Beyonce, taking a cue from the porn industry, is forgoing traditional music industry protocol and releasing her newest album directly onto the internet: porn shops and record stores are quickly becoming a thing of the past. And, for Beyonce, the gamble has paid off: her new self-titled effort has become the fastest-ever seller on iTunes with more than 800,000 downloads in its first three days. In addition to the fourteen song tracks, the album also includes a short film and accompanying music videos for each single. Of particular note, is the video for “Haunted,” in which Beyonce pays homage to Madonna and her ground-breaking porno-as-art mini-movie “Justify My Love.” But, most surprisingly, Beyonce employed shock-photographer Terry Richardson to direct the album’s “XO” video feature. According to a preface in his own book: “Richardson took 1970s porn aesthetic and made it fashion chic.” Richardson’s attempt to remake porn into art is so extreme that some models refuse to work with him. For example, in his monograph “Terryworld” (2004) the book includes photos of oral sex; a nude model wearing a “slut” crown while riding a bike; a young man appearing to hang by a belt from a door; models urinating in the snow; a young woman with a large gold ball stuffed into her vagina; a man with a toothbrush in his rectum; and Richardson with his teeth on a tampon string while it is inside a model’s vagina. Beyonce follows Richardson’s visual style and strives to push the boundaries with her music imagery which features hardcore cage-dancing, mock strip-shows, models constantly in the doggie position, endless flashes of derrieres, and a reenactment of The Pieta. Although, the videos are well shot, the choreography interesting, and Beyonce is an undeniably beautiful woman – the entire project is just a very expensive porn film. Yet, Beyonce has succeeded in recreating how entertainment is delivered to the masses; like porn: it’s now direct, quick, and accessible. But unlike porn, it masquerades with the illusion of legitimacy, when in reality: it’s nothing but the same old peep-show.
