Intertextuality 1

Intertextuality within music videos is when a piece of text, is recognised in another piece of text. In terms of music videos, aspects of famous films are commonly included. An example of this is Ashanti- Foolish. The narrative of this music video is the narrative of Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.




Goodfellas was released in 1990, allowing a variety of audiences to watch the film, including the youth of today. Goodfellas has made a profit of over 46 million dollars, demonstrating that it is a popular film. The popularity of the film is important because it means that more viewers can recognmise the link between the two texts.

I was able to establish the link between the two texts as soon as we saw Ashanti and Terrence Howard walk through the back way of the club and hand the doorman cash. We then see the pair sit a specially made table as we see the two in Goodfellas sit.

Ashanti has also incorporated another famous film in one of her music videos. Ashanti and Ja Rule's Mesmerize is based on on the narrative form the film Grease. I argue that the link within this music video is much easier to recognise than Foolish and Goodfellas. The use of costume throughout the video instantly reveals the intertextuality of Grease. Ja Rule who plays Danny is seen in a 'jocks' red and white jacket and Ashanti who plays Sandy is seen in a latex bodysuit. The location of  a fun fair also tells of the link between the film and the video.

Audiences enjoy being able to recognise media products interweaved into another. The use of very famous films such as Goodfellas allows a large amount of the audience to identify the intertextuality.