Yeah Yeah Yeahs // Sacrilege Analysis (revisited)

Analysis Revisited after comments:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sacrilege Analysis

Definition of sacrilege:

• Violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred:

Analysis of the music video
The video opens up with a fire and the vocals play through the little lyrics that the song has, we are then introduced to the girl whom in the music video is half naked, who is tied up to the pole in the centre of the field, next to her is a young man lying on the ground, still. The editing at this point is clearly non-linear as the viewer we often see the exact scene played again two or three times, simply from a different characters and viewing perspective, this makes the audience feel like an involver in these actions. The video opens with the consequences of the woman's actions.

The camera then frames in to some close up images of those standing around the woman, they show expressions of exuberance as they place piles of wood, lumber and petrol around her. The colour of the film overall is very red tinted, this goes hand in hand with lust, desire and danger themes that underlay already in the opening 30 seconds of the music video. 

After this point, it begins to become clear that the timeline has been reversed and that we are watching the events. The man with the mask on, seen earlier lying on the ground is then shot as he runs through the streets, for an unknown reason for the moment however the mask is an important point to bear in mind. The camera angle in this shot tracks backwards on the masked character making the audience feel as if we have trapped him. It's notable too that the only ones doing any serious violence in this video are the males, this responds to the Earp and Katz (1999) who found that “a widespread and disturbing equation of masculinity and pathological control and violence.” and this is thus evident in the music video, especially with the shooting of a man.

The primary narrative becomes clear here because she is caught with a man in bed, and as the mob appears, they mask the man in his bed and at this moment, the girl escapes out of the window, into a clearly small and rural town where there is an active witch hunt out for her. She is then caught and burnt with her dead lover's body by her side, just like a witch would be treated and the fire is an obvious association with hell (another religious theme running through the video). The mask is very important because the person is actually a priest and this links back to the scene before where he is shot, I believe that they masked because there is evil tied to killing a religious person. The mask also had a long nose which could be used because he was a liar and unfaithful, it was also red which is often a colour associated with adultery. The motive for the killing is visually represented later in the video, it's simply that he is jealous.

Opening lyrics analysis:

Fallen for a guy, fell down from the sky

(Fell in love with a guy and the second part could be alluding to the fact that god cast satan out of heaven)

Halo round his head

Feathers in a bed

(Brings wings to mind and makes us visualise a fallen angel)

In our bed, in our bed

(The affair took place in the sacred place which is her marital bed)

The rest of the music video from here on is all a flashback into her past and we see some close ups from many involved and it shows a flicker of guilt. Many of these sexual encounters have featured men from the mob that eventually killed her. When the flashbacks appear, the choir singers join in, which is slightly ironic because they are often used in order to praise something. The lyrics have a strong link with the music video at this point (Goodwin's theory) and despite the endless 'pleading and praying' the accusations is what is ultimately destructive, despite the video making it very clear that no one here is without sin. It attempts to portray that God forgives but an angry jealous mob doesn't. All of the following scenes appear to happen after her marriage (I know this as it is the last scene of the music video). Through all of them, we have Goodwin's notion of looking in them as an outsider because in none of them do we get any character looking directly at the camera and therefore makes the audience feel intrusive.

It's not clear to the audience wether she did actually sleep with these people or wether it is simply a fragment of their imagination but it's clear that they did happen after her marriage. We do not see her husband in any of the scene thereafter however. She represents women in a very sexual nature, however not in the light of true happiness of the relationships that follow the downfall of her wedding. 

The townsfolk were happy with the 'town slut' to see others so long as they carried on the game and continued to be their fantasy of different sorts. However, when she attempts to escape the clutches of this, all of the guilt she carried on from those previous sexual relationships and our culture deems her to be so sinful and wrong and so for the town people, rather than facing their sins, they destroy all evidence of their transgressions. 

Overall then, the sacrilege (through the townsfolk's eyes) is not her promiscuity or her (and their own) infidelity, it's the sacred role of the priest himself and her marriage vows. Sacrilege was once punishable by death.