Thursday, September 13, 2007

Britney Spears

I'm gonna rant a little.

Helen here, in case you hadn't immediately figured that out :)

Did anyone see the Britney Spears performance at the MTV awards on Tuesday night? I didn't, but boy did I hear about it the next morning. The media was ALL over Britney's comeback performance, completely dissing her moves, her song and her appearance.

First off, I'm not a Britney fan, and the outfit she chose for the MTV performance left a lot to be desired. As in fabric. Hello, coulda used a little more of it. But I honestly resent all the crap they gave her about weight gain. Give the poor woman a break. She's had two kids in a relatively short period of time. Women, in particular, seemed to be the biggest blasters.

First we complain about how skinny the supermodels are, then we complain about the bit o' jiggle on a singer. What's the matter with us? When did we get so rude? And what is up with our fascination for celebrities?

15 comments:

Keri Ford said...

Hey Helen! I've been keeping up with the Britany thing because I had been a fan hers before she took a float trip down Trash River.

I'd been back and forth over the thoughts of her weight gain until I came across an article (sorry, don't have the link). They'd talked about while no, the girl isn't fat, but she built her entire career around being a sexual image. She had given everybody that image and that's what we expect to see.

And as I read somewhere else, when you wear something like in front of the world, you're just asking for people to point out every little flaw.

And yes, I get she's had two kids and the hell a baby puts on your body. I'm still battling my figure and trying to get it back under control, but do I run around in my underwear for the world to see? No. I don't think so.

While the performance was a train wreck (didn't see it live, saw a version on internet), it wouldn't have been AS bad if she'd have LOOKED decent.

Kathleen Eagle said...

I'm with Keri on this one. I didn't see the show, but, of course, I've seen the clips. We're told that Brit refused to wear the costume they had planned for her because it "wasn't sexy enough." What they should have done was pull her from the lineup. She was obviously off her game. She wasn't singing. She wasn't dancing--she was staggering. Young people watch this girl for whatever reason, and lately the entertainer (athletes included) role models have been blasting themselves off the pedestals on a weekly basis. Maybe this is a good thing. Being a hero must be harder than being green.

I've heard several commentators say that Brit chose the wrong outfit "for her figure." I think she chose the wrong outfit for the occasion, period. Okay for a day at the beach, maybe. But no matter where she wore it, it wasn't going to look good on her for the same reason it wouldn't look good on most women. If they're saying "fat," that's wrong. You're right, Helen, them's fightin' words. But Brit looked terrible. Hope the kids understand what they really saw. The poor woman is self-destructing before their very eyes, thanks to a host of excesses.

What I resent it the number of media minutes devoted to this story. It shouln't be any more than a bit of filler on a slow news day.

Michele Hauf said...

Here, here on the minutes devoted to this story. We know Britney is self-destructing. Must it be played out before the nation's children (some who may still worship her as a pop idol)? I think the woman needs to dissapear for a few years and just be a person. I don't think she's ever had opportunity for that.

But the story that really kills me is DannyLynn, the poor little rich girl whose mother is Anna Nicole Smith. Have you seen the news coverage on this one year old's first birthday. What's the sense in that? I fear already she's going to become this media 'thing', and she'll never be able to outrun it unless someone takes her away from it and allows her to grow up as a normal little girl.

Very sad.
M

Anonymous said...

I feel sorry for Britney for all the bad stuff people are saying about her. That being said, she is putting herself out there for people to talk about her. I get that she had 2 kids in under 2 years. I know it takes time for your body to recover...some never do. But if you are going to dress in a leather bikini on MTV, dance(I guess it was dancing) "sing" in front of everyone, you will have to be prepared for what is said about you. I think it is wrong for people to call her fat or a pig(saw it on msn this morning), but she also could have dressed in a sexy outfit that wasn't belly baring to cover up some of her baby weight. Best thing that could happen to Britney right now is to get out of the public eye for an extended period time and focus on her health and her children before it is too late.

Liza

Unknown said...

I've always thought Britney was a little strange-- the wide-eyed schoolgirl routine coupled with the "do me now" lyrics and gyrations. . . a little too much for me. But it's clear that all the emphasis on making her entire life a "performance" has left her unable to cope as a human being and for that I'm truly sorry. She's the poster child for arrested development.

The most heartbreaking part is her failure at the one thing she stated publicly was most important to her: having and valuing a family. I so want to call her up and take her out for coffee and talk some compassion and some sense to her. She needs a MOM in the worst way. And she's like a two-year-old throwing tantrums at everyone who tries to help or advise her.

