I really, really wish I had the time or the inclination to do a second-by-second analysis of Britney Spears’ new music video for “Hold It Against Me”. Alas, I do not. I will describe my first thoughts upon watching 30 seconds of the video: “So… a meteor… then Britney hawking her perfume line, I think… and Britney only dances on her top half while nothing happens below the waist… and Britney is a space-age Miss Havisham…?” Here’s the video:
Okay, stuff I like: I like her wig in the part where she’s dancing. I like Britney’s little white halter-bra thing for that part too. I like all of the cuts of her old videos too – that’s kind of cool. And I do like the song – compared to Gaga’s “Born This Way” I think “Hold It Against Me” is a better dance song.
Stuff I hate: I hate feeling so old, because these fast cuts are giving me a headache. I hate the “wedding dress”. I hate that they needed all of the fast cuts because Britney probably could only “perform” a few seconds at a time. And I hate the part where Britney is “fighting with herself”. Ugh.
the song isnt bad, but the entire video I felt like she’s trying to recapture to old Britney, or just rest on things that worked when she was younger and it was just stale. The fast cuts made it seem like they were trying to hide that she wasn’t really dancing and the only part I liked was when the dress got all colored, but it didn’t make much sense.
body double @ the beginning. & her new phrase should really be ‘my bored’ instead of ‘my bad’.
could she be anymore absent really.
Oh gawd this song is old and oh so generic…and what’s up with all jump cuts/edits every split second? perhaps to disguise the fact that Brit just doesn’t have it anymore!?
Keen – PRECISELY. Like there’s this TERROR over the idea of presenting a newer, grown-up Brit, so they revert back to recycled dance moves, recycled costumes……and it just reminds us how much she’s NOT the same as she was a decade ago.
Also – 2 gripes:
PRODUCT PLACEMENT, much? Ugh.
And would it KILL them to pencil in some decent eyebrows on the poor girl? Black eye makeup and bad fake lashes with no eyebrow balance makes her look like a confused little sheep. Which, I suppose, she is…..
Umm, I liked only the refrain.
Anyway too much advertisement XD wtf.
I hate her with the fake mole and the red-thing-dress. ugh.
like the pseudo-wedding dress.
Too much product placement in the video. And at one point you can actually see Sony’s logo flash on the screen pretty randomly.
Anyway, I don’t like the song either. I sort of wish mainstream artists these days would put out something a *little* different, but I guess not.
Oh yeah, the fighting part was lame.
Anyway it’s a nice dance song, not like Gaga’s -_- .
She looks so sad and exhausted. Just retire to the middle of nowhere and relax with your kids Brit.
Why don’t they just let the Britney machine die already? It’s obvious she’s not into it anymore and is just phoning it in because she has to since she’s a cash cow.
And um, this video sucks. A lot. What’s the point of that fight scene?
I never liked her or the entire pop music between 2000 and now but since her breakdown I feel pity for her and in this video it shows her eyes are dead and there is so much sadness in them. I don’t think she’ll ever really recover, they probably medicated her and push her into this to make money.
I thought this was a Sony ad.
.
Poor Brit, always looks so sad in the eyes. Must be the meds.
i think all that crazy shit in the video is what’s played out in her mind on a daily basis. poor thing.
Ugh…I like the song, too but not the video.
On a side note, with this Brit story, my daddy day care pic is complete (today’s stories of successful baby mamas and the Mr. Mom dads…K Fed, ballet K Fed, Model K Fed, Rocker K Fed)!
I like most of it, except for brit fighting with brit and the giant cupcake dress. She looks beautiful though!
I like the song much better with the video than on its own. And true, it’s much more danceable than gaga’s.
Overall I think the video is kind of amazing, really good, except for the product placement of course. She doesn’t have to resort to that with her money…
it’s dido’s ‘thank you’.
1) agree. she looks SO SAD. When does she ever really look happy anymore?? I wish her people/father would find it in their hearts to let the poor girl retire.
2) WAY too much product placement. Plenty of Fish? Sony? Makeup? etcetc omg–horrible. The dub-step breakdown was interesting part of the vid though.
transparent rips from the following vids:
~opening meteor from kanye’s ‘runaway’
~fingerpainting on crack from willow’s ‘whip your hair’
~tech support from madonna’s ‘rain’
~big floating white dress and missing eyes on dancers from madonna’s ‘bedtime stories (let’s get unconscious)’
~and of course the prerequisite stale janet jackson moves which a 1 week liquid fast would’ve made the moves alot more cleaner.
