The 2013 MTV Music Video Awards have come and gone, and Justin Timberlake certainly made a splash at the event – being honored with a Vanguard Award, as well as performing what seemed like a 20-minute show all on his own. With six nominations under his belt, one of the accolades that the prolific crooner earned for the night was Video of the Year for his song ‘Mirrors,’ which happened to include a handful of questionable images and symbolism, including an all-seeing eye.
Timberlake originally released the song ‘Mirrors’ on February 11, 2013 as the second single from his third and most recent studio album titled ‘The 20/20 Experience.’ The pop hit centers on lyrics that describe the ‘other half’ of a lover who has decided to take a breather from a relationship. In response to the meaning behind the song, Timberlake was quoted as saying, “One of the most valuable things in a relationship is being able to constantly change and be individual, but look to the other side to the person that you’re with and know that they’re changing as well individually, but somehow you two can mirror each other and be the other half of that world that you both create.”
It’s no wonder that mirrors and the duality that they can sometimes represent plays an important role in the music video. We see Timberlake surrounded by funhouse mirrors while the storyline of his song unfolds and with his appearances throughout the video. And while the song and video are meant to display a loving tribute to the singer’s grandparents, as well as the love he holds for his wife, there are still pieces of imagery that intentionally or unintentionally make rather interesting statements.
In one of the scenes of the music video, a couple is seen at an event where in the background, you will spot a curious-looking decoration – a single eye (a nod to the Eye of Horus) that appears ‘illuminated’ or surrounded by lightning bolts.
In a scene depicting an elderly couple within a room setting, eagle eyes scanning the atmosphere have detected a goat head as part of the décor on the desk positioned in front of a mirror. This creature is used to represent Baphomet, which is the half-human and half-goat creature that Satanists are known to worship.
As for single-eye symbolism, Timberlake appears in the mirrored funhouse with one of his eyes appearing distorted is simply a sneaky way of inserting this type of imagery into his music video. In this same scene, take a look at his hand, and you will notice that he is forming a ‘666’ hand gesture. It seems that Timberlake has no problem displaying this same gesture in other public appearances, including photo shoots and album covers. For example, the cover art for ‘Magic’ shows the singer making the same ‘666’ gesture in an upwards position over one of his eyes – incorporating both all-seeing eye symbolism and the ‘666’ hand gesture.