Kanye West "Heartless" Music Video Analysis: A Postmodern Surrealistic Masterpiece

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS KANYE WEST-HEARTLESS

WHY I CHOSE THE VIDEO I personally enjoy this video for a number of reasons, in particular the aesthetic and creative nature of the design The animation is unique, especially for the genre of music that Kanye West creates (hip-hop) It involves a story/tale that can be enticing and interesting for the listener/viewer Incidentally it contains a lot of post-modern elements and American culture references

POSTMODERNISM- SURREALISM/UNREALIST IC ELEMENTS/STORY STRUCTURE The video for Heartless cleverly mixes both aspects of realism within it s story and also a fantasy like structure, where the character depicting Kanye is thinking about women in his life that have ended up causing a lot of pain Ultimately the story suggests a altered state or a fantasy rather than a clear representation of the character s reality These fantasy like elements add a certain surrealism to the video as well as exaggerating the confused mind- set of the character depicted. If the person watching does not necessarily understand the structure or overtly understand the situation, the viewer might assume the same of the character depicted The cartoonish/unrealistic design also provides the video with a nice artistic effect; the world depicted is more stylised than any location or city within the real world (maybe) https://media1.giphy.com/media/Op21xa7ZtQiTm/200_s.gif

POSTMODERNISM- HYBRIDITY The video aesthetically owes itself to the cartoon/animation of artist/director Ralph Bakshi His film American Pop (1981) was the inspiration for the both Kanye West and the director of Heartless Hype Williams As well as this being a artistic choice, both the video Heartless and American Pop share a story in which the protagonist has issues with women and life obstacles It as well influences the mood of the story. The noire-like depiction of a city exaggerates the darkness of the protagonists mood as well as highlighting the words connected to Kanye s state of mind American Pop Heartless

POSTMODERNISM- INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES In addition to the hybridity of cartoon animation with a story/hip hop format created by Kanye West, both him and the director Hype Williams added images of significant aspects of American culture and artistic culture (pastiche elements) The Jetsons , a 1960s American primetime cartoon series, is shown through artwork within the house belonging to Kanye West in Heartless. The Jestons was created by Hanna-Barbera the same company that made The Flintstones, The idea of The Jestons was to contrast the stone age setting of The Flintstones with a futuristic utopia surrounding As well as this, other images in the house include a picture of the famous 32 Campbell's Soup Cans piece of art created by Andy Warhol, one of the most famous artists and pieces of art in the the 20thcentury These are symbolic references to revolutionary art, Hanna-Barbera, Andy Warhol and the cartoon s created by Ralph Bakshi were all artists/art pieces that made significant impacts in terms of artistry in the 20thcentury. This video is a homage to the iconic status that these artists have gained Again, it adds a more stylistic element as well