People today recognize Jennifer Lopez as a talented and well-known celebrity who is indeed a triple threat – actress, singer, and dancer. Lopez is also acknowledged for being an iconic Latina star amongst a traditionally white-dominant world. Her highly viewed music videos are proof that she is an expert performing and connecting with her audience through themes of race, sexuality, and class. In Jennifer’s “Jenny from the Block” and “I Luh Ya Papi”, race, sexuality, and class are hinted through the use of film techniques – editing, lighting, and mise-en-scène to name a few. In both music videos, Lopez promotes her Latina culture, but “Jenny from the Block” indicates significant white characteristics that results in the media portraying her
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Lopez’s curvy figure not only defines her Latinidad but also how her sexuality is portrayed by her audience. In “Jenny from the Block”, shots after shots of Jennifer’s body are taken. In the example provided above, the scene shown is the opening scene of “Jenny from the Block”. The camera, which appears to be a video surveillance camera, captures a “crotch shot” from a medium, slightly high angle while zooming in, only focusing on her underwear and the position of her hand on her thigh, all sensual parts of a woman’s body. Jennifer’s hourglass figure is put on spotlight in the yacht scenes, where she lays face down in a bikini and displays her famous bottom and bare chest to the paparazzi’s camera. Lopez’s heterosexual relationship with Ben are shown through close up shots of kissing, on dates, etc. Lopez is often shown in a medium shot and clad in skimpy clothing or half naked, dancing around in her room or swaying her hips at her boyfriend. Her sensual dancing and photoshoots with tight clothing and cleavage baring outfits contribute to the seductive techniques that the media views as sexual. In “I Luh Ya Papi”, the music video’s emphasis is more on sexualizing the men. Jennifer is still depicted as sexual with her tight, bright clothing that …show more content…
Lopez demonstrates her upper class lifestyle through her music videos with props, settings, and actors. In “Jenny from the Block”, the example pictured is when Jennifer sings, “Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got…”. As she sings this part, Jennifer flaunts her expensive jewelry to the camera, blocking her face and zooming in on the rings for the audience to see. Lopez also wears fur coats during photoshoots; fur coats are a symbol of belonging to the upper class, while having photoshoots implies that she is an important person. Lopez is also pictured in a variety of settings, such as her apartment, a yacht, a nice pool, her studio, at a hotel, etc. The fact that she relaxes on yachts, constantly travels, and has her own studio can signify that her wealth allows her to both unwind and work hard, which mostly people from the upper class can relate to. The working class do not get to relax as luxuriously as she does – their relaxing is done on the weekends at home or, if lucky, on a beach in Florida. In “I Luh Ya Papi”, Jennifer once again demonstrates her humble abundance, this time at a mansion with a pool and a yacht. Lopez also uses jewelry as a prop again, using plenty of gold chains to exemplify her wealth. While she puts on the gold chains, she faces a mirror, as if to make the mirror suggest that yes, that really is Jennifer Lopez and yes, this is truly her reality.
Lopez’s curvy figure not only defines her Latinidad but also how her sexuality is portrayed by her audience. In “Jenny from the Block”, shots after shots of Jennifer’s body are taken. In the example provided above, the scene shown is the opening scene of “Jenny from the Block”. The camera, which appears to be a video surveillance camera, captures a “crotch shot” from a medium, slightly high angle while zooming in, only focusing on her underwear and the position of her hand on her thigh, all sensual parts of a woman’s body. Jennifer’s hourglass figure is put on spotlight in the yacht scenes, where she lays face down in a bikini and displays her famous bottom and bare chest to the paparazzi’s camera. Lopez’s heterosexual relationship with Ben are shown through close up shots of kissing, on dates, etc. Lopez is often shown in a medium shot and clad in skimpy clothing or half naked, dancing around in her room or swaying her hips at her boyfriend. Her sensual dancing and photoshoots with tight clothing and cleavage baring outfits contribute to the seductive techniques that the media views as sexual. In “I Luh Ya Papi”, the music video’s emphasis is more on sexualizing the men. Jennifer is still depicted as sexual with her tight, bright clothing that …show more content…
Lopez demonstrates her upper class lifestyle through her music videos with props, settings, and actors. In “Jenny from the Block”, the example pictured is when Jennifer sings, “Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got…”. As she sings this part, Jennifer flaunts her expensive jewelry to the camera, blocking her face and zooming in on the rings for the audience to see. Lopez also wears fur coats during photoshoots; fur coats are a symbol of belonging to the upper class, while having photoshoots implies that she is an important person. Lopez is also pictured in a variety of settings, such as her apartment, a yacht, a nice pool, her studio, at a hotel, etc. The fact that she relaxes on yachts, constantly travels, and has her own studio can signify that her wealth allows her to both unwind and work hard, which mostly people from the upper class can relate to. The working class do not get to relax as luxuriously as she does – their relaxing is done on the weekends at home or, if lucky, on a beach in Florida. In “I Luh Ya Papi”, Jennifer once again demonstrates her humble abundance, this time at a mansion with a pool and a yacht. Lopez also uses jewelry as a prop again, using plenty of gold chains to exemplify her wealth. While she puts on the gold chains, she faces a mirror, as if to make the mirror suggest that yes, that really is Jennifer Lopez and yes, this is truly her reality.