Representation Theory

The Video I will be analysing:

Melanie Martinez - Sippy Cup

Lyric Analysis 

“Sippy Cup” is the third single from Melanie Martinez’s debut album, Cry Baby. It’s an alternative song where the Cry Baby character finally reveals the events that follow what takes place in “Dollhouse.” In an interview, Melanie told SPIN Magazine:

The song is basically the bridge between the Dollhouse EP and the Cry Baby album. This song is about what actually “goes down in the kitchen,” a deeper look into Cry Baby’s family life. This is my favorite video I’ve done so far.

In the video, Cry Baby’s mother from the “Dollhouse” video is shown distraught and drunken on the floor. Suddenly her drunken husband stumbles into the house, clutching an unfamiliar woman who is also drunk. They begin to dance in the kitchen as the wife pushes herself to her feet. The wife, seeing her husband has cheated (which was also suggested in the lyrics and video for “Dollhouse”), then murders him and the woman. When Cry Baby comes downstairs and discovers the bodies, the mother catches her with chloroform, chains her to her bed and poisons her…with a sippy cup.

The story and illustration for this song appears on the 7th page of the Cry Baby storybook, reading:

She watches momma sip a drink

Out of a sippy cup that’s pink

Because of that you’d never think

That she’d pass out under the sink

Blood still stains when the sheets are washed 

Sex don't sleep when the lights are off    

This is referring to Blood spots or stains are the hardest to wash out of any fabric and if there’s too much, it’s better to just throw them away. Similar to how someone cheating on you, doesn’t go away when you go to sleep.

“Sex don’t sleep when the lights are off” refers to her father’s infidelity mentioned in “Dollhouse”:

Mom, please wake up
Dad’s with a slut

Though the mother may be asleep, that doesn’t mean her husband is by her side; he’s off with another woman.

Similar to Lady Macbeth’s “Out Damned Spot!” scene, Cry Baby' mother is experiencing psychological trauma. Even though shes washed her sheets of the blood, the guilty memory what you did will stain your mind.

In the video, Cry Baby’s father comes home with another woman. Her mother sees it and kills them. Melanie hears all the noise and out of curiosity discovers the murder scene.

Kids are still depressed when you dress them up
And syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup

Dressing children who are depressed in nicer clothes won’t make them any less sad, but it will put on a show in front of outside people.

Syrup in this case is a drug (lean, promethazine and codeine are cough medicines put into a drink to calm a person or make them feel better).

Putting syrup in a cute sippy cup doesn’t mean it’s no longer a drug. No matter how much a person may try to dress up a situation, in the end, the problem persists.

He's still dead when you're done with the bottle

Although the mother in the story tries to drink her remorse away, her husband is still dead and there’s nothing she can do about it.

Juxtaposing the previous lyric, Martinez paints the cough syrup as it really is: a drug. Her mom cannot mask this fact.

A more metaphorical take of the lyric is that the person you’re with won’t change because you’re intoxicated or high, when you’re done with that drink, they’ll still be the same person.

via GIPHY

Of course it's a corpse that you keep in the cradle

This lyric can be taken both literally and metaphorically. Cry Baby’s mother needed a place to hide the dead bodies, so she chose her cradle.

On the other hand, the cradle is a metaphor for Melanie’s childhood. Her mom forced and immortalized the memory of her father’s death into her, ultimately “killing” her childhood innocence.

The cradle may also represent domesticity in general. The mother’s home life has been destroyed, partially by her husband’s cheating and partially by her drinking and enraged murder of her husband and his lover. The metaphorical baby in the crib, which represented the peace, love and togetherness of family life, is long dead, no matter how much the mother tries to hide it.

Kids are still depressed when you dress them up

Syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup

Blood money, blood money
How did you afford this ring that I love, honey?
"Just another shift at the drug company, "
He doesn't think I'm that fucking dumb does he?

Blood money is the compensation that a family receives from the murderer after the murder of a loved one.

Cry Baby’s mother knows this money isn’t clean and that his everyday job isn’t paying for a high quality ring. He’s also probably buying her the ring because of his infidelity.

The father just brushes it off as just another day on the job. He’s actually a drug dealer trying to keep it away from her. He’s oblivious to how much his wife actually knows and is casually insulting her intelligence.

It doesn't matter what you pull up to your home

We know what goes on inside

You call that ass your own, we call that silicone

The characters of the story attempt to change the perception of their neighbors with impressions like luxurious cars to influence the idea of living good – Hiding behind their riches so to speak. The neighbors aren’t falling for it, they know everything that glitters ain’t gold.

Silly girl with silly boys

This line could refer to men not understanding women’s methods of dieting. As most eating disorders occur in women.

