Music Video
The song's music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and premiered on November 17, 2002. The video opens with Aguilera speaking the line "Don't look at me", followed by scenes of her singing alone in a room intercut with self image-related sequences of other people. An underweight girl examines herself in a mirror, eventually punching through it; a skinny boy stands lifting weights in a room plastered with images of bodybuilders; and a girl rips out pages of women's magazines and throws them into a fire. In one sequence, a girl is bullied by several peers, and in another, a goth with piercings sits at the back of a bus while several people get up and move. The video also touches on LGBT issues. One scene features a gay couple, portrayed by Jordan Shannon and Justin Croft, kissing on a bench and ignoring the stares of people who pass them. Another scene shows a transgender person, played by Robert Sherman, putting on makeup, a wig, and women's clothing.
The music video was moderaltely successful on video chart programs. The video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live at number three. It was unable to reach the top of the countdown but remained on it for fifty days and retired at number six on February 25, 2003. The video topped MuchMusic's Countdown for two consecutive weeks and remained on the countdown for fifteen weeks. The video received a Special Recognition award, presented by David LaChapelle, from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation at its 14th annual media awards. After an a cappella performance of the song, Aguilera stated in her acceptance speech that "this song is definitely a universal message that everybody can relate to – anyone that's been discriminated against or unaccepted, unappreciated or disrespected just because of who you are." The video became an instant hit on MTV and other music video channels.
Read more about this topic: Beautiful (Christina Aguilera Song)
Famous quotes containing the words music and/or video:
“... the majority of colored men do not yet think it worth while that women aspire to higher education.... The three R’s, a little music and a good deal of dancing, a first rate dress-maker and a bottle of magnolia balm, are quite enough generally to render charming any woman possessed of tact and the capacity for worshipping masculinity.”
—Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)
“These people figured video was the Lord’s preferred means of communicating, the screen itself a kind of perpetually burning bush. “He’s in the de-tails,” Sublett had said once. “You gotta watch for Him close.””
—William Gibson (b. 1948)