Do Blondes Really Have More Fun?

Since it's not my week to post, I'll focus on a smaller, albeit important, aspect of Ovalle's reading: hair color and style. I was fascinated to read that as Lopez assimilated into "white" culture, her hair went from dark and curly to light and straight. It was a transition I never even noticed. What this argument brought to head (ha ha, pun intended!) for me was the importance and significance of hair. We actually talked about this with Marilyn Monroe in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes." Monroe's blondeness highlights her energy and ditziness and is in contrast to Jane Russell's dark hair, marking her as more intelligent and seductive. It's interesting that this stereotype still exists - brunettes are often taken more seriously than blondes. But blondes definitely fit more into the all-American, play-girl stereotype. While blonde hair might epitomize sexiness, it is almost always dark hair on a woman (regardless of race) that is typically described as exotic. It's interesting that while this is a compliment, Latina actresses like Lopez have to disregard their exotic allure in order to better fit the mold.

On a side note, I've been fascinated with the straight-curly hair dichotomy since "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days." I'm usually somewhat aloof to cinematic symbolism, but in that movie it was crystal clear to me that Kate Hudson's hair was perfectly straight throughout the movie - until she finally let go and fell in love with Matthew McConaughey, and then it becomes effortlessly wavy and wild. This change always cracked me up as it just seemed so obvious that they were using her hair style to depict an internal shift. Seems that that wasn't so ridiculous after all! Thanks, Ovalle!

Reading Response

I must start by sharing that the scene that Negron-Muntaner describes with Jennifer filming for Selena in the Houston Astrodome was a highlight of my childhood. Third grade Diego was with thousands of people in San Antonio screaming and cheering. If you want to know more just ask.

Jennifer Lopez is the second picture.

Now on to more relevant discussion. I was very surprised at the argument that was made about the importance and role of Jennifer Lopez's butt in a greater scope. Yes, she is curvy, sexy, and successful. However, I am not sure that I entirely agree with his notions of "Latino" excess and vulgarity. There is something to be said about the fact the Jennifer Lopez works out four times a week to stay in shape and her exercises focus on making her butt even "better" than it already is. A "Latino" audience would not relate and respond to a figure of a curvy image if it was seen as being a symbol of their perceived culture of excess. Part of the response to Jennifer is that she is a prominent and talented Latina that Hispanics can relate to a being similar, but if the image that she is created to be was always a representation of negative views of Latin culture she would not continue to be successful. Also, I agree with what Misty said about Jennifer and Britney's opening of the door to new body images and projections. Jennifer brought the back to the front! She has been able to create a new, more positive view of the female butt. It is not just something that is of the lower stratum and lowbrow anymore. It has become something to aspire to have, maybe not the best thing. However, Jennifer has created a platform for a curvy woman to talk and flaunt her ass-et. The idea presented about the vulgarity of the butt and its epistemology were not fully stated and did not seem to further the idea of Jennifer's butt acting to project Latino culture and body image changes. I would be glad to hear any further explanation of the last few pages of the article because I did not understand it all completely and was left with wanting more and a feeling of disconnect from the beginning to the end of the article.

As a closing side note, I am still heart broken by the very idea of Selena having liposuction. It is sad what people do to fit into the celebrity mold that is constantly changing, from what we have learned. Ironically the woman who portrayed her, is not the poster girl for big beautiful butts.

Core Response #4: J.Lo vs. Shakira

I found Ovalle’s in-depth exploration of the nature of Lopez’s stardom in “Framing Jennifer Lopez: Mobilizing Race from the Wide Shot to the Close-Up” particularly interesting of the readings. Ovalle makes the case for J.Lo’s star power stemming in part from her racial ambiguity that situates her as a non-threatening figure in between black and white culture. At the end of her article, Ovalle asks how the next Latina performer will “shake her assets in the national/media spotlight,” which made me wonder who, in the wake of the late 1990s Latin invasion, has taken J.Lo’s place? I think that Shakira, of all the crossover Latino/a stars, best embodies the kind of ambiguity and power that J.Lo maintained as they both maneuver between a position of normality and the Other.

There are many parallels to be drawn between these two women: with her English-language debut in 2001, Shakira came onto the mainstream American music scene and although there were immediate comparisons between her and Britney Spears, she set herself apart in a significant way: by shaking her ass really well. Like J.Lo and other crossover stars, Shakira was racially ambiguous and could assimilate more easily into American culture. Or perhaps more accurately, she became racially ambiguous (by dying her naturally dark hair to bright blonde and toning her body) in order to assimilate more easily into American culture, which she achieved so successfully that the first time I saw the video of “Whenever, Wherever,” I asked my friend if Britney had done something to her face.

