Textual Analysis - Toxic by Britney Spears

Toxic – Britney Spears Music Video Analysis

The chorus lyrics of the song come from the other person’s perspective, in this case, it is the male(s) in the video. They’re essentially saying that Spears herself is toxic as seen in the video, however, it could also be taken the opposite way saying how Spears is killing the ‘toxic’ men. The line ‘Don’t you know that you're toxic?’ again could come from someone else’s point of view aimed at Spears but then could be seen as a rhetorical question or said by Spears herself to the male characters. The first line of the chorus ends by saying ‘I’m on a ride’ this links with the idea of the aeroplane, you ride an aeroplane. The lyric is linked with the video content. The entirety of the lyrics, however, could be taken in a completely different way and be a metaphor for the media. This song could be seen as a cry for help before her breakdown had fully developed. The media are toxic to those within the public eye, celebrities are highly scrutinised with anything they do.

The music is fast paced and has a clear pop genre with a hint of dance. The whole song is sung solely by Spears herself however at times there is clear auto tune. Spears is not well known for her vocal abilities she is average however her promiscuity and willingness to take risks is what makes her image work. The auto tune is made known, she is open to her audience knowing her voice isn’t up to par with peers like Mariah Carey. The fast-paced speed of the music can link with how quickly she is ‘going through men’ within the video. It also matches with the idea that a celebrity’s life is very quick and busy. The cuts throughout the video are sharp and jumpy again matching the tempo of the song.

The video is heavily choreographed with simplistic dance numbers for Spears and her co-workers to do within the performance scenes as well as the narrative ones. The entire genre of the music video is superhero/spy, DC Comics typed set up. This is shown by her driving through the city on the motorcycle with the city skyline in the background. She is also wearing a costume which could be considered something a woman superhero like Cat Woman would wear. The video not only appeals to her target audience of young girls as she is seen as a powerful character, but it also adheres to the idea of the male gaze. This is done using the costume, Spears was one of the first women in music to use a near nude suit within the video. It was and still is a very controversial topic. Her other outfits include a very short dress (used as an air hostess outfit), a spy disguise which has been slashed, this shows Spears’ midriff. Her hair colours change throughout, this could imply that there are many different sides to this character much like in a superhero film where they are really a normal person with superhuman abilities.

The camera is very much all on Spears for the full video. This is because she is the main focus of the video, she is the star. It is also following one of the main conventions of having the singer in the video. It is very common of the pop/dance genre for the artiste to be the centre of attention in their music videos. A lot of close-ups are used, this shows Spears’ facial expressions and follows another music video convention. Long shots have been used to show off her dancing and the background performers on the aeroplane however they’re kept to a minimum as they want it to be known that Spears is the key aspect of the video.

The editing matches the fast-paced beat of the song. The style is continuous, there isn’t really any slow parts to the song. The music video is in the pop genre so this is very conventional and predictable for an artiste like Spears. As mentioned before, like the music, the fast editing could symbolise the fact that she is fast in moving on from men.

There are various uses of intertextuality within the video, one of these is the similarities of the body suit with Holly Valence’s ‘Kiss Kiss’. Holly Valence at the time was also much like Spears, she was considered a good girl so caused waves of controversy when the video came out in 2002. Another reference to the spy/superhero character could have been one of the female heroines from the Magma comic strips. This could have influenced the black haired as well as the red-haired characters. As well as having intertextuality in her videos, this video has influenced other big artists in theirs. One of them being the music video for Bad Blood by Taylor Swift. The old 2003 TV programme ‘Alias’ was about an international spy who liked to dress up in different outfits to carry out her missions. This could be a character that Spears is playing, especially as the DVD cover looks exactly like her red-head character.

The narrative of the Toxic matches Steve Archer’s ideas of a music video. It adheres to the idea of having a performance section (in the near nude suit) where she can show her dancing and the narrative side (spy/superhero) where she displays herself as a female spy. The lip-syncing is also a major part of the performance side, this is very common in pop videos and some rock too.

As I have mentioned previously, before this came out, Spears was seen as a good girl, the princess of pop. However, this video was one that changed her image dramatically causing huge controversy and thus meaning she was treated differently. At the time, her publicity team would have loved all the media attention helping build her brand. The outfits within this video scream prostitute which were the opposite of before. Overall, all the extra media attention added to the pressures of growing up in the limelight, them causing her to completely lose herself. People now see Spears as crazy and don’t remember her when she was ‘normal’.

This video drastically adheres to the male gaze (the idea that a woman is acting the way she is for a male’s attention, made known by Mulvey). Spears is seen wearing skimpy outfits throughout the entirety of the video and the camera often cuts to her bare legs or cleavage. This shows Spears’ desire to capture the attention of males from a younger audience. However, she does control everything within the narrative of this video, this goes against the previous idea of a woman being needed by a man. Spears shows her power by killing the men when she no longer wants them anymore.