How is media language including intertextuality used in "burn the witch" to construct representations of group messages and values

'Burn the witch' is a song and music video released in 2016 by the British band Radiohead. The song is about a witch hunt while the video is a stop motion video about an inspector who is given a tour of the seemingly perfect town. However, the residents of the town start to act strange as they do creepy a violent things to each other and eventually the inspector. 

At the start and the end of the music video we see a bird chirping on a branch. This is a link to companies that the band formed called 'dawn chorus LLP' and 'Dawnnchoruss ltd'. the band have often used the method of setting up new companies before the release of an album in order to minimize the effects its success or failure has on any of their previous albums. The bird could also be a link to the bands social media shut down on 'dawn chorus day' which takes place on the first sunday in May. The band have also spoken of an unfinished song called down chorus. Therefore the video could be a hint that the song is soon to be released. 

The music video also clearly has similarities to the 1970's childrens programme Trumpton in the way it looks and animation style. Trumpton was about life in an idyllic town and taught children about community values. This music video could be a postmodern parody of the show as the values shown in the music video are twisted. There is a possibility that the use of intertextuality to Trumpton could also be a link to Donald Trump who had just been elected as president when the music video came out and shares many of the morals that Radiohead state that they are against which link to the video.

'Burn the witch' was released just before the referendum about whether Britain should leave the EU and the video critiques the leave propaganda that took place surrounding the refugee crisis. The inspector in the music video could represent a refugee while the town represents Britain. At first the town seems welcoming and nice however, the longer the inspector is there the worst things appear until eventually he is forced out. The song is also about a witch hunt which suggesting that refugees coming to Britain are seen as witches that need to be burnt. Therefore the song and video are clear critique of modern politics. 

There are many links to medieval practices in the video. for example drawing red crosses on the door so signify that the people inside have the plague. This could be seen as an early example of discrimination against the sick . It also reflects the lyric "red crosses on wooden doors". Another medieval practice shown in the video is the witch dunking chair. This was used to find out whether someone was a witch or not. If they downed it meant that they were not a witch however, if they survived the dunking then they were declared a witch and burnt alive. This also reflects a lyric "and if you float you burn". These references could be further critique of modern day politics as it could be references to the discrimination that many people still face and comparing them to medieval times. 

The last intertextual link shown in the video is to the 1973 film The Wicker Man. In the film a devout Christian detective goes to an island to investigate a disappearance. On the island finds a community of pagans and he is sacrificed in and effigy they built. There is a clear link to this at the end of the music video when the inspector is told to unveil what turns out to be a sacrificial effigy identical to the one in the film. The mayor then ecorages him to climb up into it before it is set alight. However, unlike the film the inspector escapes the sacrifice. Another link to the film could be the tomato farms seen in the music video as in the film the pagans depend on rituals for their fruit farms success.