Diane Martel, director of a multitude of iconic popclips of American pop, some as well known as ‘Genie in a Bottle’ by Christina Aguilera, ‘If i ain’t drop you’ by Alicia Keys, ‘We Can’t Stop’ by Miley Cyrus or her most controversial work, ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke; Other less remembered but that helped build the 2000 pop landscape, has died at 63 because of breast cancer. Martel died on September 18, but the news has been revealed now.
Martel worked with Mariah Carey during the 90s, directing the videos of ‘Dreamlover’ and ‘All I Want for Christmas is you’, among others, and was especially known for allying with hip-hop artists such as Method Man in ‘What’s Happening’, ll cool J in ‘4 3 2 1’, nas in ‘Bridging the gap’ or Eve in Girl? ‘
Also architect of less remembered videos but that you have surely seen, such as those of ‘Hold You Down’ by Jennifer Lopez, ‘Like I Love You’ by Justin Timberlake, ‘3’ by Britney Spears or ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ by Beyoncé, Martel continued his work in recent years collaborating with new generations of artists such as Charli XCX ( Afterstry ‘), The 1975 (‘ Give Yourself a Try ‘) or Addison Rae (‘ Obsesed ‘).
The ‘Blurred Lines’ video clip was harshly criticized for sexualizing women and contributed to the decline of Robin Thicke’s career. Martel defended the work, explaining that it was a satire around the misogyny of the lyrics of the song, and that their intention had been to place women “in a position of power” and they in a place of humiliation.
Martel was also creative director of the controversial performance of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke in the MTV Video Music Awards of 2013. His latest work, premiered this year, has been the video of ‘Ecstasy’ by Ciara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lruvu1mlwco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqbts6bip1e
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuzbfBQBSMC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n9PL3IZ3XC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkmm14qvkwg
