Christina Aguilera Reflection

Christina Aguilera has evolved her look and her methods of crowd appeal over time, therefore changing the world’s perception of her personality and character.

In the “Dirrty ft. Redman” video, Christina is seen as a “temptress” as described by Lieb in her video. As Lieb states in her video, “you can’t stay a good girl forever.” This is Xtina’s transition into the second phase of the lifecycle, the “temptress phase.” As Lieb says, “this is where the clothes begin to fall off.” Sexuality and sexual availability are brought into Christina’s songs. Her costumes, songs, and narratives begin to surround the sexual sphere.

In this specific video, she is shown wearing a bikini, which hardly covers any of her body, leaving little to the imagination, which adheres perfectly to one of Lieb’s definitions of “temptress.” Her hair is messy, and her body is covered in oil, which is made to look like sweat, since she has been dancing and working out. Sweat is considered sexy, it is semi-animalistic, and as we know, sex sells.

She enters the video as she is lowered into the scene in a cage, which drops her down into a boxing ring. Here, we are shown from the start that the scene is meant to be animalistic. These men are viewing her for the first time from outside a cage. By method of the cage, she becomes an object.

Many of the shots feature only singular parts of Christina’s body. For example, towards the beginning of the video there is a shot that zooms in solely on her lips and tongue. In that shot it becomes apparent that her nose and below her bottom lip are pierced with large jewels. This shot is meant to create a focus on Christina’s mouth, which in turn is driven to create allure and sex appeal. It forces the viewer only to focus on her mouth and to perceive it as a sexual object. Other shots show simply her butt, barely covered by the bikini, or just her bare midsection.

In the video, Christina is shown dancing with a group of almost-naked men. She sits in a chair surrounded by them as she sings, thrusting her legs open and closed suggestively. The men touch her and move around her, placing emphasis on her and her movement. Christina is the only person looking at the screen; the men are all focused on her.

One comment left on the video states, “It’s so weird to see this as the woman who was in Genie in a Bottle…” This comment proves Lieb’s point exactly. Here we see Christina’s evolution into the “temptress,” the not-so-good girl. This evolution kept her relevant, always surprising fans with her new style, which is why we study her today.