I think that she knows.

[phamos]

I've been watching old videos of Britney performing at the VMAs, and I'm sad.  I'm so sad that this girl, who was once so vital, energetic, athletic, was basically chewed up and spit back out.  No one ever prepared her for adulthood -- not that that's an excuse, but she just never had a chance.  We kinda wanted her to fail, because she represented so much of what is wrong with the American music industry.  I was always ranting about how Britney got to be a famous singer even though she (empirically) couldn't sing any better than about 90% of the girls at any given karaoke bar.  But she did have talent -- not that she was such an amazing dancer, either, because she wasn't.  But she could command a stage, better than any other performer of her generation.  She wasn't the prettiest girl, and she wasn't the most talented girl.  But she had some sort of indefinable star quality.  I don't know if that charisma is worth the gazillion dollars that got thrown at her.  Probably not.  But it was obvious about 5 years ago that this was where the girl was going to end up, and we all watched, and we waited.  Britney's entire life was a car crash in slow motion, and we rubbernecked for the better part of a decade.

This is my favorite fan video of the day.

Comments

[this-monograph.livejournal.com]

i completely agree with you. thank you for posting this.

did you see some the commentary on feministing? here's the link for comments: http://feministing.com/archives/007707.html#comments

i thought this was a very good analysis of the "britney debacle":

Instead of applauding her for even getting up the guts to go do it, we slam her because she is fat, off kilter, and clearly uncomfortable. If we look at her outside of the ideal, she is struggling like the rest of us to deal with the bipolar of modernity--living reality while presenting an ideal. Unfortunately for Brit Brit, she is incapable of presenting the ideal, and so, we eat her alive...

I found that the fact that women are just disposable objects who are conditioned to cultivate external approval rather than internal was also highlighted by Brit Brit's Ex, Timberlake. As a man, he does not have to conform to bust-waist-hip measurements. His success was not based so much on how sexy he was, and so, perhaps he has not been tricked into basing all his self-worth on how his breasts and belly button look.

Maybe Brit Brit (like millions of other women) has been unable to make the transition from Boy Toy to a real, feeling human, and can't handle the pressure of being forced continually into the limited role of sex object. While Timberlake, like the Rolling Stones (not to compare music) can probably go on singing on stage until he is in his 60s, Brit Brit is realizing that only her body matters--never mind her courage for even stepping out on stage.

So many of us our struggling with this bipolar society, and Brit Brit brought it home for me last night.

amen, sista.

Oh, Britney! Where does it hurt?

[carbonatedbabe.livejournal.com]

Britney Spears' handlers turned a country teenager into a sex symbol. They never expected the country teenager turned sex symbol to ever change. Now she's just stuck.

Britney Spears will never again enjoy the level of success she once did. Pop music is dead. Even Justin Timberlake has changed with the times. He has a successful career which we all respect.

Britney Spears has yet to find her purpose. She's failing miserably in her attempts to recreate her former studio created self. Britney Spears hasn't yet done the work that will help her become her true self.

Britney Spears needs a personal growth coach. That would mean dropping out completely. Her people realize Britney Spears will risk no longer being relevant if she disappears to do this work. They will keep her out there no matter what. Even her failures make them rich.

[sybz.livejournal.com]

Britney was popular because she was dumb white jailbait pussy. Now she's a pretty gross mother of two. It's basically that simple.