“In the last 20 years, since Stripped was first released, social media has transformed our relationship with our bodies, and in turn our mental health,” read a message in the video
In 2002, Christina Aguilera made a statement with the release of her “Beautiful” music video. Now, 20 years later, she’s managed to do it again — and she wants you to get off your phone!
On Wednesday morning, the star, 41, dropped an updated music video for the iconic hit in honor of the 20th anniversary of her 2002 album Stripped.
In the music video, directed by Fiona Jane Burgess, young children are seen tied to their phones and coping with a variety of struggles including ballerinas obsessed with their looks, a young girl wanting to look like the models in a magazine, comparing body types and a teen boy who appears to be contemplating suicide.
Toward the end, each of these cases find solace and puts a stop to their misery by wiping the makeup off, getting help from a friend and ripping the photos from the magazine — with a brighter scene of children playing outside following shortly after.
Aguilera does not make an appearance in the video.
At the very end, a phone — which appears to be bleeding — is shown on the ground as a message appears on the screen.
“In the last 20 years, since Stripped was first released, social media has transformed our relationship with our bodies, and in turn our mental health,” the message reads. “Research suggests that time spent on social networking sites is associated with body image issues, self-harm and disordered eating in children and teens.”
It concludes, “This needs to change.”
In the original music video, Aguilera appears inside what appears to be an abandoned home as she belts out the lyrics and copes with her own struggles. Meanwhile, similar to the new video, she has people from different walks of life overcoming their internal struggles like a trans man changing his look, a young girl examining her body in the mirror and a gay couple getting comfortable with public PDA.
Last week, the “Fighter” singer teased the music video on her Instagram, showing a clip of the ballerinas doing their makeup in front of their phones and a ring light.
“In celebration of the 20 year anniversary of Stripped and World Mental Health Day, I’m honored to share a new music video for Beautiful, coming October 19th ???? Tune out and turn in,” she wrote. “Take your space, log off, put your mind, body, and soul first.”
On Tuesday, Aguilera shared a montage video from her Stripped performances and wrote a tribute about the impact the album had on her career.
“Stripped gave me the strength and freedom as an artist to tell my story the way I wanted, for the first time,” she wrote.
She continued, “Thank you to all of my fighters around the world for amplifying that strength and giving me the space to continue to share myself in my truest forms. Today marks the kick off of the #20YearsOfStripped celebration, more to come ????”
[via]
