Watch: Justin Timberlake tried too hard to be ‘woke’ in his new video. Now, he’s facing the backlash
Apparently, the pop star’s ‘supplies’ are going to save the world from sexism, racism, greed, Donald Trump and the Illuminati.
Whenever Justin Timberlake wasn’t making music, he clearly spent all the time watching dystopian movies like Blade Runner 2049, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Hunger Games. No wonder he decided to combine the themes and aesthetics of all those movies with every hot socio-political trend in a desperate bid to remain relevant.
The result: Timberlake’s music video (above) for his song Supplies.
Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Donald Trump, #MeToo, police violence, immigration policies, racism, sexism – they’re all in there. Also, floating umbrellas, and “all white” people and albino crocodiles harassing a woman dressed in all black. Enter Timberlake, the “woke” saviour, ready to jump to her rescue.
All the while, he sings his grandiose claims:
“I’ll be the light when you can’t see
I’ll be the wood when you need heat
I’ll be the generator, turn me on when you need electricity
Some sh*t’s ‘bout to go down
I’ll be the one with the level head
The world can end now
Baby, we’ll be living in The Walking Dead
’Cause I got supplie-ie-ies”
Is Timberlake implying he is humanity’s saviour, because hey, he’s got “supplie-ie-ies” or, rather, is the supplies.
Unsurprisingly, the video has got some (no, a lot) of backlash. A Twitter critic called it “The Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad of music videos”, while another suggested it’s Timberlake’s way of “rebranding himself as a male ally”.
Just made a coworker watch that new Justin Timberlake "Supplies" video, to make her experience the awful with me. Her feedback: "It's like the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad of music videos." I agree.
— Sam Sanders (@samsanders) January 18, 2018
Justin Timberlake's new music video is literally him rebranding himself as a male ally pic.twitter.com/AY1UZ4cHQa
— Morgan A Baila (@morganbaila) January 18, 2018
Guys I’ve watched the new Justin Timberlake video a couple times today... I just get more confused with each viewing. What’s his message? Is his statement just ALL THE STATEMENTS? What do any of these visuals have to do with a song that is pretty clearly just about sex? Help me
— Mike Ryan⛓ 🙌🏽⛓ (@MichaelRyanRuiz) January 18, 2018
I just watched that new Justin Timberlake video all the way through and didn't die. Ask me anything.
— Sam Sanders (@samsanders) January 18, 2018
justin timberlake standing over the cauldron: a hint of social justice.....a dash of blade runner 2049 cinematography...a pinch of weird outfits...and a handful of the banksy twitter account
— Kevin Harvey: international assassin (@GraceSpelman) January 18, 2018
i can’t believe JT is gonna end racism with supplies, MLK is shaking pic.twitter.com/DuKK9gtdje
— マーク (@donthoIdthewaII) January 18, 2018
Also the music has NOTHING to do with the video. It's like when you take a sexy selfie and then make your caption about how Jesus loves all the children of the world
— Salina (@sadolphy) January 18, 2018
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