Like a Prayer Analysis

Narrative

• The narrative of the video is that a woman witnesses the rape and murder of a woman. She stands by while a black man also witnesses the crime and goes to help. The police arrive and the black man is falsely accused of the crime. The woman runs off to a church where she sees a statue of a black saint that resembles the falsely accused black man. The woman utters a prayer and the saint is seen crying. She then falls into a dream where a woman catches her and throws her back telling her to do the right thing. Still dreaming the statue comes to life, kisses her on the forehead and walks out the church. The woman then cuts her hand with a knife. When the dream ends she goes to the jail and tells the police that the black man is innocent. The video ends with the entire cast taking a bow and the curtain closes.

Race

• Race is represented in this video through a black saint

• Madonna is shown having a relationship with this man which would have caused controversy at the time

• The black man is accused of a crime that he did not commit.

Women

• Objectification of women is shown when a woman is raped by a gang of men.

• Also Madonna can be seen as dancing in a sexual way showing skin

Violence

• Violence is mainly shown in this video through the rape and murder of a woman.

• Burning crosses are also seen in the video which is a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan.

Lyrics

• The lyrics of the song can be interpreted as either sexual or literal

• For example “I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there”: This can be seen as a sexual act or the art of prayer.

Intertextuality

• At the end of the video the cast take a bow and the curtains come down.

• This shows the video recognising itself as a video giving it a sense of realism

Moral Panic

• Because of the controversial aspects of the video such as the rape and murder and the relationship with a black saint the video caused a moral panic making it more popular.

Ritual Celebration

• Towards the end of the music video we see evidence of ritual celebration.

• There is a choir and Madonna can be seen dancing, showing that the narrative of the story has a happy ending