It also could mean something related to how women are usually assumed to be dumb or silly compared to boys. Her mom being one of those, who is shown as dumb for not noticing her husband cheating on her and having an illegal job.

Blood still stains when the sheets are washed
Sex don't sleep when the lights are off
Kids are still depressed when you dress them up
And syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup
He's still dead when you're done with the bottle
Of course it's a corpse that you keep in the cradle
Kids are still depressed when you dress them up
Syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup

Sippy cup, s-s-sippy cup, in a sippy cup, sut sippy cup
In a sippy cup, in a sippy cup, in a sippy cup, in a sippy cup

Pill diet, pill diet, if they give you a new pill then you will buy it

There’s a large misconception about diet pills. People believe they can instantly transform their bodies into smaller figures without exercise. Far from true, but advertisements sell weight loss and people are so gullible they’ll give their money away hoping to achieve these feats, while continually trying new things which may severely harm them.

If they say to kill yourself, then you will try it
All the makeup in the world, won't make you less insecure

The media (news, social media, entertainment, published works, etc.) and society places extreme pressure on people and their concepts of perfection, normalcy, and beauty.

You got weights in your pockets, when you go to the doctor's

Her pocket weights trick the doctor’s scale to record her weight to be more than it actually is. Otherwise, the doctor might nag her for her being too underweight.

She cares more about skinniness than her well-being. Her trickery only adds to her society-imposed insecurity.

Your favorite candy's cotton, that's why all your teeth are rotten
Silly girl with silly boys

Known as the cotton ball diet, people dip cotton balls in a drink, usually a sweet one, and swallow it in order to feel fuller and lose weight. Rotten teeth are often a side effect of eating disorders.

This diet is one that the mother partakes in although it is dangerous. As part of her self-denial, she thinks of it as cotton candy.

This line could also be about oxycodone, given the pill diet lyrics. Taking oxycodone all the time and eating it like candy can cause weight loss and tooth decay.

Blood still stains when the sheets are washed
Sex don't sleep when the lights are off
Kids are still depressed when you dress them up
And syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup
He's still dead when you're done with the bottle
Of course it's a corpse that you keep in the cradle
Kids are still depressed when you dress them up
Syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup

Sippy cup, s-s-sippy cup, in a sippy cup, sut sippy cup
In a sippy cup, in a sippy cup, in a sippy cup, in a sippy cup

Blood still stains when the sheets are washed
Sex don't sleep when the lights are off
Kids are still depressed when you dress them up
And syrup is still syrup in a sippy cup

REPRESENTATION THEORIES

Laura Mulvey analysis

'The Male Gaze' 

Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze from Enea Luciano

Although there isn't much evidence of the Male Gaze in the cinematography in Sippy Cup, there is still certain aspects of the video which are designed for that purpose. The picture below is showing the mother licking a knife. The knife is clearly used as a metaphor for male genitals, as even Miley Cyrus has used this technique in Wrecking Ball. This is created on purpose in order to appeal to the heterosexual man who may find this attractive. It could however be seen to be rejecting Mulveys theory, as the woman may be deliberately acting like this in order to show her power. The symbolisation of the knife could suggest she is dangerous. Also common symbolism of knives in mouths are pirates, this could suggest she is vicious and not to be messed with as a woman.

The sexualisation of the mother figure in the video is also accentuated by this cinematography. The low angle shot is directly placed onto the woman's thighs and bottom area. This again is to please the audience who want this element to the video. This could also tie together with Katz and Blumer- Uses and Gratifications theory. As the audience watch Melanie Martinez as they may know she is a rather dark and complex artist. The medias conception of a good body is also what this actress has. She has the 'thigh gap' which also may relate to the "pill diet" comments in the lyrics. Expressing the view that this woman is deeply self concious. 















 The male gaze may be rejected due to the idea that there is no narration story or plot to this without the leading female or singer. In some ways it is actually suggesting that the male gaze is correct and that behind the scenes of people overshadowing women this can happen. Due to the lack of personification of the other woman however, it is clear she is just used as a prop to suggest the mothers husband is cheating. The fact that the audience never see his mistresses face co insides to Mulvey in that she suggests women play no key role and are merely there for visual pleasure. 
The stereotypical characters Mulvey's theory works with is also housewives and mothers. This would then back up my point whereby it is the male gaze through a different perspective. 


Richard Dyer
'Star Theory'

The background of Melanie Martinez is that she is an alternative pop artist. She is similar to that of Lana Del Rey and Marina and the Diamonds. 

