As J. Lo further indicates that in order to have a toned and wrinkle-free body like hers at the age of fifty-one, you must be descended from the heavens, she opts to open “In the Morning” with a scene of her falling from the sky. While she doesn’t have angel wings (from her go-to, Mother Plucker Feather Company) until she hits the ground for some reason, naturally, the fact that she has them at all is for you to make the correlation that she must be heaven-sent. Or rejected, depending on how you look at it. A close-up on her arm reveals the inscription, “And she loved a little boy very very much even more than she loved herself.” Sounds a bit pedo, but okay. We can assume it’s either an A-Rod or God (hey, that rhymes) reference.
In the next scene, Lopez is all couture’d out in what looks like a futuristic, space-age (in The Jetsons spirit) gown but is actually a Graham Cruz top with a coordinating Lever Couture skirt. Because why not? And why not also complement the aesthetic with her version of a “baby hair” pressed and curled like some sort of villainous flourish to her forehead? Things then take a watery, baptismal turn as she also appears as a mermaid, later floating sans “tail” in the water and, at another point, simply walking into it. At the same time, some other version of her is also walking through a cloudy-like landscape in the buff, complete with her white angel wings and a chandelier added to the set for further dramatic measure (it is, very clearly, an upgraded take on the Notorious–the magazine not the adjective–photoshoot she did with Tony Duran in 1999).
The angel persona is the most overpowering one of the video until we see that her New Year’s Eve performance look all makes sense now, as it’s the same over the top (literally) getup she wore then (a Valentino feathered concoction that helps makes her look like a decadent human layer cake), complete with the cage-like mask/headpiece (by Marianna Harutunian) that seems like a more couture-ified version of what Hannibal Lecter might wear.
In between there are other looks showcased in different “settings” as well, all decidedly manufactured (who needs the natural world in this day and age anyway?). This includes a “hall of walls” with very grandma-inspired wallpaper motifs as J. Lo, now Kardashian-ified in a blonde blunt cut wig and form-fitting white gown, just stands there and makes butterflies swarm out of and around her. Elsewhere, she also appears in the curled hair look of the “Play” video era (not to mention the aforementioned Duran shoot) while wearing a jeweled “number” (more specifically, a crystal dress from Augusto Manzanares). But for the most part, she’s lying or squatting nude with her angel wings (not just a means to parade her body, but because one should, as J. Lo declared of the theme, “Grow your own wings and walk away from anyone or anything that doesn’t truly value all you have to offer”).
As the video draws to a close, she proceeds to “wipe away” the inscription we previously saw at the beginning. Are we to take this to mean that she’s suddenly unearthed some newfound sense of agency? That she presently loves herself more than whatever “little boy” she was talking about (and actually, that epithet does sound like it could be interpreted as belittling). Who knows? We’re not really meant to glean much, other than the fact that J. Lo can still very much rock a look while placed against any backdrop.
But, just in case one needed confirmation of the theory, Lopez did remark of the concept, “It’s full of symbolism about a dark one-sided relationship and the realization that you can’t change anyone else… you can only change yourself.” Is that what she extrapolated from this one long, glorified fashion show? We’ll take it.
