Justin Timberlake's new single is here. In "Supplies," the 36-year-old R&B singer becomes a resistance fighter in a not-so-distant future.
After channeling Steve Jobs in "Filthy," the father of one continues to explore the future in the second single from his new album, Man of the Woods. The four-minute video directed by Dave Meyers (the man behind Camila Cabello's "Havana") also features Timberlake's constant collaborator Pharrell Williams.
Dystopian Future
"Supplies" begins with Timberlake sitting in the middle of an empty room and staring at a wall stacked with TV screens. Playing on each screen were footages of U.S. President Donald Trump, recently disgraced Hollywood figures Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, the #MeToo movement, police brutality, and protests against racism.
The video, then, cuts out in daylight where Timberlake confronts people dressed and painted in white who were harassing a woman wearing an all-black outfit. The woman, played by Eiza Gonzalez of Baby Driver and From Dusk Till Dawn, punches one of her harassers then she and the singer walk away hand in hand.
Timberlake and Gonzalez go around the city burning a pyramid of money, creating an army of rebels, and basically creating chaos. Amid all these, however, they still have time to take their clothes off and make out.
The video ends with Timberlake waking in an orange-tinted post-apocalyptic world reminiscent of Blade Runner 2049. A group of kids appears to address the audience.
"Just leave," a young girl tells the camera. "Die already. You're still asleep! Wake up! Just leave, please. We're good."
Immediate Backlash
The video portrays a "woke" Timberlake who is aware and is fighting social injustices. While fellow artists have condemned Woody Allen, the singer-turned-actor was silent about the child abuse accusation against the renowned director. Timberlake stars in Allen's new movie Wonder Wheel.
Mia Farrow, Allen's adopted daughter, accused the director of sexually assaulting her in their home when she was 7 years old and he was 32.
"I was taken to a small attic crawl space," Farrow said in a new interview. "He instructed me to lay down on my stomach and play with my brother's toy train that was set up, and he sat behind me in the doorway. And, with the toy train, I was sexually assaulted."
Greta Gerwig, Timothée Chalamet, Rachel Brosnahan, Ellen Page, and more actors have publicly stated that they regret working with the four-time Academy Awards winner.
Allen has vehemently denied the allegations.
Justin Timberlake is out here pretending he's made peace with Janet Jackson and wearing Time's Up pins while being in Woody Allen moves, but we "woke" now? Sir...
— Ira Madison III (@ira) January 18, 2018
So Justin Timberlake is apparently trying to give us male ally/woke pop in his new song/video, Supplies.
— ithl123 (@ithl123) January 18, 2018
Justin's recent actions:
- Working with Woody Allen
- Fully embracing his white male privilege agreeing to perform at the Superbowl while Janet Jackson is STILL banned. pic.twitter.com/IuD7E4PP8m
Now imagine that instead of watching footage of activism, Justin Timberlake was watching footage of himself in that Woody Allen film. pic.twitter.com/GhBAiPZYz2
— Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) January 18, 2018
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
