Who is Childish Gambino?
This is America' was released in the US on 5 May 2018 to coincide with Donald Glover hosting 'Saturday Night Live'. This song was not announced but ironically, that is one of the reasons why it got so much attention. Donald Glover or Child Gambino, which is the musical stage name, is an American actor, rapper, comedian, writer and producer, so he already had a dedicated audience before publishing this video which made the success possible. The director and Childish Gambino haven't said much about the video. By doing that, people analyse on and on, making this video relevant for a long period of time
I first watched this video in 2018, and I remembered being very shocked of how well this controversial theme of social issues in America was conveyed only through a song and a visual masterpiece. To me, the main message that I first identified was how in America people usually use the media, dance or in general the trends to ignore the real problems like racism and gun violence. This is shown by literally putting the audience in this position while watching the video: the people dancing are focused, while the background where the violence is happening is blurred out. I also noticed how after every shooting the arm 'used' by Gambino was taken away in a red material, while the victim was dragged off carelessly.
Now, after watching it multiple times and reading about it, I found out that there are several symbols introduced in the video such as the position Gambino has when he shoots the first men which is referring to Jim Crow which was a caricature commonly used as a reference in Minstrel shows in the 1800s and 1900s where white actors would perform costumed as black people and act out black stereotypes. The fact that Childish Gambino himself does the movements himself might be showing that he is taking ownership of this image so he can't be hurt by it. This may also introduced to educate people, not only entertain them, while saying in a way that these problems with equality still haven't been solved like we want to think. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the Director choose to film in a empty white warehouse which maybe represents the structure that America is built on: white supremacy.
Another important moment in this video is when the second shooting happens. That moment obviously refers to the Charleston Church shooting when nine African American were killed during a Bible study by a 21-year old white supremacist.
Right after the shooting, the tone of the music changes from afro beats to trap music. obvious elements of afro beats
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