I Want My MTV Blog #2: Pretty in Pink, and Miami

I am no expert on Enrique Iglesias music videos, but based on the three that are in constant rotation at the treadmills of the rocking New York Sports Club, they basically seem to follow the same format as John Hughes' films from the 80's with Enrique as a tanned Spanish male version of Molly Ringwald; the Miami club scene subbing for the high school proms of suburban Chicago; and instead of The Psychedelic Furs you get, well, Enrique. And like Ringwald's pretty-in-pink characters, Iglesias yearns for acceptance from his peers and love from a gorgeous would-be soulmate, batting his impossibly long eye lashes while catchy dance-pop plays in the background.

My favorite of this trilogy of pulsating videos is "Finally Found You" from 2014's profoundly titled "Sex and Love" (in that order). Here we get the epic story of a childhood friendship filled with longing and anguish, accentuated by swirling camera moves and slow-motion running. Flashforward to present-day Enrique, ready to take a chance again on love with his perfectly coiffed Bed Head-hair and slim-fitting jeans, driving into downtown Miami for a chance encounter with his childhood crush (who now resembles Denise Richards circa 1995). They whole thing plays like a random intersection in a Kieslowski film, without all of the hidden depth, political complexity, and themes of mortality -- though the lovers do risk a steamy club bathroom rendezvous that could only take place in pre-Giuliani NYC. Once they find each other, Enrique even indulges in some tasteful European art-house nudity so be sure to stick it through to the end and have your thumb ready to freeze-frame. (it's a refreshing antidote to the majority of videos featuring scantily clad women gyrating behind male singers bragging about their salaries and jet planes, so perfectly satirized by Amy Schumer's "Milk Milk Lemonade".)