***************************
overall the song’s beat is a sped-up version is duran duran ‘tempted’ from red carpet massacre
the hook is 1984 survivor’s ‘i can’t hold back’
and the dancers echos the backstreet boys/in sync
i give it an ‘L’ for laziness. 🙁
back to the drawing board, brit. womanizer ‘still’ kicks this vids ass.
I actually liked the fighting part of the video. It represented Britney’s inner demons/battle that she’s faced and the good Britney won. Sure the dancing could have been better but overall it was a good video. No matter what the girl does, people are either going to love it or hate it.
So, so generic, the produce placement was embarrassing.
She looks like she got a lobotomy.
AWFUL.
that was really sad in it’s awfullness.
Oh Britney. You really couldn’t care less any more, could you.
I like it!
She looks totally blank in the eyes.
Jeebus I had to recover from my seizure before I could type this-my eyes are freaking out from it flashing and jumping everywhere!
meh… the song is way too long! and she tries too hard to be commercial.. AND I just can’t stand her voice. I don’t like the song or the video. I don’t like Gaga either 🙂
in the still from the video she looks like courtney love…
not into it. she def needs some brows.
Watching this, it occurs to me that I haven’t seen Britney smile in about five years. I feel badly for her. Or rather I would feel badly for her, if only I did not have this overwhelming urge to go buy Sony products.
I am a huge Britney fan, but the video is AWFUL. She looks like crap, it seems like she put about .000038 ounces of effort into the thing, I think they CGI’ed her head onto someone else’s dancing body for the part when she is dancing in the little shorts. Watch the Toxic video, you will see a HUGE difference. In that video she is actually present and you get a sense of her behind the character in the video. This new video? She seems like a puppet and someone else is pulling the strings.
I like how the video started with film of K-Fed’s sperm…Rocket Powered!
I think there is a lot of symbolism in this video that you guys aren’t getting…here’s an awesome review from MuuMuse: http://www.muumuse.com/2011/02/daily-b-britney-spears-hold-it-against-me-video-analysis.html
That was really bad it’s like a sedated version of her other videos and the dancing if you can call what she did dancing was even worst I can see her counting in her head and 1234, 5678 on each move I can’t stand her or her music but they should have shown that she has grown and is not someone who still stuck in the past. I think she should have taken a note from Madonna and reinvented herself not that I think she has any talent what so ever put it would have been new.
Emily:@ we get the symbolism in the video but it still does not make the video or song any less crappy.
Well, I guess I’m in the minority here, but I kind of liked it! I appreciate that Britney videos just are what they are. She’s not claiming to be anything other than glitz and product placement.
I do agree that she looks sad and that she’s phoning it in, etc. But, Britney phoning it in is still more entertaining than lots of pop stars giving it their all, if only for the emotional draw of knowing her backstory as well as if she was a long lost cousin from down south. I guess what I’m saying is, in her case, familiarity has bred a certain amount of inexplicable affection from me.
All that said, my only real complaint is that there wasn’t enoug dancing. Britney usually brings it (or in more recent years, her back up dancers usually bring it) with the dance routines. Not so much this time.
Waaaayy too much product placement.. all long slow shots on logos.. Wish it had either made more sense or been visually better-kooky only works if it has a kind of visual hook to it
the song is very middle of the road britney.. fell a bit flat for me
There went 65 seconds I’ll never get back. It started bad and probably ended worse. Anyway from what I saw, what she is trying to recapture has left port. Kinda like a 45 year old in a cheerleading outfit.
I want to like it but cannot. Song is weak except for a few quick moments of danceable fun that are overly intercut with filler. The video doesn’t showcase anyone’s talents very well and I find the product placement distracting, regardless of whether it’s part of some smarmy symbolism or simply advertisement. (It also annoyed me in Gaga’s “Telephone”, but at least that’s a great song and an amazing video)
It’s a typical Britney video. The same look, the same moves all of it. Boring! And the song sucks! I don’t get why people like her music. She is trailer trash and not talented at all!
I’m not a fan of pop music at all, including Britney. But I can say that I saw the appeal of her older work, even if it wasn’t my taste. Now it just seems like she is hollow inside and she and her people are just phoning it in so that they can keep the cash cow giving milk.
