analysis of "genie in a bottle" by christina aguilera (andrew goodwin's music video theory)

1. genie in a bottle
christina aguilera

2. andrew goodwin - demonstrates genre conventions
- performance by the artist →
throughout the music video, christina
aguilera is shown to be performing the
song through a dance routine.
- close-ups of the artists face → this
music video fulfils a common feature
of music videos of the time because
there are numerous close-ups of
christina aguilera’s face throughout
the video. it is useful in terms of the
audience being able to identify with
the artist.

3. andrew goodwin - relationship between lyrics and
visuals
at many points in the song, the music
video helps to illustrate the lyrics of
the song. for example, when the lyrics
“lonely nights” is sung, the artist is
shown to be sitting under a night sky by
herself. another example of the visuals
being illustrative is when the artist
sings the word “rub”, she and the
dancers in the background incorporate a
rubbing motion into the dance routine.

4. andrew goodwin - relationship between music and
visuals
again, the way that a dance routine has
been included in this music video makes
the relationship between the music and
the visuals more prominent. every time
the chorus plays, the same routine is
performed. the dancing itself amplifies
the idea that this song is part of the
pop genre because songs that are
similar to “genie in a bottle” do tend to
have some kind of performance like this
in their videos.

5. andrew goodwin - demands of the record label
the demands of the record are met
in this video because a lot of close-
ups of the artist have been included
to help the viewer become more
familiar with her. christina aguilera’s
style of dress in “genie in a bottle” is
able to target a very specific
audience because it very much
reflects societal trends at the time,
and this helps to draw in a younger
audience as opposed to an older one.

6. andrew goodwin - notion of looking
christina aguilera makes frequent eye-
contact with the camera in a seductive way
as she lies across the sand which fulfils
andrew goodwin’s notion of looking. in
addition, there is a voyeuristic treatment
of the female body too, as she wears a
crop top that draws the viewer’s attention
to her figure and also sometimes positions
herself in suggestive ways. this also
creates a sense of scopophilia when she
does this looking away from the camera.

7. andrew goodwin - intertextual references
there are no explicit intertextual
references in this music video,
however, there are a lot of cultural
references. the small narrative and
the mode of dress that have both
been included clearly reflect society
at the time. by seeing this, the
audience can easily recognise the mise
en scene of the costume, hair and
makeup and will be able to relate to
it.

8. andrew goodwin - performance, narrative or
concept
this video has elements of both
performance and narrative. when it
comes to narrative, there is the
stereotypical girl-meets-boy love
story that is included. this romance is
a typical feature of a pop song. the
dance routine performance from the
artist is also a typical feature of
mainstream pop, and it’s successful in
creating an identity for the artist.