Representation of Abuse

Throughout music videos, abuse is a subject briefly brought up if not never, it is a subject more touched upon in film and television as they tend to represent real life settings, where as music videos are an escapism to a peculiar scenario or to view the band performing. Songs have been released upon abuse and they tend to not release a music video to them, a key example of this is Polly performed by Nirvana, the song was based upon the true story of Gerald Friend, who kidnapped a young girl of 14 after a rock concert, tortured and raped her, she was able to gain his trust by saying she enjoyed it and when he stopped for gas she got out the vehicle and attracted the attention of nearby people, the lyrics video can be viewed below.

                              

Kurt Cobain took on the role of the villain in attempt to reveal the true nature of rape as a violent act but, a lot of people didn't view it in that way, fans were confused by what Nirvana was doing as Cobain took time to speak out against male chauvinism and those who weren't fans interpreted it in the opposite way it was intended, as a pro-violence against women.
So if a music video had of been released to this, would it have increased the negative credibility of the song originally or would it have caused a change and fans and others would have understood the true message.
Music Videos of this particular genre (Alternative Rock, Grunge) mostly have a performance element which can be shown in their other music videos but, as it is also merged with Alternative they may have a narrative reflecting upon the lyrics. if a performance element was going to be used would it demote the true meaning of the lyrics and in turn cause fans to mindlessly sing along with no true perception. However, by using a narrative story reflecting the lyrics, would be horrific and most likely be banned in countries globally and reduce Nirvanas credibility.

This shows how difficult it is to produce a music video about abuse and although the lyrics to our music video weren't about abuse, in such a horrific way as 'Polly' it would still be difficult to interpret our ideas.

Abuse in the Media
Abuse is most commonly portrayed via leaflets and television adverts, within these two aspects of the media abuse can truly be shown for what it is, these are used as a more hard hitting style which provide the viewer/reader with information on how some live and use this as a way to let them help.
There are a large number of leaflets including; domestic violence, sexual abuse, child abuse etc... These leaflets include information on where you can go to get help, telephone number, others who suffer the same problem as you and what can change. The difference between this and a music video? Music videos almost have to be stylised up, they can't portray abuse for what it truly is, sometimes they will but on these occasions they still aren't taken as seriously as other media types. Why? Because at the core they still are music videos, showing an abusive video along with a song isn't going to capture the viewer in the same way a true life story would.

Websites
A number of websites are used which are their to help individuals which are suffering with abuse, unlike leaflets these go into more detail, an example being http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/ this provides a link to which you can talk to someone and gain help and insight.
Comparing this to a music video which is not based so much on fact but instead on fiction, in which the viewer could find almost insensitive.
Websites provide re-enactment scenarios of abuse taking place, video/write up, this can make some individuals aware that abuse is happening to them/others they may know, when they themselves are not fully aware.
There are two main sides to the representation of abuse; the harsh reality on websites, leaflets, television adverts etc. which portray abuse in its true form and have people their to help and music videos, movies, TV shows etc. which are there mostly for entertainment purposes while still getting the message across.

I believe our music video was carried out in a way which allowed the message to come across of abuse but, not in an too distinct way which could have caused some people to think was "over the top" Without the use of physical abuse some individuals may be oblivious to the fact that the video is about abuse, this is due to the fact that some people don't believe mental abuse to be as harsh as physical.