Also, why did they use a body double and/or CGI her body so that she looked so much skinnier? Everyone knows what her body looks like, and it doesn’t look like that. Who do they think they are fooling? Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with her real figure. No, she’s not skinny like she used to be, but she’s not a kid anymore, either, and has given birth to two kids. She has a nice, athletic, toned body, and there is no reason change it for the video.
Emily:@ Sorry but the “symbolism” doesn’t make the over branding, song or her dancing any better and neither does the dead look in her eyes, the video was typical Britney.
I can’t believe this is the same “Oops-I did-it-again” Britney… She looks so sad… like she doesn’t give a damn. I’m a fan, and I actually want to like it, but I just don’t.
Amanda – exactly what I was thinking. And WHY do they have to alter her voice to the point of annoying? Doesn’t anybody just fade away and retire and raise their kids when “it’s” over? How long will the public be subjected to this???
The only part about the video I like is when the first couple videos she ever made were playing in the background. I thought that was neat. Don’t really care for the song.
I can’t watch it right now, but just from the stills, she looks terrible. I feel bad for her, I wish she’d take her millions and go live a quiet life away from Hollywood, but it doesn’t seem like her people are willing to let go of it all. It seems wrong to keep pushing her out there to make money while she’s still not 100%.
I wish to tell her that she is so beautiful and talented woman, she does not need all of these fake stuff and make up, she needs to give us a different song like Sometimes and open her heart again to her public, is not about to be sad everybody could be sad for something in life, but she is a wonderful artirst, she does not need to get the old brit back she changed obviously but that does not mean that she is not still great, Comun doll you still have it I´m not your biggest fun but even like that I totally see that you shine. you are improving your work though.
xoxo
(sorry about my english, I´m latin)
I feel like her dance moves are always the same. Like she either needs a new choreographer to get some new steps. But also, I feel like she doesn’t put as much energy into her dancing as she used to. She doesn’t break it down like the old Britney used to. I liked her other videos much more. I love the song though.
With all of the product placement, i started to make a little game out of it by searching for more.
This music video just doesn’t………..flow?? I mean, it’s just segments of other music videos from other artistes’ crammed into 4.29 minutes with a lackluster Britney Spears.
The fight was the only interested thing and i keep thinking- Someone’s guna poke an eye out with those stilettos.
And i’m not giving any Illuminati talk, but honestly there were quite a bit of “odd” things in the video…the double iris? the shaking?
Ok…..
Migraine-inducing video. And no eyebrows. I was hoping for better on this one.
“Hold It Against Me” is a really good dance song but the fast cuts in the video are ridiculous even in a world of fast cuts, and Britney’s inability to perform is really obvious. Britney rarely smiles and her eyes always seem so unhappy (and drugged up).
That’s a man, baby! She’s wearing enough makeup to spackle a wall. The fast cuts made the video unwatchable for me and are obviously an attempt to mask the low quality of the video. And what’s with all the advertisements? Ugh. I don’t think the snippets of her old videos did anyone any favors, it’s just a reminder of how far she’s fallen.
Can’t believe she finally sold her brown eyes out for contacts, disappointed.
OK, see. The thing is: if they didn’t want to show her body because (I assume) it doesn’t live up to their standards from 10 years ago, don’t put her in hillbilly teenager cut-offs and a tummy shirt. No body double required, when she’s dressed like a grown up. Also, so many quick cuts, I could feel my retinas burn. Bad, pointless video with a tired, dead-eyed Britbrit. Womanizer kicked this video’s ass. I’d much rather see her sitting on a piano lip syncing the entire song than watch her carcass get dragged around a set.
Holy cral that was painful to watch. What a complete piece of crap. The video is pure garbage. What is wrong with her? Is she bipolar? Personality disroder? I feel sad for her.
I am a big Brit Brit fan and I am puling for her but it is apparent her people do not want to take a chance on her branching out. I agree with all of the posters above when we say that it looks like they want to keep her in the 2003-2006 mode- scared if she changes their cash cow will be gone or worse yet that she really isn’t into it anymore. What they fail to realize is pop music has moved on anyway and watching a captive pop princess is depressing.
Sucks. And girlfriend needs some eyebrows! Britney sooo does not want to be doing this – her eyes look dead and sad. Her dance moves are stale and lazy at this point. Let the poor woman go off somewhere to raise her babies and live in peace.
