her.
The scene then cuts to a medium shot of the Spanish woman lying down, touching her body on a red sofa connoting that she is also sexy. In addition, the bright red colour on the sofa shows that she may be also dangerous. The camera cuts to a low angle shot of Rihanna standing in one place as the Spanish woman walks towards Rihanna. This represents that she is in control and does not feel intimidated. Rihanna looks into the camera at points in the exhibitions and this allows her to engage with the viewer, holding their gaze for a second so they will continue to watch and also makes the video more personal. We also see close-ups of the other woman’s eyes to connote the passion that she has for Rihanna, this happens in the majority of the video. However, this contrasts with the voyeuristic qualities of the video, as in such scenes where the two characters are intimate they don't look into the camera so it makes the audience feel like they are watching something they shouldn't, or 'spying' on the characters. This is effective and will make viewers want to continue watching the video.
The mise-en-scene then changes and we see a brighter side to the two women as the Spanish woman is lying down with Rihanna on top of her. The lighting is much brighter as we see a shade of pink lights shining on them. This implies that there could be a hint of love felt towards each other. Moreover Rihanna’s clothing has changed as now she is in a leopard print dress. This again connotes that Rihanna is rough and sexual. The mise-en-scene then changes again to outside the mansion where we see Rihanna in a pink dress on grass. This connotes that she has an innocent and sensitive side to her as well as sexy and dangerous. The camera cuts to the Spanish woman outside with Rihanna. However, she is still wearing black. There is a lot of short take and close-ups of the woman holding her hair and then a cut to a long shot of Rihanna jogging backwards. This connotes that at this point of time Rihanna is vulnerable as she has showed her sensitive side to the woman as the Spanish woman still remains dominant.
The video ends with a close up of Rihanna looking away from the camera as there is burning fire in the background without the Spanish woman in sight. This signifies that Rihanna has once again regained the dominant position and could have maybe burnt the Spanish woman which shows her dangerous side.
The music video and the song have a very sexual theme, of two woman trying acting as if they wanted to seduce each other. The preferred reading of this video would be that Rihanna’s target audience would find her as a very good artist because of the cutting edits and also of her voice. However the oppositional reading would be that actual lesbians could find her video offensive due to the fact that Rihanna is not an actual lesbian. Moreover Rihanna is promoting too much voyeurism between the same sex which in religious cases is wrong.
Regarding oppositional readings, Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s, that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. The leader of this movement Sheila Jeffrey would find this video highly offensive. In addition feminists readings on the music video would be that Rihanna is trying too hard to create a sexy image of herself and would get frustrated with it.
