IntroductionIntertextuality plays an instrumental part in accentuating the appeal of R.E.M.’s ‘Losing My Religion’ Music Video, manipulating and borrowing many different forms of external media in order to emphasise the internalconcepts and feelings present within the visual and lyrical content of the piece. Possessing a very clear conceptual structure, the video is clearly able to integrate many intertextual themes and visual allegories in devising a wider, more complex concept that instantly extracts a sense ofintrigue from an audience. Particularly, the way in which the video montages it’s concepts with a mix of performance, creates an, almost, avant garde style, that instantly evokes more questions that it could evenbegin to answer, and plays with the very clear sense of having a wide-reaching number of texts that it makes reference to. In the case of this video, many religious and mythological links are made to emphasise the lyrical repetition of ‘religion’ as well as to constantly emphasise the lyrics’themes of anger and loss, deprivation and abandonment.

1By Oliver James Cooke

The Caravaggio ConnectionOne key intertextual reference made throughout the video, is that of certain shots taking their cues from paintings of proto-baroque painter Caravaggio. This is used in effect as a means to convey a similar sense of a human emotional and physicality, through a heavy and dramatic use of lighting, giving the actions a sense of mystical importance. Likewise, the fact that Caravaggio directly romanticised religion and mythology within his paintings, compliments Losing My Religion’s display of its own religious imagery, and the subsequent juxtaposition between that and its lyrics; as a way to internally criticise the fact that this type of imagery depicts religion as something that is ‘above’ social realism. In this regard, the director is plagiarising these scenes as a means to directly contrast the style with the relatively normal realist display of other shots.

2By Oliver James Cooke

The Propaganda Factor

Another key intertextual reference throughout the video, is the use of Soviet-style propaganda as inserts alongside the aforementioned religioussymbolism. The heavy use of these is for one key purpose, to directly attack religion as being associated with the idea of propaganda and manipulation. Likewise, this one aspect helps politicise the producers’ viewpoint against religion.

3By Oliver James Cooke