29. Destiny's Child - Independent Women (2000)

The transformations in female attitude that happened in the beginning of the decade could be felt in cinema as well. The teen movies that Hollywood produced at the time (the American Pie series and the likes) showed girls who are sexually loose, and independent in any other way as well. This after years when promiscuity was regarded as negating independence. This change enabled the revival of Charlie's Angels, the trio of sexy detectives from the seventies. When we watch the old TV series today, we see that their sexuality was indeed shown from a rather exploitative prism, because the sexual revolution of the sixties failed to release the Western psyche from some of its chauvinistic tendencies. But several decades later, Western culture has reached a point where we can once again celebrate female sexuality without fearing the exploitation of women, and Drew Barrymore, one of the young actresses who embodied the new spirit, decided to bring the Angels back to life on the big screen. The new Angels are sexy and sassy like the old ones, but they have as much skills as male action heroes, and are essentially female versions of James Bond. One of the fresh things in this movie was that the girls show a warm and positive attitude towards men, and enjoy using their sexuality to give them pleasure. We didn't see that from "liberated women" in movies in the two preceding decades.

The Destiny's Child girls were asked to write the theme song, and it fell on them in perfect timing, because the band just went through personal changes and turned from a quartet into a trio, and could project themselves on the Angels. This identification was also accompanied by a change in the attitude and style of the band. Their first album from 1999 created a new kind of R'n'B, a brilliant conflation of broken beats, strings and vocal harmonies, and male-bashing songs. Here, there is still a lot of the old style, but the rhythm is steadier and bouncier, allowing the vocals to be more driven and soulful, and the lyrics are still taunting men, but focus more on the woman herself, and the joy of being independent. Another small step on the road to full liberation.

Destiny's Child - Independent Women
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