Sirens ...

"Surely the most powerful social commentary to come from a music video in quite some time...

Dizzee Rascal - Sirens
envoyé par keyzz

There is an ongoing debate in the UK over so-called "anti-social youth" who are identified by their penchant for wearing "hoodies" . Many public places , such as shopping centers and pubs , have banned hooded customers from entering their establishments . The case is made that gang-bangers and criminally minded kids prefer hoods , primarily because they conceal faces and make it harder for witnesses to identify them later.
But most adolescents argue that "hoodies" are simply comfortable and fashionable attire , and that it's unfair to punish the whole for the actions of a few . Thus the "hoodie" has become a symbol of the cultural divide between the older and younger citizens of England . W.I.Z.'s music video for Dizzee Rascal's "Sirens" is loaded with vibrant imagery , but one of its most quietly potent ideas centers around Dizzee's choice of attire . The hooded jacket he wears (and is forced to remove) is about more than a conflict between young and old though , it's the fear of the unknown itself . It's about those in power being afraid of "difference" , of what they don't understand and can't see . And it's about exploiting those in a weaker position without concern for the long-term effects it has on society at-large .
Then of course there is the monumental foxhunt , which heightens the power of the video with piercing surrealistic metaphors . The uniform of choice for these men and women is the same tight red coats hunters in England have been wearing for centuries , an equally loaded symbol of status and class . These "sportsmen" break down Dizzee's door as he casually works on music with his brother (or son) .
Remember that the video begins with peaceful silence, there is no sign of any "anti-social" youth out for havoc in the night until the hunters lure the "fox" out of its hole.W.I.Z. constructs every frame with an obsessive attention to detail . Dizzee walks by a wall spray-painted "only cowards steal from the poor" . Later the galloping horses pass a yellow sign that reads "Smile! You're on CCTV" - implicating the government in this witch hunt . And when Dizzee reaches out to a woman for help , she turns him away while we notice a "Neighborhood Watch" sticker on her window . The look in her eyes is an assumption of guilt - a hooded black man turns up at her window asking for help (even if she knows who he is) and she has no intention of letting him in .

Race is of course a major factor in this equation . What is really hidden under that hood is Dizzee's black skin , his dark unknown face . When he removes his coat the director cuts to a shot of a women sensually admiring his body , and it isn't just about the sexualization of the black man's physical form . It's the power gained from reducing a human to a literal slab of meat - the thrill of seeing your intense fear thrown out in the open , vulnerable and weak . A type of blood lust . It was common practice to rub the blood of the captured fox on the cheeks and forehead of the newest member of the hunt . Thus the cycle of discrimination and class mentality is easily passed along to the next generation .
Yet on the other side Dizzee's young friend also witnesses the absurdity of the scene , and is now destined to be one of those "anti-social" youths . Dizzee is paranoid about "the sirens coming" precisely because he knows he is a target of law enforcement by default , the hood is almost a necessity . But this cycle of fear and difference originates in higher and older places than the London city police . The young lady who receives the celebratory blood on her face is wearing a necklace with a sm all gold replica of the Queen's crown . Foxhunting itself is believed to be an off-shoot of the "royal" game of stag-hunting , which the Queen herself still plays to this day (thanks for that Helen Mirren) .
What greater symbol of the continued influence of class divisions on British society than the still (uselessly) present Royal Family ? On one of the horses that chase the black Dizzee Rascal down the street , W.I.Z. zooms in on a bundle of rope hanging from the white rider's saddle . We may not want to remember what upper class fear of difference and exploitation of the weak has led to in the past , but it's no coincidence the head of a foxhunting group carries the chilling title of "master" . It's the most subtle and daring statement in a video chock full of them . "

Source : http://obtusity.blogspot.com/2007/04/fear-of-hood-dizzee-rascal-sirens.html