00:00
So J Lo is back in the news and her new
00:02
film and album just dropped and they were a flop.
00:07
Her new album. This is me now,
00:09
only sold 8000 units its first week and she had to self
00:14
fund but the budget of $20 million of her new movie.
00:19
This is me now after funding fell through brother.
00:24
What do you think of that trailer?
00:26
The trailer was a little cringey.
00:29
It just seemed like her love story but like with like
00:32
a Mad Max like action packed thriller element to it.
00:36
I love J Lo but the trailer did come off as a
00:40
perfume commercial. I mean to me,
00:44
I started perfume like,
00:46
like your like, I don't know it was that,
00:49
that's the vibe I got.
00:51
I love J Lo but that's the vibe I got.
00:53
But yeah, so I agree,
00:55
I see that but to help us understand what's going on.
01:00
We have Professor Jillian Hernandez,
01:03
author of Aesthetics of Excess,
01:05
the art and politics of Black and Latina embodiment.
01:12
Thank you for having me.
01:13
Thank you. For coming on.
01:15
What do you think about her recent performance with the album?
01:18
And people claiming that she kind of again is a,
01:21
has been quote unquote.
01:24
I think J Lo will always be a cultural force at this
01:28
point. She's very well established in the cultural landscape.
01:33
But I do think there are ways in which she hasn't really
01:37
responded to a lot of the evolution that's taken place in Latinx
01:44
popular culture over the last few years,
01:47
she's just not capturing our imaginations in the same way that other
01:53
figures are doing. There's a way where in Puerto Rican culture
01:57
like we're really talking particularly right now about,
02:02
you know, figures like bad bunny or,
02:04
you know, maybe there's ways to incorporate more pero into her
02:07
music. Like that's something that people are really into.
02:10
So I think our imaginations are being captured by the Tosha out
02:15
there. And I think that although I think clearly for her
02:20
there's a lot of personal investment and reflection and it's amazing
02:25
that she has the resources to do it on her own.
02:28
I think that's really great,
02:31
but I just don't think those are the topics that audiences are
02:36
interested in right now.
02:37
Where do you see her evolution?
02:39
Because I know like with Shakira,
02:41
it's like, you know,
02:42
she reinvented herself in her music,
02:46
you know, after what happened with Pique.
02:48
So what do you think is J Lo,
02:50
where is her evolution going?
02:53
I would be interested in her,
02:55
like really claiming the ways that like she took up this very
03:01
urban Latina identity and brought it to the mainstream.
03:06
And I do think that that's something that would be really interesting
03:09
But I feel like right now she's been so incorporated into
03:14
like larger fashion culture and like very mainstream culture that that's not
03:19
happening as much anymore.
03:20
Like I do think the Super Bowl from a few years ago
03:23
was an interesting moment of like her and Shakira and bad bunny
03:28
the way that they were subtly referencing the Trump administration's separation
03:34
of families and detention of Children.
03:36
So I think more of that would be something that I think
03:40
would be welcome with someone with her platform.
03:43
Do you feel like this movie is like,
03:44
you know, one of her most important pieces of work or
03:46
is it like a midlife crisis like what's going on?
03:49
Because I mean, I don't know,
03:51
it's all day. I mean,
03:53
the comments again, I'm just like,
03:56
people just seem to again,
03:58
they don't let her catch a break.
04:00
I do think it's like very personal and I almost think that
04:04
perhaps it should be treated almost like an art piece or something
04:08
But I think part of it is her personal affairs
04:12
have been like so public,
04:14
you know, her marriages,
04:15
her various marriages, her various famous boyfriends like P Diddy and
04:21
it's hard for us to relate to like,
04:23
what does that do to your sense of self?
04:25
And then if you add on the layer of being,
04:28
you know, a Latina from a working class background and everything
04:32
like that, I think we haven't really seen something like this
04:36
before. I'm really eager to see it and just sort of
04:40
come up with more theories around what might be happening.
04:43
But I think it's something deeply personal so it might be a
04:46
midlife crisis moment, but good for her that she's able to
04:51
be like, you know what,
04:52
I'll just pay for this myself.
04:54
Thank you so much Jillian.
04:56
We really appreciate you coming on.
04:58
Is there anything you want to plug in like your social
05:01
handles where people can find you?
05:03
Yes, absolutely. You can find me on Instagram at Paste
05:09
Lito Cookie and I have a youtube channel.
05:13
I'm developing a youtube podcast featuring Femmes of color called Fem Studies
05:19
So if you Google me,
05:21
that should come up for you as well.
05:24
Yay. Awesome. Thank you so much.
05:26
We appreciate you being on the show.
Series