Why is BS still entitled to make “music” anyway! Oh… I forgot. $$$! Because there are still crazies paying for this crap.
Fast cuts, ridiculous amounts of product placement (Plent of Fish? Really?) and not enough dancing. Remember when Britney could dance? Hell, remember when she was THE dancer? She had such talent. Also, as others have commented, she never smiles. It’s painful to see.
Not only is the video a p.o.s. but as a long time fan of dubstep, I’m offended that she’s tried to be cool by including it. It’s bobo generic awful trite crap and sad. Just like she is.
Loved the video, Love Britney.
@Emily (32) – Actually, I can see the validity of that site’s analysis. A lot of aspects I wouldn’t have thought of without it being pointed out.
I pretty much agree with everything they said. Maybe it’s reading too much into it, but the product placement really could be purposefully ‘in your face’, because she herself has always been treated like a ‘product’ to be sold, as opposed to an actual person with problems & feelings.
Like everyone has said, the scene cutting was very a bad choice. It looks like she really is trying to be what she used to be, before becoming an adult, having children, being married to a douchebag, divorcing, then temporarily losing complete control with mental illness. (It does look as though she may have bi-polar disorder, thus the 2 Britney’s fighting.)
A good, mindless dance song, good for clubs & remixes. She just needs to reinvent herself as an adult, & stop trying to be all those past versions of herself.
Her face looks awful.
And the flashbacks to old videos was a terrible choice… it just emphasizes all the more how much worse she looks now.
And I hate it all, but at least I *get* the product placement for the perfume and make-up. Plentyoffish, though?! WTF.
I am not a Britney fan, but I kinda like this video. The video and song were a whole lot more interesting that gaga’s new single.
I think she looks a whole lot better and wants to maintain her look, I didn’t get the whole fight scene, but it was interesting to see her include that because of her history. Atleast it wasn’t full of sexual innuendos.
JFC the product placement in all videos is reeeally getting to me now. This is like the fourth video that just randomly disregards whatever else is going on to focus on the star/somebody else sitting down at a computer, having a good old look the the singles on PlentyOfFish. W.T.F.? I mean, the make-up and perfume, the logos on clothes I’ve been able to comprehend but…dancing around half naked under strobe lights and then trying out online dating in the midst of it? It’s making me irrationally enraged. It’s in a Kesha video too,during an underground street party or something.
Why feel sorry for her? She made gazillion$ with little to no talent (unless you consider being a tease a talent). The fact that she is even still considered relevant is an insult to music.
She has always looked vacant to me, so nothing has changed as far as I see.
I have a soft spot for Britney but I can’t say I enjoyed this. Could have been worse, I guess. I keep hoping she will start dancing again but it seems that even after all this post-meltdown time the girl is still too drugged up to have the energy. Sigh. She used to dance up a storm and when it came together with a catchy enough song- I won’t lie, I liked watching her.
This video is the equivalent of watching an octogenarian trying to perform an act from their youth-stiff, confused, unfocused, & previous talent reduced by 90%. It’s obvious Britney’s “team” is desperate to milk every cent out of her while she’s still able to follow at least a few instructions. It’s a terrible song, horrendous video & a painful example of a star whose private struggles are being glossed over to try & keep the $ train moving. If you are a fan of Britney, this video should be the final evidence you need to support the idea of letting her go, rest on the millions she has earned & do nothing but get the help she needs & try & be the best mother she can.
Way too much product placement in the video. It’s crazy, and lame. So many shots of Sony, among other things. Why?
She can’t dance anymore so she’s offically useless…other than being a slovenly cash cow.
I feel so bad for the girl. As many have noted there is no life in eyes. The woman is not well but she being medicated and wheeled out to perform because Britney is still very big business. It is a shame she has no one in her corner urging her to get out of the industry. She needs to get better for herself and her kids. It seems like she’s trapped. I pray she gets out.
@ Emily
thanks so much for the link!!!
if someone would have told me this was Jonas Åkerlund, i would’ve said GET THE F*CK OUTTA HERE!!!
this is WAY beneath his work for gaga which was brilliant!
i mean this crap was really awful.
damn. 🙁
I actually saw the video when it premiered on tv and there was never any product placement, this must be a different version thats on vevo.
Total body double action. Especially in the first part. She does not have legs like those!
What Britney always had going on in the past was her ability to dance. She no longer has that so what’s really the point?
I feel like it’s been all down hill since Slave For You.
