Myth of Beauty

In Akon’s song “Beautiful” featuring Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall gives off a certain image that reflects the image of the beauty myth. This particular myth of beauty displayed in this song and video is the beauty myth of seduction. This myth is explored in this video and song by the artist singing and rapping about certain women that are being displayed as being seductive. The first lyrics of the entire song are “When I see you, I run out of words to say”. This shows that the girl that Akon is talking about is beautiful and seductive that every time that he sees her he cannot think of any words to say. If a girl can have this much of an effect on a person she must be really special and she must be beautiful. Another section of lyrics in the song that depicts the myth of beauty being displayed in this video is when Akon says, “I wouldn't leave you because you’re that type of girl”. This just further proves that the women who is he is talking about is displaying the myth of beauty. Also the fact that he is putting so much attention to this one particular woman further proves that she is beautiful and that she is in fact seductive. Usually the woman that is always on our mind we consider to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and this is the case for Akon and this woman. In the video the woman that is shown can be viewed as a beautiful women based on her looks alone, but also the way she makes Akon feel further proves her to be conveying the myth of beauty. In the music video the woman that Akon is singing about is posing as a model so she has a job, so she can support herself as an independent trait which is considered beautiful for some man. Also since she was posing like a model she was wearing revealing clothing which shows that she has a sexual side of her. This proves that the social facets of class, gender and sexual orientation are shown in this video. The fact that the woman in the video is seen as model proves that she has a job. Also the particular job that she has is considered part of the upper class. Since she is in the upper class it shows that she is wealthy, which is considered to be a beautiful trait to some people. The fact that she is a model is proof that she is very feminine. The social facet of gender is proven when she is seen as a model with a lot of feminine characteristics and traits. The clothing that she was wearing further proves that she is characterized as being feminine. Femininity is seen as being a beautiful characteristic according to Akon and most men. The sexual orientation of the myth of beauty is seen as being heterosexual. According to this video the sexual orientation of the woman is proven as heterosexual because Akon is rapping to this specific woman and she is making physical contact with him, which shows that she is attractive to him. The fact that he has dedicated an entire song to this one woman proves that he feels some sort of connection with this one particular woman shows that she is the myth of beauty according to him. Also in the video the woman does not say a lot so according to Akon he believes that a woman is beautiful if she looks good and doesn't talk or do much. This can and probably different than most peoples but that doesn't mean that either his myth of beauty is wrong because the myth of beauty is not universal, it depends on the person.

Carry Out

In Justin Timberlake and Timbaland’s music video entitled “Carry Out” the images and the lyrics in the video help depict a certain stereotype and myth. The myth that they are displaying in this video is the myth of the stereotypical player. This video and song depicts the myth of the stereotypical player by using social facets such as race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. In this the race of the stereotypical player is displayed as being mostly black. The race of the stereotypical player is seen as being an African American from this video is because the artist, Timbaland, is of African American decent. Almost of the men in this video, besides Justin Timberlake is African American. Also in the video they way that everyone dances, including Justin Timberlake, dances like they move to the music well and like they have flow, which is typically the way players and African Americans dance. The song also talks about the social facet of gender to display the stereotypical player. This video and song depicts the stereotypical player as being a male. This song accomplishes stereotyping the myth of the play as being a male by the artist and the only ones in the whole video who are speaking are males. Also the video helps depict the stereotypical player as being a male because in the video there is always at least two women for every man. Since there is only one man and two females the viewer can infer that the two females are with the male by choice and that the man is smooth enough to get two women at once. The women in this video are also in revealing clothes which show that they wish to appeal to males in the video as well as the audience. So since the women in the video are wearing revealing clothes they are trying to appeal to the males in the video. The myth of the player is further depicted as being a man when Timbaland is talking to one of the women and he controls the conversation and gets the woman’s number. The stereotypical player is also a person who is part of a certain social class. This song and video display the myth of the player as being part of the middle and working class. This is shown in this video by the type of clothes that they are wearing. In this video they are wearing typical everyday clothes, jeans and t-shirts. They are considered part of the middle and working class because in the video they are wearing typical every day clothes. When Justin Timberlake is wearing the suit in the video can be seen as the middle class having one good suit that they wear every now and then. In the video they also talk about common name food places such as “I Hop” and using the drive thru. These are normal places where middle and working class citizens go frequently. Even though the song is not talking about getting food from these places he still refers to them which proves that he knows about them. Another type of social facet that is used in this video to depict the stereotypical myth of the player is his sexual orientation. The myth of the player has a heterosexual sexual orientation. Not only does he have sexual relations with the opposite gender, but he has sexual relationships with multiple women. This is shown in the video by all the different women that are in the video making physical contact with the men. This shows them as wanting the men and makes the men look desirable. One particular line of the song says that “I’m gonna touch you in all the right areas”. This line shows that the artist of the song is in a sexual relationship with at least one woman. Another part of the song he says what’s your name, and then immediately what’s your number. This shows that the artist does not care to talk to the woman who he is talking to for a long time instead he wishes to have a sexual relation with her, with little feelings. From this video of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland singing “Carry Out” we get an image of the myth of the player through the social facets of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation.