Here it is.  The concept is that she’s editing her own clips.  She’s Catwoman in some of them. 

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Christina+Aguilera

Umm . . . nothing happens in the video.

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 28 October 2008 04:51 AM

Umm . . . nothing happens in the video.

What did you want to a happen?  She’s editing all these clips of herself. hehe

I’ll admit, I was thinking it was going to be like a movie (i.e. explosions, Christina flying etc.,), but this is cool too, IMO.  It’s supposed to artsy; combining Christina’s love of Tokyo and pop art with a futuristic twist.  She’s been talking about Andy Warhol as of late, pop art and whatnot, and tying that in with her new direction.

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 28 October 2008 04:51 AM

Umm . . . nothing happens in the video.

Nothing happens?  A LOT of stuff happens.

The video is Christina asserting herself as a woman in control of her career and direction, an artist who doesn’t rely on people to mold her but it confident of her own muse.  I see it as a response to Britney’s “Womanizer” video.  The two have always been in some kind of unofficial contest ever since their debut album were put up against each other.  In “Womanizer”, Britney takes on all sorts of different guises in order to get revenge/get on top of a man.  In “Better”, Christina takes on different looks because SHE wants to.  She’s in control, and if you didn’t get the message, she’s going to go all superheroine on your ass.

I think it’s a great video.  Reminds me a lot of Koda Kumi’s video for “Real Emotion.”

Interesting thoughts Johnny.  Thanks for the input.

I thought it was kinda cool/progressive that she did the world premiere online.  I think she’s the first major artist to do that on Facebook/iLike.

Johnny M - 28 October 2008 05:54 PM

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 28 October 2008 04:51 AM

Umm . . . nothing happens in the video.

Nothing happens?  A LOT of stuff happens.

She wears a floral print dress and rides a bicycle; she wears a blue wig and drives a car; and she wears a Catwoman costume and rides a motorcycle . . . for no reason.

Johnny M - 28 October 2008 05:54 PM

The video is Christina asserting herself as a woman in control of her career and direction, an artist who doesn’t rely on people to mold her but it confident of her own muse.  I see it as a response to Britney’s “Womanizer” video.  The two have always been in some kind of unofficial contest ever since their debut album were put up against each other.  In “Womanizer”, Britney takes on all sorts of different guises in order to get revenge/get on top of a man.  In “Better”, Christina takes on different looks because SHE wants to.  She’s in control, and if you didn’t get the message, she’s going to go all superheroine on your ass.

Had she given some control of the direction of the video to another, perhaps the video would be better. Moreover, had she given some control of the direction of her career to another, perhaps Britney would be the one who is compared to her, instead of the other way around.

Christina is doing just fine, IMO.  If comparisons are to be made, Keeps Gettin’ Better should actually be rated against My Prerogative, since they’re both lead singles off Greatest Hits albums.  KGB charted #7 on Billboard’s Hot 100.  I don’t think Britney’s My Prerogative even made it onto the Hot 100.

I keep forgetting that not everybody in the world analyzes imagery as much or as automatically as I do.

Christina never shot out of the gate like Britney did because she didn’t traffic in cheap, Lolita-esque imagery to sell her albums.  Even when she DID go all slut-bomb on us, she did it on her terms and didn’t hide her look behind some “but I’m really a virgin” nonsense.  She freely admitted she enjoyed it.  She didn’t play into the Madonna/whore fantasies that so many people have.  Never mind the fact that Christina has the far superior voice in every way imaginable.  Britney wins our attention because she goes out clubbing without underwear and lets everybody know it at every opportunity.

Johnny M - 28 October 2008 09:32 PM

I keep forgetting that not everybody in the world analyzes imagery as much or as automatically as I do.

The issue is not the imagery, but that the imagery is divorced of narrative; there is no reason for her to assume any of those specific roles.

Johnny M - 28 October 2008 09:32 PM

Christina never shot out of the gate like Britney did because she didn’t traffic in cheap, Lolita-esque imagery to sell her albums.  Even when she DID go all slut-bomb on us, she did it on her terms and didn’t hide her look behind some “but I’m really a virgin” nonsense.  She freely admitted she enjoyed it.  She didn’t play into the Madonna/whore fantasies that so many people have.

“In her sexually driven debut single, Aguilera begins the song as a sexually repressed young woman stating that she feels like she’s been “locked up tight for a century of lonely nights,” and that she is waiting for sexual release. She then sees a young man who sexually arouses her, making her exclaim, “My body’s saying let’s go.” However, even though her hormones are “racing at the speed of light”, she realizes “my heart is saying no.” Nevertheless, Aguilera offers herself to the man by stating, “If you wanna be with me, baby there’s a price to pay, I’m a genie in a bottle, You gotta rub me the right way.”

The song’s lyrics caused minor controversy at the time, as it was felt by some that Aguilera was too young to be singing such relatively suggestive lyrics, particularly as her music was marketed to young girls. The song was censored in some markets with tamer lyrics, in which Aguilera sings “you gotta treat me the right way” instead of “you gotta rub me the right way.” The censored version was played in preteen-oriented markets such as Radio Disney.”

Nothing Lolita-esque about that.

Johnny M - 28 October 2008 09:32 PM

Never mind the fact that Christina has the far superior voice in every way imaginable.  Britney wins our attention because she goes out clubbing without underwear and lets everybody know it at every opportunity.

Britney receives more attention by merit. Despite her superior vocal ability, Christina has not sold nearly as many albums. All the attempts to detract from the talent of Britney does not change that.

Point taken.  But as to “Genie”, I’ll just say that the lyrics to that song are pretty typical pop.  There’s a big difference between those words and Britney spears in a tiny schoolgirl outfit begging a man to “hit me baby one more time.”

Johnny M - 29 October 2008 12:19 AM

Point taken.  But as to “Genie”, I’ll just say that the lyrics to that song are pretty typical pop.  There’s a big difference between those words and Britney spears in a tiny schoolgirl outfit begging a man to “hit me baby one more time.”

How do you figure? The verse, “Hit me, baby, one more time,” is not sexual in nature; she is imploring her ex-boyfriend to indicate whether there is a possibility that they can reconcile their relationship.

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 29 October 2008 12:05 AM

The issue is not the imagery, but that the imagery is divorced of narrative; there is no reason for her to assume any of those specific roles.

A music video doesn’t always have to spoon-feed everyone with a clear-cut story.  How about leaving some things to the imagination, to where you have to investigate what’s going on, or maybe accept the fact that there’s something random thrown in there… simply because the artist thought it was cool?  But let’s investigate:

- She’s doing the pop art thing; tying it in with some of her interests.
- She known for playing around with different looks/fashions.
- She wanted to have fun with this new direction.

Those are the main reasons behind it. 

Basically Christina said she lightened-up alot after having a baby.  Max is bringing out her fun side.  She’s loving life and wants to do some fun stuff.  That’s what she’s been saying in various interviews for the last couple of months.  I love that Christina is drastically different from album to album.  I’ve never seen her so laid-back/casual in a video.  It’s something different for her. 

Britney?  While I agree that some of her music is ultra catchy and she sells more albums, she’s been very formulaic and packaged over the years; never really attempting to go out of her safe zone.  Nearly all of her videos take the same course.  Typical cat and mouse type of stuff. 

She has minimal say in the creative direction of her music.  This is part of what bugs me about Britney.  It’s like:  “Okay, where’s my creative team?  Tell me what I should be doing.”

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 29 October 2008 12:05 AM

Britney receives more attention by merit. Despite her superior vocal ability, Christina has not sold nearly as many albums. All the attempts to detract from the talent of Britney does not change that.

Yes, album sales are important, but that’s only one part of what makes someone a success.

Tallstar - 29 October 2008 07:38 AM

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 29 October 2008 12:05 AM

The issue is not the imagery, but that the imagery is divorced of narrative; there is no reason for her to assume any of those specific roles.

A music video doesn’t always have to spoon-feed everyone with a clear-cut story.

Not necessarily, but in the case of this video, it suffers from the lack of narrative direction.

This site has 30 second previews of the new songs:

http://www.7digital.com/artists/christina-aguilera/keeps-gettin-better-a-decade-of-hits/

See what a little creative direction can do? This 30 seconds is better than the entire 3 minutes of the actual video.

Adam_Prince of Eternia - 07 November 2008 05:07 AM

See what a little creative direction can do? This 30 seconds is better than the entire 3 minutes of the actual video.

Lots of folks saying that. hehe

For those of you who haven’t heard the new material on the Greatest Hits (These sound way better in HQ):

DYNAMITE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNGhCJ_9QHc

GENIE 2.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc4f9CqeOs4

YOUR ARE WHAT YOU ARE (BEAUTIFUL)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsYJ_FI5RKM