Ashanti- Foolish Analysis

'Foolish' was Ashanti's debut single and video, released in 2002. Foolish was directed by Irv Goti (Murder INC Records) starring  Terrence Howard. Terrence Howard has also starred in other R'n'B music videos, including Mary J Blige's 'Be Without You'. He won an Oscar for Best Actor for his work in Hustle & Flow.




The music video commences with a two shot of men sitting in a car, the car is static, they are discussing a girl which they refer to as a 'chick'. Slang is a conventional aspect of the R'n'B genre. The camera then pans to Terrence Howard walking beside Ashanti. They are dressed in smart costume: Ashanti dressed in a low V neck black dress, revealing a lot of skin and Howard dressed in a black suit. Ashanti's costume correlates to Mulvey's male gaze theory, where women are made to look a certain way to appeal to men. The Murder Inc logo then appears, communicating to the Claudine that the music video is a product of Murder Inc Records.




A freezing frame of the two protagonists then occurs after Ashanti asks 'what do you do?' and he replies 'construction'. This freeze frame indicates that this dialogue is significant to the narrative, which it is. The narrative is the narrative of  Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas of 1990. This snipet of dialogue reveals the narrative, as it is identical to the original scene in Goodfellas. The location is a posh restaurant where, waiters carry tables and table lamps over to make a table for the pair, portraying their importance as the waiters drop everything they're doing to wait on them. A two shot of two men holding up their champagne glasses to the couple also supports their importance.


Following this scene, is a transition shot that shows contrast between a white door and a gap in the door where you see the male protagonists face. He is positioned on the left hand of the screen. The positioning of Terrence is effective because people read from left to right, the fact that he is on the left means that we see him before anything else. This transition illustrates Terrence's mystery, as he is hidden behind the door, showing that he hides his real self.

We then see another transition where Terrence is leaving the house, Ashanti then asks him for some money. Within this shot she wears a sensible costume, and is covered up in contrast to other shots of. She wears a cross chain, associated with Christianity. This shot of her dressed respectively and wearing a cross demonstrates her innocence. In contrary, Terrence pulls up his jumper showing the many stacks of cash stashed in his belt. The fact that the money is hidden communicates his delinquency,l contrasting from the purity and innocence of Ashanti. This makes the audience sympathize for her.

We then see the deterioration of their relationship as we see a close up shot of car keys being thrown out of a window, indicating an argument between the. Following this Terrence gets angry and throws a lamp at Ashanti but however misses. This is when we recognize his violent side. His violence along with various other occurrences, such as handing the doormen cash and hiding money under his belt arouses suspicion within the audience as to what he does when he isn't with Ashanti.




The scene then fades to another where a medium shot shows Terrence in between Ja rule and another of his friend. They open a briefcase full of money. The three are happy and smiling. The scene then cuts to Ashanti sitting at home looking melancholy. This conforms to the modern day societies beliefs that women are dependent on men .These shots illustrate the contrast between the tow and further the audience to feel sorry for the female protagonist. 





Next we see Terrence at a party with a different woman, where he is seen kissing her neck. This shot reveals that he is cheating on Ashanti. When then see Ashanti sitting on a sofa beside two friends. Behind her is a picture of her album cover. This is a form of inter textual reference to promote her album.










We then see Ashanti spying on Terrence from across the road of the woman's apartment. A close up shot shows Ashanti punching in numbers on a pad outside the door. The close up shows her wedding ring, reminding the audience that she is married to Terrence who is currently cheating. 






The video then cuts to Ashanti beside Terrence on her bed. Flashbacks of shots from the begining of the music video appear such as the early dinner scene, revealing that she is reminiscent. Other flashbacks then follow of the wrong things he did she then packs her bags to leave, as she is leaving close up shots of her singing show the depression and sadness she is experiencing via her facial expressions. As she opens the door to leave, he is standing at door. A close up shot shows her dropping her bag. She then hugs him and they both walk back inside the house. The video ends with a freeze frame of Terrence staring directly at the camera with a smirk on his face , direct address to the audience. This communicates that he knows how to play her and that what he wants.





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