Richard Dyers theory suggests that that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial gain and target one specific audience/group of people to make profit.Stars create a persona that is desirable to a target audience but is not actually a true representation of themselves. It is a constructed identity and ideology to make society want to consume them.  
So what is Melanie Martinez' persona and target audience? 
Well, my opinion would be that she appeals to a niché audience. She is alternative pop so therefore she brings something slightly different which a niché audience will like. Her persona on social media appears to be somewhat crazy. 
Richard Dyer’s Star Theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are constructed by
institutions for financial reasons and are built to target a specific audience or group of
people. Dyer’s theory can be broken down in to 4 key components:

•Stars as constructions

•Audience and industry/institution

•Ideology and culture

•Character and personality

Martinez is signed to Atlantic Records, which is owned by Warner Bros. The label specialises in Jazz, RnB, Soul and Hip-Hop. However they also include many other artists from different genres, such as Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, the Rolling Stones, Skrillex, Clean Bandit, Led Zepplin and Missy Elliot. (To name a few). Therefore they have a lot of experience in developing artists into a variety of genres. 
Stars are constructed, artificial images, even if they are represented as being "real people", experiencing real emotions etc. It helps if their image contains a USP so that they can be copied and/or parodied because of it.
Martinez' unique selling point would be the gap in her teeth and her dyed hair. As shown below. 

He representation is metonyic, (image associated), similarly to Amy Winehouse who has beehive hair or Miley Cyrus with her foam finger. 

Pop stars have the advantage over film stars in that their constructed image may be much more consistent over a period of time, and is not dependent on the creative input of others (e.g. screenwriters writing their lines).

In interviews Melanie is constant throughout. She comes across as a real person in that she has the same attitudes towards meeting celebrities as we do. Dyers theory suggests that this is all an act in order to make the audience believe she is a real person. In reality Dyer states that she would be constructed in that particular way.

Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose — to make money out of audiences, who respond to various elements of a star persona by buying records and becoming fans. Martinez appeals to an audience which is not that typical Taylor Swift style. She appeals to those who are young, have a tumblr account etc. This can be seen by the multiple fan blogs on tumblr ( Here's a blog as an example )

Record companies nurture and shape their stars  as the TV talent show processes have shown us. They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want, hence the photocopied nature of many boy bands, teen bands. Melanie Martinez started her career by participating on the Voice US. Throughout the shows she became more individual. The institution want to make money out of their constructed stars and create constructs of stars they believe an audience want to copy. In Martinez' case she represents individuality and can reach out to an audience who feel that all music is that same. 

This is done in such a way which allows institutions to make a fortune from dressing her in peculiar things knowing it will appeal to people. Here is an example

In relation to the music video Sippy Cup Dyers theory does apply in the respect that the institution has used her signature hair and alternative style to create a continuity and for of identity. 
Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes to promote a certain ideology and this is also what makes them a ‘star’ by having  such a powerful influence an audience. She is able to have an influence on the audience in style and on their outlook of life from her lyrics. 

By making an audience want to mimic stars qualities and conform to their ideologies and promote their attitude. People are inspired to look and behave like her as she is not considered to be a clone of pop culture. 

Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes that promotes a certain ideology about themselves as an artist and what they want an audience to see what they believe in. Martinez' ideology is all about realism and tragedy. She is unique in the respect that her whole album cry baby intertwines with each song creating a long story line. 

By having dominant desirable ideologies it allows the audience to see their star qualities and make them more desirable. Her ideology is considered to be that she believes in conveying her beliefs in family and growing up. Her music is about the sick reality that children are being poisoned from a young age and that adults are 'big kids'. This comes across in Sippy Cup because the whole point to the story is that the mother is drinking from a childs cup. Because shes still just a child inside. Conveying her beliefs and opinions out side music and film helps a celebrity create a star persona. 

Stars promote their ideologies within culture to make them a consumerable house hold name. Audiences tend to copy or idolise ‘stars’ so promoting their own beliefs makes them more desirable.

Martinez' instagram account. 

In order for her to maintain her persona in her videos, I checked to see what she was like on social media. She tends to be the same, she commonly uses instagram and twitter. Her instagram account usually consists of pictures from photoshoots, strange food and drinks and selfies. 

On her twitter account, she commonly responds to fans in a way that would suggest they were friends and communicates with people directly. 

Dyer says stars provide audiences with ‘ideas of what people are supposed to be like’ and because of this audiences feel the need to conform to these constructions. Most people 

A star creates a character based on themselves and what they feel the audience want to consume they promote an image what they feel is desirable for an audience.

Dyer states they are constructs of what an audience wants to consume. They are a construction of them selves (not a real identity)

Stars are characters that create personalities to present to an audience. Audience consume this idea and the character these stars re-present to an audience. She comes across as being a very outgoing individual with a crazy personality (may be slightly odd and quirky). 

Tessa Perkins
'Stereotypes'