Behind the Britney

After doing my various chores for the evening yesterday, I sat down and watched the "World Premiere" of the Behind the Music episode about Britney Spears.

Yikes. I'm not sure who this thing was aimed at: The hordes of teenaged Britney fans, whose parents may have let them stay up 'til 10pm to watch the whole thing, or the adults who lust after the "no longer a girl, not yet a woman." The program followed a slight twist from the standard BtM formula, presumably because the subject is still performing, unlike the usual has-been fare. We open after each commercial break with five minutes of the present, as Britney prepares for the release of her newest album, then switch to the standard biographical travelogue, without the classic "But all good things come to an end" climactic downturn moment.

I wouldn't call myself a fan of either Britney or Behind the Music. But it was clear to me that the former (or, more likely, her management) had an unusual degree of control and oversight of the latter. I'm pretty sure the Spears team saw this as a way to promote the new album above all else, and insisted on the heavy concentration on the present. There was so much focus on the new album, in fact, that the biographical stuff felt rushed or glossed over (not that it isn't usually, but even more so) to make room for more clips of Britney's surprise performance in Las Vegas, etc. But whatever; it's not like the show was some high-brow cultural document.

It was interesting to hear Britney talk about her admiration for Madonna. I wondered early on whether she might be patterning her career off the Material Girl, and I'm sure the reactions to Britney from people my age and older are very similar to those garnered by Madonna 20 years ago. Following that theory we should, I suspect, see a maturing from Ms. Spears, followed by a critical and cultural acceptance as she delves into more sophisticated musical styles and subject matter. Hopefully we won't have to put up with Madonna-esque publicity stunts, however. I expect to see a pop-culture studies masters thesis on the subject soon.

For some reason, the entire time I've been writing this, I've had Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" going through my head.

Posted by Andrew Huff at November 10, 2003 02:44 PM