She needs a manager that she trusts and who is worthy of that trust. . . somebody to keep tabs on reality and point her toward it again and again. If that doesn't happen soon, she could end up the next Norma Jean.

As for the clothes, the VMA performance. . . I winced watching it. It was terrible in every sense of the word. And it wasn't her weight, it was her deadened spark and spirit that made it so cringe-worthy to me. She looks half dead inside. Made me want to go light a candle for her.

Maybe a collapse of the artificial sex-kitten Britney has to happen before the woman Britney can emerge.

Debra Dixon said...

I'm very irritated at the fat comments. I share some jiggle with Britney and think to myself, Geez! I'd like to look like her. I'd be thrilled.

However, to me, the insistence on wearing that costume and the sub-par performance just points out the real problem--Britney has failed to mature, as an artist, as a woman. She's failed to find any identity beyond "jail bait."

Life has a rhythm and Britney has failed to catch that. Sure she's build a career on being a teen sex symbol but she's missed the chance to broaden her brand, to embrace all the different ways there are to be sexy.

I think the media coverage is ridiculous. I deleted a long rant here. (g)

Helen Brenna said...

Well. Glad I opened that can of worms! LOL

Everyone makes excellent points. She does need a mom, and she needs to BE a mom.

Ditto about too much news coverage.

And OMG, Michele, the DannyLynn thing kills me. I'm guessing they're in it for the money. Either that or her dad can't stand being away from the camera. Either way, that kids heading for tragedy.

Yvonne Lindsay said...

Betina I totally agree with you on the 'Norma Jean' comment with respect to Britney. My teenage girls and I have watched in horror at the train wreck her public life has become.

I saw, on news clips, her performance and I really wonder at the objective of her 'managers'. I almost get the feeling she was set up to fail, and fail excrutiatingly publicly. She didn't even look like she was all there, or as if she knew what she was supposed to be doing.

My kids used to like her (sort of) clean but sexy teen image, but heck, she's grown up, she's a mother, she needs to reinvent her style to be something she's comfortable with.

And for the record, while she might be a bit chunkier than she used to be I'd be thrilled if I were her size, but you wouldn't see me dead in that outfit. It's all about image isn't it?

I said to my girls that the thing that worries me the most about what appears to be Britney's self destructive behaviour is that as her boys grow up, these are the images that will be thrown at them by the media. These are the images that people will remember. And is that fair or reasonable?

Nonny Blackthorne said...

No clue.

It pisses me off though, because that poor girl can never get a break. No matter what she does. That's got to be tough, having the media watching your every move and if you fuck up, broadcasting it all over the place.

As for her weight -- hah! I'd kill to be that slim. Fat, my ass. (er. well.)

Christie Ridgway said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't think she looked "fat." I don't think she even looked like she'd had 2 kids recently. But the outfit was plain ugly. If she'd been showing that much skin on the beach in a regular kind of bikini I would have said she looks great.

I watched some men on TV laughing at her body and I wanted to smack 'em. Let's put them in a Speedo that's crawling up their butt and see how lovely their bodies are to look at.

In the meantime, I feel like getting into the Halloween candy that I bought yesterday! Bad me!

Kathleen Eagle said...

Betina, I wish one of Brit's people would be poking around on the 'net right about now and stumble across your offer. They would read some of your posts, give your people a call, realize that you're the answer to their prayers and fly you out to la-la land. Just meeting you would do Brit a world of good. Ah, but that's only the beginning of the story. A week later you'd be back in the real world, and you'd get a call. A small, teary voice, a lonely female voice...

Has this story been done? We might be onto something. I've got a title! SAVING PUBLIC BRITTANY

Seriously, Brittany should be so lucky as to share a little tea with Betina.

Helen Brenna said...

Yvonne, interesting point. Sometimes ya gotta wonder about the whole bad publicity is better than good. That'd be sad.

Nonny, no fucking up allowed, I guess!

Christie, exactly. Smack 'em all!!

Ain't Betina the answer to ALL our prayers, Kathy? We love our Betina!!

Unknown said...

Awww, you guys. I'm blushin' here.


:) Betina

bettye griffin said...

Okay. I'm no pop culture expert, but I think part of the problem was that this was billed as a "comeback" performance (I'm not all that familiar with her, did she take time off to have kids or something?) After that lackluster performance - and because it was a slow news day - it was all over the news on Monday.

As for her figure, she would have looked very nice if she'd chosen a less revealing outfit. She's not fat by any means, but nor is she fit enough to wear that bikini!

Helen Brenna said...

Not much of a comeback, you're right, Betty. Wouldn't it be interesting if there were no news, for the news stations to go silent???