Reading the video: A qualitative study of religious images in music videos

Abstract

Seven focus groups were conducted with first‐year college students to better understand how viewers “read” religious imagery within secular videos. The exploratory study revealed that while the students recalled the images and identified them using traditional terms, their interpretations of the symbols often went beyond a limited overt reading. For many respondents, the lyrics did not enhance—and in some cases detracted from—the understanding of the video gained through viewing the visual images.