The document provides an analysis of the music video for P!nk's song "Family Portrait". It summarizes that the video depicts two versions of P!nk - a younger self and her current self - showing the breakdown of her family through divorce and her desire for the perfect family portrayed in television advertisements. Key symbols in the video include the cereal the two families eat called "Pretty Happy" and the younger P!nk wearing the same clothes as the older P!nk. The setting is P!nk's childhood home and the television, representing her real past versus the false ideal of family portrayed in media.

1. Lara Dobson
P!NK – Family Portrait
Genre – R&B
Characters
The characters presentare Pinkandher youngerself.
Thiscan be assumedthroughthe facttheyare wearing
the same outfitand the youngercharacteris singing
mostof the song onher ownto tell the tale of her
presentratherthanthe tale of the olderonespast.The
youngchildisobviouslyvisiblyupsetoverthe events
that have beenunfoldinginthe narrative. The othercharactersare the TV familythatis seenasthe
perfectfamily.Theyrepresenteverythingthatthe youngerPinkwantsforherself asshe wantsa family.
The two pinksrepresentabroken andrealisticfamilywhile the familyonthe televisionrepresenta
façade and the stereotypical normthatsocietydeemsasappropriate.
Narrative
Pink’sfatherisgettingadivorce fromhermotherand the
youngerpinkwantsthemtostay a family.She isa figment
of the olderPink’simaginationandshe soonimmigrates
intothe televisiontobe withthe televisionfamilytomake
the perfectfamily.Thisiswhere the name FamilyPortrait
comesfromas the image onthe televisionmakesitseem
like afamilyportrait. Thisisa stereotypical
representationof R&Bmusicas it isusuallydeemedto
have a sad tone to the musicvideos.Pinkrepeats‘pretty
happy’as if she herself doesn’tbelieve the façade that
theyplaytowardsothers.Thisisa negative representationof familyinthe videoasfamiliesare usually
seenasdevotedtoeach other’swell being.
Iconography
The cereal that bothinterpretationsof the familieseat
iscalled‘PrettyHappy’whichismentionedrepeatedly
inthe song.The way the familyonthe televisioneatthe
cereal linkstothe lyricsof the song ‘Inour family
portrait,we lookprettyhappy’as theyseemlike afake
representationof whatstereotypical familyislike.
Anothericonicfeature inthismusicvideoisthe factthe
youngerpinkwearsthe same clothesasthe olderpink.
Thismakesthe eventsseemlike itstilleffectsherinher
dailylifestylewhichisastereotype of R&Bmusicto be
aboutfamilylife ormisguidedrelationships.

2. Lara Dobson
Setting
The whole musicvideoissetin the home of Pink whichcouldbe seenasher childhoodhome.Thisis
due to the fact the song isabout Pink’schildhoodandhow the familyseparatedwhenshe wasyoung.
Thiscouldbe a negative representationof familylife asitmakesthe oldstereotypes of the perfect
familyseemdistant.The othersettingwhichispresentisthe ‘perfect’settingthatisportrayedinthe
televisionadvertisement.Thisgivesafalse impressionof perfectionwhichisastereotypical view society
have of the perfectfamily.
Technical Codes
The lyricslinksinto the iconographyasit makesthe narrative have a deepermeaning.The use of “let’s
playpretendasit comesnaturally”suggeststhatthe stereotypical viewof familyisdifferenttothatof
whatis beingrepresentedinthe videointhe beginning.The low keylightingsuggestsasombermood
throughoutthe videoasitseemsto b have a dark meaningtodo withherpast.