Analysis of 'Dirrty' by Christina Aguilera - Goodwins points

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The song I have chosen to analyze is Dirrty by Christina Aguilera which became a very popular song in 2002. Directed by David LaChapelle, this video became a starting point for Christina's new image as she wanted to destroy her bubblegum pop singer look. It depicts sexual fetishes such as mud wrestling and muscle worshipping, many of the reasons why the video was very controversial and received many criticisms from various news publications and other recording artists. However Aguilera defended her video, calling it inspirational as it put her to the forefront.

Before -Genie in a bottle

After - Dirrty

How does it connect with Goodwin's theory?

Christina Aguilera's video for dirrty fits perfectly with Goodwin's theory as it shows many of his points about what a music video consists of. For example, the whole video is focused on the women who are dressed provocatively and is there for the male gaze. When two women are in the boxing rink (one being Aguilera) they are surrounded by men cheering them on indicating just as Goodwin points out that the treatment of women in videos is that their only purpose is to look attractive and the treatment of the female body is poor.

Christina Aguilera's Dirrty music video

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The demands of a star

Another key feature of Goodwins theory which is presented in Aguilera's video is that there is many close up shots of herself and we are shown her star iconography a lot which is her high notes and her hair shaking from side to side. This is very well done as her close ups of not just her face but her lips can destroy her innocent look beforehand and perceives Aguilera as someone who's seductive and sexy which is exactly what she wanted. Her signature hair shaking connotes she's fun and wants to let their hair down, it can also symbolize how Aguilera is letting go of her old pop star image and wants to be free to express who she wants to be without having to listen to the demands of her record label all the time.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

Goodwin also states that another feature to his theory is that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. We see this a lot in the music video for example when the rapper says "like Bernie Mac Dogs, let 'em out" we shown a close up of a dog who is attached to lead and barking aggressively meaning it wants to be 'let out'. Also when Christina sings"sweat dripping over my body" we are given her and other women in a long shot dancing and water raining on them to give a 'sweaty' appearance, and finally when she says "sweating till my clothes come off" cutting to a mid shot of her taking her top off. This is an effective idea for music videos as the viewer can visualize the lyrics to the artist and can have more of an understanding of what the song is trying to say.