Analysis of like a prayer music video by Madonna

1. Like a Prayer Analysis

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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