Textual Analysis of Headmaster Ritual by The Smiths

The song, Headmaster Ritual by 80s iconic indie band The Smiths, is a recollection of the events of abuse from his teachers at singer Morrissey's school. The song was particularly iconic as corporal punishment was outlawed in 1986, a year after it came out. Abundantly, the song had some form of effect on the law.

The majority of this music video is a compilation of footage from news reports on the war in Vietnam. Other clips are shots of the band, such as Morrissey singing. The music video is prominently in black and white to display emphasise that the actions in the footage is more important and it being in black and white helps to rid any distraction from it.

The music video begins with an establishing shot of a jet flying over Vietnam. There are also a few shots of soldiers running around, this also helps establish that is in Vietnam. Otherwise it could just be a plane flying over a field.

A significant shot in the video is of a very young Vietnamese boy smoking a cigarette. This could either be to symbolise how the cruelty by teachers in schools at the time would force a child to grow up so much faster, or simply to show how some young children can do such stupid things whilst in school.

We then see a shot of Morrissey singing, looking distressed. We can see that he is distressed by his behaviour, he is singing with his hand holding his neck. He then moves his hands to be open, the back of his hands towards his face. This is to symbolise his distress as a child when a teacher would raise a hand to him.

After seeing Morrissey singing, we then see a group of Vietnamese men getting bags put over their heads by American soldiers. The Smiths decided to use footage from Vietnam because it displayed the same unfair corporal punishment that children in school suffered and it was also a very relevant war because it had only ended ten years ago. This particular footage is used as the Vietnamese being tortured have paper bags on their head; they have no identity to these Americans. They are just seen as another person who 'deserves' a beating. This is significant because teachers would beat a child without consideration of why the child was misbehaving, why they didn't want to take part in PE, or maybe even that they were already getting beaten at home.

Later, a shot of a emotionless Vietnamese man getting hit repeatedly by the bottom of a gun is shown. The Smiths chose to use this clip because he is appearing emotionless, his head is being forcefully held up and he is closing his arms himself. Children during school felt forced not to show emotion during the beatings and were forced to endure it and not 'wuss' out of it.

A shot of the same man is shown later on; he is lying on the ground and is being repeatedly kicked by the soldier. This is used to display how much weaker the beatings can make someone who is even being forcefully held up. Again, it is also used simply because it is an example of institutionalised beatings.

A lot of shots of the band performing are used. This is because, although most of the video is to symbolise the meaning of the song, it is a good idea to include shots of the band to allow the audience to know who the artist is and what they look like.

Later, some shots of the Vietnamese fighting back are used and a shot of an American soldier being carried by his allies whilst having a bandage covering his entire face is used. The band used this to suggest that all the abuse and beatings will have a payback and there will be a consequence for the actions of teachers. The way the footage is in order is to make the audience feel like the Americans in the video deserve it. Also, the fact that the video is in black and white makes it look as though all the people are the same in each shot (it is harder to differentiate without seeing hair colour, skin colours etc), therefore the audience may think that the American with the bandage on his face is the same one that was beating the emotionless man.

Although a montage of specified footage alongside footage of a band is quite typical, The Smiths did it differently and there is a great amount of meaning behind the chosen footage, rather than just to make it look 'artsy'.