Yet, like J.Lo, Shakira as a Latina can never fully occupy a place in hegemonic white culture and so she and the media often play up her differences as signs of exoticism that “diversify” our conservative white society, which Ovalle describes: “the prototypical Latina body—not too light or too dark by Hollywood standards—effectively illustrates diversity and economizes representation: it diversifies both black and white venues” (169). As both readings on J.Lo noted, this sense of exoticism and sensuality associated with the Latina body can be perceived as threatening if it is excessive. So while no one else can shake it quite like Shakira (thus she stands out because of her difference), what she’s shaking (her hips and butt) is not so physically excessive as to force her to occupy too threatening of a position as the Other. And just as J.Lo’s increasingly straight hair and slim body mediate the potential threat she could embody as a Latina, Shakira’s blonde hair, transition to English and collaboration with other pop stars in the mainstream (Beyonce, Wyclef Jean), also alleviate her inherent position as the Other.

A primary difference between Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, however, emerges from the background of the two stars. While J.Lo, a second-generation Puerto Rican, overplays her “street credibility” from growing up in the Bronx, Shakira, a native Colombian, emphasizes her “authenticity” stemming from her Lebanese father’s roots. Shakira often incorporates Arabic-style music into her own and perhaps most importantly, her dancing revolves around belly-dancing to the point that she can release a song called “Hips Don’t Lie” and have it be the number one song in the country. For me, I find these aspects of her image interesting because as anyone who listened to her Spanish music before her crossover knows, hip and butt-shaking were not the defining characteristics of Shakira’s career or image. There are traces of her Lebanese descent in her music before 2001, but she did not identify herself primarily with these roots.

And yet, with the release of an English album and transition into mainstream American culture, her Lebanese background suddenly comes to the forefront as the defining force behind her music, image and performance style. It is through these roots that she can showcase her butt because while she does not have access to the cinematic screen like J.Lo, she does have music videos and the stage as visual forums to show off her assets. Shakira’s Lebanese background, while positioning her as Other, underscores her exoticism and sensuality which are essential to her role as a commodity for mainstream culture. And so, to answer Ovalle’s concluding question, I would say that Shakira took over to "shake her assets" in the national spotlight, although since her popularity in mainstream culture has been dwindling of late, I'll be interested to see who takes her place in the future.

J.Lo + Jessica Alba: Latina Upward Mobility

First and foremost, what I find most interesting in Ovalle's article for this week is that she concentrates on "brown-ness" and "Latina-ness" as an in-between for the traditional racial binary of blackness and whiteness. There is no argument that most prevalent issues and problems concerning race relations in the U.S. primarily involve whites and blacks. Moreover, Ovalle writes that not only is race defined beyond polarized images and preconceived notions of black/white opposites but she also reminds readers of the misconception that whiteness is not perceived as colored or characterized, but humanized and normal- the default. She further illustrates her claim of brown-ness as an in-between by using Jennifer Lopez in Money Train as an example of the type of (racialized) woman who can be romantically linked with both white male (Woody Harrelson) and black male (Wesley Snipes) characters on screen. Another point that she made later on in her article in her section about 'the dancing body' got me to thinking about the upward mobility of today's aspiring Latina actresses. She notes that both Rita Hayworth and Jennifer Lopez captured the attention of and were subsequently accepted into Hollywood and general consciousness through their naturally voluptuous and rhythmic bodies.

I couldn't help but be reminded of a certain aspiring (Latina) actress who has seemed to become a household name recently since her fledgling actor days in teen movies like Idle Hands and Never Been Kissed: Jessica Alba. The reason I parenthesized her ethnicity as Latina is because I wanted to bring into light the fact that just as J.Lo before her, Jessica has cosmetically transformed herself over the years into the idealized version of western beauty (lightness of skin and straightened/nearly blonde hair). Although she doesn't necessarily identify herself as a "Latina" actress, she certainly is one based solely on her Mexican ancestry. Though formerly a "Dark Angel" in James Cameron's foray into TV with the creation of another beautiful brunette heroine (note the play on preconceived notions of color and good and evil in the title's name), Jessica in her most recent films has manifested to a T the kind of hair and cosmetic transformation necessary for upward mobility of an Other in Hollywood. Not to mention the 2003 and 2005 movies, Honey and Sin City, which clearly focus and play off of Jessica's natural ability to move(/dance) both rhythmically and sexually for the audience.

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that it wasn't until after Jessica fulfilled these roles of the dancer/the body in these films that her career was bolstered and she started to attract mainstream attention. As you can see in the photograph I uploaded, both her complexion and hair tone match so closely that there is no 'darkness' or skin color perceived beyond her dramatized eyes which are made to emphasize her exoticness. Thus, she is coded and compromised as white. As Ovalle wrote, J.Lo conformed to idealized beauty standards, yet retained an exoticized difference at the same time because of her butt. Yet for Jessica, she has no discernible exotic anatomical features, like J.Lo's derriere, that perhaps allow her to assimilate more comfortably into Hollywood without constantly having to answer to ponderings about her skin tone or racial background. In fact, according to Perez Hilton, Jessica apparently denies claim to her Mexican roots and is frequently derided on his celebrity blog for doing so, deeming her Jessica "Don't Call Me Latina" Alba. Despite moving into public consciousness and even headlining her own films (The Eye), Jessica has failed to make the kind of lasting imprint in film beyond her beauty, even after already assimilating and fulfilling the Hollywood ideal (blond hair, light skin). That said, who knows what else she must do, or keep doing, in order to keep getting roles in Hollywood. But what must be questioned is how both she and her handlers have been able to manage and construct her image quite successfully by neutralizing her exoticness both on and off screen.

