The Effects Model

The concept of the music video is how Madonna, the artist, describes herself, the song is about a 'passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life'. The narrative of the music video revolves around a young teenage girl who is completely enticed with God, seemingly obsessed and devoting herself to someone who she feels is in physical reality. As well as this, the music video features themes of rape, depictions of religion that arn't typically stereotypical and sexual imagery. Madonna said herself that she was blamed that the video was controversial for simply "because I kissed a black saint and danced in front of burning crosses!" The performance in the music video is very narrative based and revolves around the artist as well as some of the controversial themes within the video.Madonnas song is a pop rock song and incorporates gospel music. It features background vocals from a choir and also a rock guitar. The lyrics contain liturgical words, but they have dual meanings of sexual innuendo and religion. "Like a Prayer" was acclaimed by critics and was a worldwide success.

In early 2018 there was a parody of the Madonna song, written in context of the struggle of University classes. Using the music video as a base and reference to create a popular song; 'like a prayer' themes are used throughout such as the cinema-photography, lighting, settings and characters. There was references of homage in the music video fo the themes displayed throughout the narrative were closely related to religion and christianity. The repeated religious imagery of crosses, Jesus on the cross, white outfits and church settings invoke this. However, there was no use of pastiche.

The purpose of the music video was to demonstrate to an audience to show the more provocative side of the artist, Madonna, than anything shed done before. As well as this she wanted to address racism by having the music video show a mixed-race couple being shit by the Ku Klux Klan. However, she laster settled on another theme in keeping with the songs religious connotations. Although this type of media was used for enjoyment it was also to expose and raise awareness for the false accusations of people of colour by the police simply because of their race. The video shows Madonna witnessing a young woman being robbed and murdered by a group of men, but isn't able to help. A black man walking down the alley also sees the incident and helps the woman, but the murderers run away.
The police mistakenly suspect the black man of being the killer and arrest him. Madonna flees the scene and escapes to a church. There, she sees a caged statue of saint who resembles the black man. Madonna then lies down on a pew and has a dream in which she is falling through space. A woman, representing power and strength, catches her. She tells Madonna to do what is right and sends her back up. Still dreaming, she returns to the statue, which transforms into the black man she had seen earlier. He kisses her forehead and leaves the church, as she picks up a knife and cuts her hands. After seeing scenes of Madonna singing in front of burning crosses, erotic scenes are shown between her and the saint, and the singer being surrounded by a choir inside the church. Madonna wakes up, goes to the jail and tells the police that she had witnessed the crime and that the black man is innocent; and he is released.

Religious groups worldwide including the Vatican, immediately protested the video, saying that it showed blasphemous use of Christian imagery.
They called for the national boycott of Pepsi (after she performed it in a Pepsi commercial) and PepsiCo's subsidiaries, including KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Pepsi explained the differences between their advert and Madonna's artistic opinions in the video, and later gave in to the protests and cancelled the campaign. Pope John Paul II also got involved, and encouraged fans to boycott the singer in Italy altogether. There is a censored version of the song, although the lyrics never showcase any blasphemy, a separate copy of the music video has been made that cuts out more extreme controversial parts of the music video.

The artists target audience has always been the young generation and teenagers who love rock and dance music. The price penetration strategies and Madonna image has worked well to gain her name and money. The music video could influence them to stand up for others in times of need (eg the blamed black man who tried to help  the girl) as well as religious/christian influence as this is a large aspect/theme of the music video. There are forms of intertextuality within the music video with the repeated references to Jesus and religion; this was shown through imagery fo the cross, Jesus on a cross, white clothing, etc. Overall, I have a positive outlook on the music video, the themes at the time being somewhat shocking are now normal in our generation; i enjoyed the cinema-photography and strong imagery throughout.