“I think there is a lot of symbolism in this video that you guys aren’t getting”
😆
I think it’s pretty clear she has/is dealing with some mental health issues, and if she’s unmedicated she’s off her rocker, and if she is medicated, you can tell. I have only affection for the girl cause I think she’s been through a hell of a lot in her young age, but I think she definitely looks out of it for the most part. It’s like all her people are propping her up ala Weekend at Bernies to squeeze the last millions out of her.
I like the song a lot, better than Gaga’s. Great club music. The video just okay, but I’ve seen worse.
People can say she’s over all they want. She’s not. She sells millions of albums every time. Her last concert was huge, even with lipsynching. I can’t help but like Brit’s last two albums because she makes great club music, and I love that kind of music, and then she does what Gaga can’t, she sings some beautiful, vulnerable ballads that move me.
Unusual You from last album, Circus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySArczxQuEI&feature=related
I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy hormones, but this video almost made me cry. I feel so bad for this girl.
I just hope she knows that there is already a much better Dr Hook song with a very similar come-on line. Lol, now get off my lawn : )
Why put her down when none of you could never do what she has done? I hate ppl who mock others’ success but has nothing to show for their own.
Oh, Gawd damn it. I stayed awake until 11pm last night waiting for this thread but had to finally go to bed when the Kate Middleton thread was put up. I’m always on the arse end of the interesting topics.
I’ll go back and read everyone else’s comments after I put down my opinion (sorry). Firstly, to put it in context, I’m not a Britney-fan. I also don’t like trance/club music. However, I do like this video clip. I get it. There is a story involved that I like. It is a tale of rising and falling; of birth, death and rebirth. Phoenix, without the fire.
The meteor striking the Earth symbolizes the sudden and great success of her career. The scenes of preparation – the dancers are dressing and Britney applies makeup – is the process of becoming a “celebrity” (versus a one hit wonder); Britney Spears became “Britney Spears”: an image. Southern charm, bright frothy personality, kinda stupid, a Lolita theme sexualisation that was just as instrumental to her financial success as her dancing was… and a bullshit story of virginal innocence and purity to make it ‘ok’ for Britney to pose in men’s magazines at the same time she sold name-brand bubblegum and posed in kid’s magazines.
With her big white dress (her virginal, southern “Britney Spears” image; and her own innocence about the harshness of the industry and the real world) she rises, surrounded by t.v. screens that show her music videos/previous works. Then blind dancers (directionless/purposeless movement) appear and at the height of her fame she falls in love.
Then comes my favourite bit. She fights herself (literally) and destroys her previous work. Surely I don’t need to explain this? The song hesitates as she is collapsed, before signs of life appear and she is “back on stage”, symbolising what her record company and management really hope is a comeback.
There. That’s what I’ve been wanting to say since yesterday when other blogs and websites were being very critical of the video that I loved at first viewing. Now, what I don’t like.
During the ‘Circus’ era, I felt as though the world was nuts! “Womanizer” and the single “Circus” were huge and her tour was a sellout… but Britney was no longer “Britney Spears” the image. She wasn’t really doing press and promotion and couldn’t seem to dance anymore. And I’ll give her that – even when I really disliked her, I’d pay her her dues about her dancing. She had phenomenal dance skills. But in the Circus era, the glitz, the glam, the sparkle… the excessive acrobatic backup dancers surrounding her, was in direct contrast to previous eras when Britney was, herself, the main event. If you ignore the distractions of the lights and acrobats… the woman at the centre is no longer “Britney Spears”. Very little energy, half-hearted movement; I was bewildered by her successful comeback.
After watching the “HIAM” video, I don’t think anything has changed in that regard. My favourite video clip is “Slave 4 U” and the lack of energy in this clip is obvious. Brit barely appears to be present in the dance sequences. However, there was some personality in the close ups shots of her applying perfume and when her face was in the middle of the microphone-cirle. Perhaps that was filmed early in the shoot and she wasn’t feeling tired. Maybe she’d slammed some Red Bulls. But the dance scenes were sorely lacking…
YET AGAIN, the backup dancers are carrying the load. In pre-Circus era videos, Britney is the main attraction. In the ‘Circus’ era, and now the ‘Fatale’ era, the other dancers are to distract you. I must have watched “Slave 4 U” at least 50 times before I noticed that pretty cool helicopter movement all the background dancers did two thirds of the way through. Britney had incredible presence there. In this clip, she’s largely absent even while in front of the camera.
