Textual Analysis of 'Toxic' by Britney Spears

Britney Spears - Toxic

This is the chosen video we analysed in class.

The music video to ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears includes a lot of voyeurism and Britney is sexualised to be treated like an object. This attracts the male audience as the video focuses on her looks and her body.

Britney has a range of looks in the video, including scenes where she has blonde, brown and even red hair. She is seen as a sexy air hostess, in fancy dress costume and also a more rebellious girl on a motorbike. By having a range of looks, this means more male audiences will be attracted to her and watch the video as it caters for all. The revealing diamond costume is purposely put in to please the male audience who are part of the target audience for this video.

 

 

Rapid editing is used to match the fast beat of the song and keep the audience interested by switching from a variety of scenes. The narrative of this music video shows Britney having power over the men and having control. She is seen kissing a variety of men and then taking advantage of them by stealing things from their pocket and poisoning them.

 

There are many close ups of Britney’s face as the aim of the music video is to promote the artist. Many long shots are shown to reveal the whole of Britney’s body and to show her flexibility through dance moves during the laser scene.

 

Here is the music video to 'Toxic' by Britney Spears: