I remember this Ludacris music video being one of the first “hip-hop/rap videos” shown to me. I don’t recall the exact context but I remember thinking it was as strange as the rappers name. The overt oversexualization of the girls dancing almost felt comical how wrong it was. The scantily-clad dressing and objectification, both in the video and the lyrics, of the woman made me want to turn it off (not to mention I wasn’t, and probably am still not, a fan of Ludacris at the time) but I didn’t say or do anything as any freshman in highschool would.
But now to take this video in the context of McMillan allows for a very different way of viewing this video. Perhaps we should take these women to be acting as “objects” in order to make a point. The comical aspect of the video may lead to the plausibility of “purposeful objectification” for the sake of being a statement. By taking the idea of objectification so over the top, it creates a field of discussion of what it means to objectify and how that acts in our everyday lives.
Intentionality versus effect plays a bit part in this. Whether Ludacris and his directors intended for this to be a statement hardly matters if the audience never saw it as such. How we as viewers and listeners interpret, react to, and discuss these pieces is ultimately what makes the lasting effect on society.
