 There are two different music videos for "American Life", the first of which was not released by Madonna. It was shot in the first week of February 2003 at Los Angeles Center Studios in Los Angeles, California by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund, who worked with Madonna in the videos for "Ray of Light" (1998) and "Music" (2000). Madonna had the idea for the music video in November 2002, then she and Åkerlund developed the idea to make an anti-war and anti-fashion mini-movie. With "American Life", she took her music videos to a different level by focusing on war, politics and, according to media interpretation, the then-upcoming invasion of Iraq. "It is an antiwar statement ..." she subsequently clarified, "but it's not necessarily against this war. At any given moment there's at least 30 wars going on in this world and I 'm against all of them." Shortly after it was filmed, Warner Bros. Records released a statement regarding the music video: "[The video] expresses a panoramic view of our culture and looming war through the view of a female superhero portrayed by Madonna. Starting as a runway show of couture army fatigues, the fashion show escalates into a mad frenzy depicting the catastrophic repercussions and horrors of war." An exclusive sneak peek of the video was available on VH1's program Backstage at the Grammys.
