The music video, “Carry Out” by Timberland featuring Justin Timberlake, caters a fantasy in which women are eroticized and are being compared to food and fast food restaurant for the sexual gratification of working class men. The video initiates with the display of a large lighted arrow. Then it zooms out into flashy restaurant signs and a woman, dressed in sexy clothes, dancing in the front. The arrows are pointed at the words “Drive In” and “Hot Cakes” and also indirectly at the girl. Entering a different scene in roller skates, two waitresses gyrate around a car as they pretend to take Timberland and Timberlake’s order. Then, the service turns into a French maid theme. This provocative music video commercializes female body for the viewers to consume.
Wearing revealing clothes, the female dancers project women as the image of sexual promiscuity. In the opening, the girl is dressed in sexy lingerie and dances in a dark setting in front of neon lights. It resembles a brighter image a prostitute standing in a street corner posing for cars or pedestrians who pass by. Then my impression changed into a nightclub with lights beaming everywhere and music pumping. But girls dancing in lingerie suggests strip club. In the drive in scene, the two waitresses are wearing swimsuit like outfits that shed a lot of skin to their lower body. The blond girl in particular roller-skates across the camera and makes a twirl to flaunt her legs and booty. There are wide varieties of French Maid customs, but in the music video, they are sleeveless to the point where a portion of the breasts are revealed. Hence, the customs are an innuendo for sex role play.
The sexually suggestive choreography of the dancers feminizes women. The dancers demonstrate that women have equal authority to sexual power through seductive movements. In 0:32 the women in tight leather pants rotates her hips in circular motion. In 0:49, the woman pops and lock but shown from her back side. The girl in 1:50 demonstrates sexy and strong best because her dance appears powerful and her movements aren’t restricted. In general, the choreography consists of hip shaking, hand movements across their chest area and the V region, and pop and locks while crouching down. I’m not convinced when I said sexy and strong and sexual equality. It has been in my knowledge to believe that seduction is a feminine form of power (like Cleopatra). But sexy and powerful sounded like an oxymoron when talking about the dancers in this music video.
Timberland and Justin Timberlake do not have to dance half naked to demonstrate their strength or exercise their power and right to sex. They simply take control of their masculinity through the commands of their lyrics.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/timbaland/carryout.html link to lyric
“Baby get my order right, no errors” From this short selection of the lyrics, Timberlake refers to women as baby and uses command form in his rap. The rap shows male dominance and insinuates the servitude of women. “Imma touch you in all the right areas” “Girl, deliver that to me, come see me” Here, Timberlake raps confidently about his ability to please the girls in the video. Then he commands the girl to deliver her body to him because he can fulfill her sexual desires. “I’ll have you open all night like an IHOP” Objectifying the girls in the video as material, like the restaurant IHOP, Timberland is assumed to have possession of the girls and can access them any time he wants. The masculine lyrics imply male dominance in sex. Unlike the dancers, Timberland and Timberlake do not have to dress revealing clothes and dance seductively to show their sexual prowess.
Instead, they dress in hip urban clothes, accessories, and tuxedos to express class appeal. From head to toe, Timberland wears a black cap, sunglasses, black jacket, a white shirt, a chain, blue jeans, and a pair of white kicks. On the other hand, Justin Timberlake wears white cap and jacket and dark shirt, jeans and shoes. I’m not sure about the reason for such contrast. Maybe it is an appeal for racial diversity. The video has a fair share of white, black and Latina dancers. Anyways, Timberland and Timberlake have shown swagger and confidence in those outfits. A shift from the young and hip clothes, they appear to wear a suit and a tuxedo during the French maid theme. Individually, they are seated in a chair which can be presumed as a throne. The maids are serving cupcakes and are giving other kinds of service like touching, whispering in Timberland’s ear, and eating a cherry. The vulgarity does not spell the upper class that their clothes seem to suggest. Visually, it looks like fantasy dedicated to working class men. The video appeals to their pleasure for women, food, and wealth.
The music video makes an analogy of women to food in service of erotic fantasy for heterosexual men. The neon restaurant-like signs consist of arrows and the words “Drive In” and “Hot Cakes.” The arrows root from the “Drive In” and leads to “Hot Cakes.” The sexual innuendo implies that the dancers in the video (or particular parts of their body) is the hot cake and men can drive into it. When, Timberland and Timberlake are in the car, one waitress bends over and the other bends down to take order. After assembling their position, the blond girl puts on a porn star expression as she puts her fingers in her mouth (maybe there was whip cream in her hand) and the other one bites her finger and nods in satisfaction. The waitresses act like they’re a delicious dessert on the menu, and the men in the car should order them. Other scenes include French maids serving cupcakes, a woman playing with a cupcake and a girl eating cheesecake.
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