Kanye West’s music video, “Famous” is a much talked about and controversial video. In the work, Kanye is seen lying in bed with other famous people. Not only were they lying in bed, they were also naked. This created the effect that the outsiders looking in on the video were not supposed to see those people in such an exposed way. In reality, their lives are more exposed than anyone else. Kanye used the famous people to show how celebrities are put under a microscope each and every day. West chose a specific group of famous people because they have especially had their lives analyzed. He put them in bed naked because that is when a person is most vulnerable. He also uses frames that make the watchers feel as If they are looking right at these people in bed. This symbolizes just how closely fame causes individuals to be watched. Each of these tactics show how famous people are unfairly criticized and looked into because of their social status.

Kanye uses a variety of celebrities ranging from Bill Cosby to his own wife, Kim Kardashian to demonstrate different instances when their personal lives have been examined deeply because of their fame. It is more than a coincidence that these celebrities have had a scandal or two brought up about them in their careers. Bill Cosby was accused in 2005 of assaulting 16 women. This placed his already public life under a microscope. Kim Kardashian is ridiculed every day for her skin exposure, sex tape, plastic surgery, and life choices. Memes are made about her constantly. Taylor Swift is ridiculed because she is not as curvy as people think she should be, or her music is not as good as others in the industry. Chris Brown was in the spot light for a long time because of his abusive behavior. Donald Trump is being watched constantly because of his political views.  Kanye chose these celebrities very meticulously to show how hard it is being famous. Things like this happen to ordinary people all the time. There are other people in the world accused of sexual assault, have had plastic surgery and are abusive, but this does not often cause the country to tweet about their actions and ridicule them so deeply. Most times, the common people do not even notice because it is not something reported in the media. Famous people cannot do anything without the world watching and wondering why they chose to do the things they do. They are human like anyone else and they make their own decision but  in the end, that is what comes with fame. They forfeit their rights to privacy and personal lives to rise to the top of their individual industries. 

Nudity is the most exposed form of yourself. You are completely bare and every single little detail about you can be seen. Most of the music video, the camera is zooming in on the people’s most private parts. It often takes a while for people to feel comfortable being so exposed in front of people they are involved with, let alone complete strangers. With fame, comes the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are watching your every move. You are exposed in everything that you do. Whether those things are good or mistakes humans tend to make. Fans and spectators tend to get the idea that celebrities cannot make mistakes. They are not allowed to make mistakes it seems. Since these celebrities are being put under a microscope, it seems as if the mistakes they make are bigger than the ones that every day people make. Their actions are brought to the attention of thousands of people to do nothing better than to judge. By exposing these celebrities in such a vulnerable way, Kanye is saying to us that it comes with fame. Although people should not judge celebrities more harshly than common people, they do because it comes with the territory. 

Lastly, the camera frames and shots show how these individual are so closely watched. At points in the visual work the people are shown from a bird’s eye view. This is symbolically making the audience to be a sort of “big brother” figure. The audience sees every move these socialites make and are looking for them to make mistakes. The view makes it look as if the watchers are standing over the sleeping bodies which could seem intimidating. Famous people are intimidated by fans because they know that the fans will be watching for them to make a mistake and that could seem scary. In the video, the camera does extreme close ups on the body and pans across the sleepers. This demonstrates how up close and personal the world can be. The audience is seeing these people’s most private parts just like they would see in the media. Famous people feel as if the world is slowly creeping over them in order to exploit every little detail they be trying to hide. Nothing goes unnoticed with the blessing and sometimes a burden of fame. By using these particular camera frames and shots, Kanye is able to demonstrate how much fame causes your life to be examined. Although the camera is so close and zoomed in on the people, they are all still sleeping and it goes unnoticed. This is symbolic to show that sometimes the celebrities have to block out the intervening public. They still have to go on with their day to day lives and put what people say about them behind. 

Kanye used this video to show the real side of fame. He shows how with fame you no longer have a personal life. As an audience, people do not think about all the sacrifices that famous people make. Before a person becomes famous, they probably do not sit around and think about all the bad that comes along with it. Every move you make is thrown into a spot light to be judged by everyone. For example, Justin Bieber started out as a little kid making videos on Youtube. He had no idea how big his career would take off. For Justin, and most other famous people, they let fame go to their head. It becomes an obsession to see how much money you can make and how many fans you can obtain. The downside is, after a while you may try and find a way to try and escape the spotlight for a little while. It seems like when you become famous, you are constantly fighting to keep your image clean and pure and one little mistake or something that was taken the wrong way can blow up in your face. You are naked and exposed in front of the world. Fans and others know every detail about you just because you are at the top of your industry. Fame allows the audience to become big brother and makes it okay for them to judge you more harshly than others. This can relate to people because everyone loves the idea of power and fame. Although, once people start creeping into their business, people tend to try and hide away and keep their personal lives, personal. Kanye demonstrates this all in order to make his point that it comes with the idea of fame. When you start your pursuit to fame, you have to understand the consequences that come along with it. Everything is no longer private, and you are putting yourself out there to be judged. At some point you have to quit complaining about it, put it behind you and worry about your job. As a socialite, you are at the forefront and spotlight every day. It comes with the job.