Reading Response #5 - J.Lo

Well I never thought a would read a scholarly article about Jennifer Lopez’s butt, but that is the beauty of film studies I suppose. But I was excited to read about Selena, a pre-teen favorite movie of mine. What struck me about Negron-Muntaner’s article was the way in which, at that moment of time in 1997, there was excitement about having a Latina superstar and one with a big Puerto-Rican butt. Lopez is one star we have talked about in class so far that I feel I have been old enough and aware of her entire transformation of her stardom, and a big part of her getting there was her butt. From her pride and identification of her Latina behind that Negron-Muntaner traces, to the billion dollar body insurance, to that infamous green dress with the plunging neckline, her body and especially the back of it has always been central to her stardom. This positive outlook on J.Lo’s assets seems strange looking back because she, like so many stars in her position, seems to really have been “white-washed” or “de-ethnic-ized.” Sure she still has that butt to some degree, but she has gone from curvy to the more over-exercised, over-dieted look perfected by mainstream Hollywood. Watching Out of Sight it’s clear how different she looks now, thinner, blonder, and generally less Latina. It reminds me of Michael Jackson, the most extreme example of this pressure on minority superstars, but can also be seen in someone like Beyonce Knowles who has gotten skinnier, blonder, and fairer skinned as her career has risen. To me, in 2008, the celebratory break from dominant standards of beauty by J.Lo’s butt seems to be all but regressed by her later choices in beauty that seemed to hide her ethnicity.

Another interesting aspect, that was reflected throughout her persona, and discussed by both Negron-Muntaner and Ovalle, is the idea of the American Dream as possibility for minorities. There are close ties, certainly not coincidental, between Selena, Lopez, the narratives of films like Flashdance and the video she based it on that film, “I’m Glad.” All of these narratives take characters of mixed ethnicity or nationality from difficult economic situations and watch them rise to fame or fortune from their talent. This is the trajectory that J.Lo follows, a Puerto-Rican American from the Bronx who rose to be one of the top paid actresses in Hollywood. But this narrative is where her career has been since.

So much of her music career is about her roots and their legitimacy – album names On The 6, This is Me…Now, songs “I’m Real,” “I’m Glad,” “My Love Don’t Cost a Thing,” and “Jenny From the Block.” The first one is all about how she is so real and takes place in a low income neighborhood with many of the typical iconography associated with it, then the last is all about how she has so much money, and shows her on yachts with Ben Affleck (but is still “real”?) It seems like one who really was true their roots would not have to keep assuring everyone that they were.

Timbaland

Olivia's post inspired me to watch Madonna's new video, and one of my first reactions (other than why do they have only four minutes and what are they saving the world from??) was about Timbaland. He has been working behind the scenes for over a decade as a producer but has been much more visible in the music scene for the past two years. In the past couple years he has served to lend some sort or gravitas or maybe even street-cred to white artists looking to cross over into hip-hop infused pop. I looked into his career a bit and saw that until the past few years he had been working exclusively as a producer for mostly black hip-hop artists, most notably Jay-Z, Nas, and Aaliyah. But if you thought of Timbaland today you would probably think of white stars like Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado (actually Canadian-Portuguese), or now Madonna. He has also recently worked on tracks by such bastions of whiteness like Ashlee Simpson, Fall Out Boy, and Coldplay. What does it mean that this black producer is helping these white superstars appropriate elements of black culture and music, turning JT from boyband to hip-hip or Nelly Furtado from ballads like “I’m Like a Bird” to “Promiscuous.” When these artists want to take what they want from black music, Timbaland is there to lend the talent in his producing, and now his name as a brand and a symbol of legitimacy.

Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland: Four Minutes

I have to say, although the readings did somewhat change how I see her, I was surprised by the almost total negative response that everyone has been having towards Madonna. I do agree with the arguments about her use and exploitation of black and gay cultures, which is why I find this video so fitting because it includes someone who has based his entire career as a solo artist on appropriating black culture and more specifically, Michael Jackson. I think that if we're going to hold Madonna accountable for exploiting other cultures, then the same needs to be done for Justin as well because he almost completely reincarnates Michael Jackson in this video both in his singing and dancing (and certainly this isn't the first time that he's done so). I think that regardless of her relationship to other cultures, Madonna is at least original (it's sometimes hard to remember that since what she's done has pretty much become the norm for many female entertainers), which is much more than I can say for Justin Timberlake, although I have yet to hear anyone criticize the nature of his stardom.

Madonna - Four Minutes Video