Charlotte Emma Aitchison, better
known as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 2012
when the song I Love It she wrote and
performed with the duo Icona Pop became a worldwide hit. Currently in promotion
of her upcoming third album after releasing four mixtapes, two albums and an ep,
XCX released a video for her well received single Boys on the 26th
of July 2017 which she directed herself with Sarah McColgan. The music video
includes over 60 known male celebrities, including singer and actor Joe Jonas
(of the Jonas Brothers), singer Charlie Puth, internet personality Cameron
Dallas, diver Tom Daley, rapper G-Eazy, DJ’s and record producers Mark Ronson
and Flume and rappers Wiz Kahlifa, Tinie Tempah and will.i.am. In this piece I’ll
shortly try to show how this video fits in the discussion about the male and
female gaze and the ‘problems’ with portraying male bodies.
Typically,
men are said to be the subject of the gaze and women are the object of it. At
first glance, this video seems to be the opposite: XCX sings about thinking
about Boys and in a rapid pace studio shots of men in everyday activities flash
by, without the video having a story line. Striking are the bright colour
schemes XCX used for the set and the contrast between the different men
depicted. How does this fit in Mulvey’s claim that “the male figure cannot bear
the burden of sexual objectification” and “[the] man is reluctant to gaze at
his exhibitionist like”. I’ll quickly show three scenes to show the contrasts
between the different men portrayed and will end with XCX’s position in the
video.
Cameron Dallas
is positioned in a scene that emphasizes masculinity. He’s looking directly in
the camera, objectifying the viewer to his penetrating gaze, thereby taking the
typical male role. Moreover, he’s dressed shirtless to put emphasis on his body.
The chain saw he’s holding is a typical phallic object to again show
masculinity, especially since working with a chain saw is often seen as
masculine. His facial expression lastly is serious and mysterious.
Tom Grennan on
the other hand seems to be put in a scene quite the opposite of Dallas’s. Grennan
is filmed doing the dishes wearing bright pink household gloves in front of a wall
with floral wallpaper. He’s not looking at us, but laughing and intensely
dancing looking at the bowl he’s washing. His appearance isn’t penetrating or
mysterious at all: we’re the subject looking at a man doing something not
considered masculine.
Diplo’s
scene shows how this video can be seen as an ironic approach to masculinity. Being
shirtless on the floor we see Diplo lifting two dogs, cuddling when afterwards.
His gaze is looking away from the camera at first and isn’t penetrating when he
does. If anything, it’s vulnerable. Diplo is in front of a pink backdrop, not
standing up as usual when lifting, but sitting down, showing less productivity
and power. With dogs replacing weights, this video reflects on what masculinity
is as a construct and how it can be problematized. The scene with Jack Antonoff
lifting big, pink weights fulfils the same role.
Charli XCX’s
own appearance emphasizes the ridiculing of masculine features. The few seconds
she’s in the video, she’s the fifth woman in a row turning around showing her
face with a moustache drawn on her upper lip.
Maybe calling the men depicted in
the video ‘boys’ in her song already opens the possibility for an ironic
analysis of the video. XCX surely emphasizes the over-the-top objectification
of men in her video by stating ‘NO BOYS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO’
in the video description, associating the men with cute animals which can be
enjoyed and possessed. XCX hereby shows she’s well aware of the gaze and gender
stereotypes in visual culture and how to make fun of it. On the other hand, playing with masculinity and referring to the men as 'boys' might just as well fit in perfectly with Mulvey's statement; you can't portray male bodies without them losing their masculinity.
Works cited:
Charli XCX, Boys [Official Video], YouTube, July 26, 2017, retrieved March 10,
2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPRy1B4t5YA.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema.” Visual and Other Pleasures,
1989, pp. 14–26.
