The flesh-fest video that accompanies 45-year-old Jennifer Lopez’s video for her remixed song “Booty” begins with an IMAX-style intro: “Warning. Stand by for countdown. Prepare audience for maximum impact. Full immersion beginning in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”
The only word in that silliness worth hearing? “Warning.”
Jennifer Lopez’s backside, of course, has earned leering attention for more than two decades now. So I suppose the only surprise here, cynically speaking, is that she’s taken this long to outright objectify herself in the same way that so many others have done for years.
And make no mistake: Lopez delivers a master class in self-objectification here.
“Big, big booty/What you got a big booty,” we hear over and over throughout the song. Also: “Have you seen her on the dance floor?/She’s got the boom, shake the room/That’s the lightning and the thunder/You wanna meet her, you wanna touch her/See the light in her eyes/And it starts to make you wonder/ … I know you want her/She light the fire, get you right/ … Hold on tight for the ride/’Cause you know you’re gonna love her.”
So what should “all the sexy girls in the party” do about that? “Go and grab a man, bring him to the dance floor/Go on, let them jeans touch you while you’re dancing/It’s his birthday, give him what he ask for (Let me show you how to do it).”
Newcomer Iggy Azalea chimes in on the third verse, adding an explicit reference to the male anatomy (that’s too explicit to print) before shoutin’ out, “Girls with the cheeks, put ’em hand in the air/Then pop that, pop that, let ’em know that you there/See, everybody wanna get a taste/You know that we’ve got enough to share.” She concludes, “Mesmerized by the sight of it/You can’t fight it, like, take your time/I can guarantee you’ll have the time of your life/Throw up your hands if you love a big booty.”
As is the case with Nicki Minaj’s recent ode to backsides, ” Anaconda,” the video for this “Booty” remix (the original track featured frequent Lopez collaborator Pitbull) pushes the visual envelop about as far as possible these days without crossing over into indisputable porn. Lopez and Azalea, clad in various and exceedingly revealing outfits, take turns shaking, strutting, slapping and rubbing their own rears … and each other’s, playing shamelessly to erotic and pornographic stereotypes the entire time.
It’s proven an effective strategy for an aging diva whose eighth studio album, A.K.A, debuted at a weak No. 8 with just 33,000 copies sold its first week. In stark contrast, Lopez sharing most of her body and backside with the world on “Booty” has lured in an eye-popping 31 million views in its first five days of release. Sad proof, it seems, that sex still sells … even when your album doesn’t.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
