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Viewed more than 390 million times since it’s May 5th release, Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’ has been shrouded in controversy and has helped to continue an on-going dialogue on the state of violence and racially motivated crimes in the United States of America. The four-minute video, choreographed by Sherrie Silver and directed by Hiro Murai takes viewers on an unexpected journey into Gambino’s ‘America’, which is characterized by gun violence, racism and societal nonchalance to these issues.
The video shows a seemingly deranged Gambino switching between choreography and committing acts of violence that seem reminiscent of controversial killings that such as the 2015 Charleston Church Massacre, where self-proclaimed White Supremacist, Dylann Roof, gunned down and murdered nine (9) members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The level of violence in the video often comes as a shock to the viewer and seems almost senseless until its revealed that after each ‘murder’, the weapon used is taken away with extreme care.
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Proficient in: Movie Review
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“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”
Another nod to the argument that Black Lives are seen as inferior/less than in America.
In my opinion, ‘This Is America’ is a form of social commentary on the racial state of affairs in modern day America. The video highlights that despite the common misconception of equality in America, there is still a divide on how persons of difference races are treated. Gambino performs with exaggerated movement and facial expression that are eerily similar to the character of Jim Crow, which was made popular in the 1830’s by Thomas Dartmout Rice.
According to Eric Lott, author of Love and Theft: Blackface Ministrelsy and the American Working Class: ‘He would put on not only blackface makeup, but shabby dress that imitated in his mind - and white people’s mind of the time - the dress and aspect and demeanor of the southern enslaved black person,”. Based on this caricature, the targeting of blacks and the treatment of the guns used in each scene, it is evident that Gambino is a white man in disguise. Hidden perfectly in the background of the video, the gun used in each ‘murder’ is taken and handled with utmost care, while the bodies left behind are dragged away and discarded without much thought. This is reminiscent of modern day killings where police and whites are humanized by the media, while the dead are treated as mere collateral damage who were ‘aggressive’ and got what they deserved.
The idea of ‘This Is America’ as a form of social commentary is also backed Childish Gambino’s choreography and lyrics. Through much of the video, he’s seen drawing on a range of dance styles such as the popular Gwara Gwara dance, which originated in South Africa as well as BlockBoy JB’s ‘Shoot Dance’. By using these moves, he speaks to the notion that America on a whole, enjoys black culture but remains nonchalant to the struggles its people go through, one of which being systematic racism. Amidst all of this, Gambino and his dancers remain cheerful and continue to dance. This again, signifies America’s disinterest in the problems blacks go through on a daily basis.
Review Of The Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’ Video. (2024, Feb 13). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/review-of-the-donald-glover-s-this-is-america-video-essay
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