Music
Shakira, she of the fascinating and sometimes enraging ability to take on the physical characteristics of other popular performers, seems to be channeling fellow Latina entertainer Jennifer "Don't Call Me J. Lo" Lopez in the video for her latest single, "Give it up to Me." Will her fan base appreciate the transformation? Then again, anything featuring the virile and talented Lil' Wayne can only be a success.
Also of interest to us is the fact that Shakira, a brunette with dark brown eyes, is blonde and wearing pale blue contacts in this video. Far be it from us to judge her artistic choices or shrewdly calculated marketing ploys, so we will leave it up to you, readers, to weigh in on what this all might mean, if anything.
Watch:
Interesting: Shakira Has Blue Eyes, Is J. Lo In Her Video For "Give It Up To Me"
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18 Nov 2009 | 15:24
Comments: 13
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Shakira, she of the fascinating and sometimes enraging ability to take on the physical characteristics of other popular performers, seems to be channeling fellow Latina entertainer Jennifer "Don't Call Me J. Lo" Lopez in the video for her latest single, "Give it up to Me." Will her fan base appreciate the transformation? Then again, anything featuring the virile and talented Lil' Wayne can only be a success.
Also of interest to us is the fact that Shakira, a brunette with dark brown eyes, is blonde and wearing pale blue contacts in this video. Far be it from us to judge her artistic choices or shrewdly calculated marketing ploys, so we will leave it up to you, readers, to weigh in on what this all might mean, if anything.
Watch:
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alejandra@guanabee.com
alejandra@guanabee.com
Comments
WHO CARES?! YOU LATINOS ARE SO SENSITIVE ABOUT SHIT LIKE THIS ... THE BLACKS DON'T GET INTO A RAGE WHEN BEYONCE OR RIHANNA GO BLOND ... GET OVER IT! IT'S JUST HAIR AND CONTACTS - NOT THAT DEEP!!
ReplyOops, you seem to have dropped your Mensa membership card onto the floor in the midst of your rage-fueled sputtering. Don't want to lose that, now do we.
ReplyMaybe you should quit being so misogynistic and judgmental and an all around prick. Racism is so deep embedded in Latin American cultural, it's ridiculous! Just look at your telenovelas, everyone is white with light eyes and some are blonder than blond ... but there are no dark skin or black latinos! And if there are they are servants or criminals ... Meanwhile, the second one of your artists crosses over into the US market you go off on them for being just as blond and white as the rest of entertainers in Latin America!! ... It doesn't make any sense to me!! It's like you want J.Lo and Shakira to represent the dark haired, dark eyes, dark skin latina, that doesn't even exist in Telemundo or Univision ... and the second they lighten their hair or get contacts you throw a shit fit and go off on your "Oh, they clearly don't want to be latinas anymore - I'm appalled!" ... But no one gives a shit about bottled blonds Yuri or Paulina Rubio or their ilk because they are safely ensconced in the dark recesses and corners of Univision, Telemundo, Televisa, etc and haven't really had any cross over success ... and if Paulina did cross over, are you then going to go off on her for being a peroxide blond? But not now of course! Americans don't know her, so it's ok for her to stay a Southern blond ... AAAAAAAAAAAH!!
ReplyAre you new here? Nuance. The issue isn't Shakira's blonde hair, per se, it's her blonde hair coupled with the blue eyes, in addition to her weight loss, and her decision to market herself as a cookie cutter pop star as opposed to the more rock-tinged, folk-influenced singer she was before her crossover. Paulina has maintained a consistent image throughout her career, and to critique her for her blondness is to critique all women who dye their hair blonde. And while that's arguably a worthwhile critique, it's not the focus of this particular post. Shakira's transformation transpired directly at the cusp of her transition into mainstream U.S. pop. The issue is not whether or not she wants to be Latina, it is what lengths she feels she needs to go to be relatable to those who aren't Latino, or to those who have a skewed idea of what Latinos are and what they look like. (As for telenovelas, we've written countless posts about the xenophobia, classism and sexism written into their plots and characterizations. Again, that's not the focus here.) And it's the fact that Yuri and Paulina are, as you say, not on the radars of those who follow mainstream U.S. pop culture that makes analyzing Shakira's transformation all the more important. While not being particularly representative, she's representing us, and we'd be amiss not to figure out what message she's sending out in the process. I'll close with a helpful bit of advice: In the future, it might behoove you to refrain from using phrases such as "you latinos" and "the blacks," as these do nothing so much as nullify any argument or point you're attempting to make. Edit: On second read, it seems like I'm trying to dictate the course of discussion on this thread. You are, of course, free to take the topic in whatever direction you'd like as long as you don't insult other commenters or resort to trolling.
ReplySo it's because you wanted Shakira to be a "rock-tinged, folk influenced singer"? Maybe she grew out of that, maybe she decided that rock music is too restrictive and wanted to be a pop star instead ... oh wait, she just said that in this interview on that Jimmy Fallon Show: http://www.musicistheheartofoursoul.com/2009/11/shakria-interview-on-jimmy-fallon.html I'm not going to lie, her best record was PIES DESCALZOS. Her english stuff is pretty sub-par, but I don't think that her blond hair and lighter eyes should be indicative of who she is as a person or should be seen as this awful betrayal to her culture. Women change their hair color all the time and some use contacts all the time. Doesn't mean that they are not proud of who they are, maybe they just want a new signature look. Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendez, Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Alba ... they are free to be who they want to be and look how they want to look and not be what we want them to be or think they should be, they don't represent you, they don't represent your culture ... they represent themselves.
ReplyMusic is music, i.e. a cultural product that takes on many influences and is able to combine then into something new. Real musicians defy genres. Why, then, did she have to become a "pop star" in order for her to be at her most flexible and creative? Bullshit I say.
ReplyI was getting the Beyonce vibe in this video with the black leotard and the girls dancing behind her in the same attire. So tired of her Mr. Roboto shoulder dance.
ReplyIm a guy in this spot and most likely every comment was made by a female. I've read every single one and came to a conclusion that all of the comments have a truth to it, no winners just good observations by todos.
ReplyThat's a shame, I don't think I can continue to buy into Shakira's music. I guess the music business will do that to you.
Replyit's funny that all the Latinas you mentioned as being "free to be who they want to be" fit the description of Alex's exact point--that is, Latinas who go to great lengths to be "relatable to those who arenOt Latino, or to those who have a skewed idea of what Latinos are and what they look like." You complain of the homogeneity in novelas, but fail to mention any darker-skinned, culy-haired, thicker-bodied Latinas who are also "free to be who they want to be." Don't you think it's interesting that the representative group of Latinas you named have all catered to and adopted an American version of beauty? Why not include Sofia Vergara, Salma Hayek, Lupe Ontiveros, Rita Moreno, etc., in your list of representative Latinas? See, I think this was Alex's point--Shakira's physical transformation seems to be solely because she wants to fit into this "good" Latina image, when, as you yourself have said, there's an incredible range of diversity in the appearance of Latinas.
Replyexactly.
ReplyShe's getting her dance moves from Zumba DVDs.
ReplyBlack girls who go blond still 'act' black. They do not change who they are. Latin girls who go blond start acting like gringas and start refusing to speak Spanish and when they do speak Spanish they act like they're Hernan Cortes and shit (i.e. colonizing mentality).
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