Featured Image Credit: Christina Aguilera/YouTube
Topics: Celebrity, Mental Health, Music, Social Media, Christina Aguilera
Stewart Perrie
Topics: Celebrity, Mental Health, Music, Social Media, Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera has released a new music video for her iconic song 'Beautiful'.
Twenty years after she debuted the heart-wrenching track that exudes the message of 'love yourself', the pop star is back with a modern version.
While the song has remained unchanged for this new video, Aguilera has exposed today's brutal beauty standards and the way kids are fed an almost unrealistic expectation on what 'beautiful' means.
The video shows an array of young girls with faces full of makeup staring into a ring-light and camera, seemingly trying to look pretty for their social media followers.
Another clip shows a girl put breast cups into her top to try and boost her cleavage.
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But it's not just girls and women who are subjected to impossible beauty standards.
The 2022 music video for 'Beautiful' also shows a skinny young boy standing opposite and absolutely jacked bodybuilder lifting weights.
He looks overwhelmed at the idea of trying to become as big as the man he's standing near.
As the song reaches its legendary crescendo, the kids who have been burdened by the concept of being perfect break out of society's moulds and you get to see them frolicking in a park.
They're climbing trees, running through the grass and doing what kids have done for decades.
Christina is clearly taking a dig at social media's influence on a child's mental health and their perception on beauty.
Fans have flocked to the comments section to praise the pop star for sending out an important message.
One wrote: "I’m not a cryer but this had me sobbing thinking about how much my childhood was wasted comparing myself to other kids, magazines, artists, living on my phone. Love yourself people! You are so loved and perfect the way you are. Thanks Christina for this."
Another added: "I find myself listening to this song when I’ve been having bad days and the fact that a woman with a powerful voice like yours and a creative mind to show visuals of issues like this that f up the young lives today is a true artist, a honest artist. I absolutely love you for speaking and showing real issues in the world."
A third said: "Her first video for 'Beautiful' was a big thing back then. I'm happy to see another version of this video that perfectly shows what so called 'beauty standards' people, especially children/young people, are exposed to via social media."
In the YouTube description, Christina has provided helpful links to services who can help viewers who aren't coping well with their body image.