Some of the blips (the quarter-second flashes of images) were interesting. Just before and as she rises in the white dress, there are weird captures of her with a CGI’d disturbingly wide smile. Looks… disturbing. I figure it pertains to how Britney was always forced to smile as she maintained the “Britney Spears” image in the first half of her career. FYI, Disney kids are trained in how to “smile correctly”! They’re specifically taught to drop their lower lip when they smile, to expose their lower teeth. Britney continued to do so through the honeymoon period of her career.
There are other weird things in the blips. There was a male in a blonde wig for part of it: http://www.photoshop.com/users/acslayton/assets/73df4cd00ce449e498cb4a81bcc87aa2 and http://www.photoshop.com/users/acslayton/assets/1b94ce9d76004a0ab7b92bbe5c28ed84. There was at least one more body double here: http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgsoe4ZMje1qae6ufo1_500.gif
Phew. I need drink.
I just hope she does not try to perform this song live…she seems to barely be able to move…
I like the song better than GaGa’s though.
poor Brit, smdh
That thing just gave me a migrane.
I was mixed on the video-
I’m not a Britney fan at all, really, so I don’t normally watch or listen to her anyway, but this one I did.
The bad points were excessive product placement, her voice, and the song itself. However, I thought some of it was pretty creative (like the fighting with herself) and the crumpling at the end. Meh.
Although it may not seem like it at first glance (and it’s funny to say with all the product placement)…this video actually has a bit of substance. It kind of summarizes her history – both personal and professional. You just have to read between the lines a little.
WTF! has she done to her face!!! Its pumped full of fillers and her lips- yuck! Why do these young girls do this??? I was staring so hard at her plumped up new face that i couldnt focus on much else.
This seems like old Britney when she first came out and didnt have stylist etc. The jean cut offs and white dress are TERRIBLE. Also she is trying to be lady gaga and different in the video and its just not working.
Also the product placement was distracting – way to much.
I dont get the fight scene? Is it supposed to be her new self against her old self?
I like the very end where she is in black the best. They should have used more of that footage in video.
I love Brit and the song but this video isnt the best.
Its 1000 times better than anything Katy Perry has ever put out. Thats isnt saying much i know.
I liked the analysis of the video that Emily provided and I personally think it is spot on. But I don’t think it is true that she is ‘back’ as she suggests at the end of the video. She never will be the same Britney as before, as sad as that is. I don’t know what the answer is for her – for her kind of disorder (if it is true) taking a long vacay to raise her sons would probably send her back into a tailspin. She does need to keep working (busy and productive). But she’s ill and medicated now – no longer with the dancer she was or the person she was. I find it sad and I feel the struggle. Identify with it actually.
Um, that song is a total rip-off of the country song — If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me. Lame. And others have already pointed out all the other lame things going on here: fast cuts, dead eyes, etc. Boring
I’ve never been a fan but it’s really sad to think that her people are going to ride this Britney machine until the bitter end. It’s not possible for her to look any more uninterested and all the camera stops and starts cannot hide the fact that she’s arm-dancing her way through the video. It was more than obvious that the lack of close-ups was meant to hide the fact that there is a body double in use.
Finally watched it – pretty bad (SONY!), and the product placement is (Plenty of Fish!) ridiculous.
I don’t see any signs of joy or having fun at what she’s doing. I really think people are just taking advantage of her at this point by making her continue to churn out this stuff.
Sorry – she’s always been “dead in the eyes” and pathetic looking. Add to it the awful singing and gee, what a package.
Her taboo ‘sexy innocent ‘available’ teenage school girl in bra-tops writhing on the floor… was *incredibly* successful for her career.
But almost NONE of those descriptive words apply to her now. She’s not innocent/virginal, not particularly sexy (at this point), not taboo teenage school girl jailbait…
The only thing she still has is the ‘writing on the floor‘ part. xD And even that isn’t anywhere near as effective as it use to be.
I do like her, & she’s been through a lot of emotional & mental problems as a result of unrealistic expectations & judgment. The music industry is the worst possible place for her to be now. I think this ‘comeback’ is a mistake, in that it comes with a whole new stack of higher expectations, even harsher judgment, & the fact that she has to learn a new approach to be successful as a grown woman lacking the lolita taboo to garner attention.
I feel for her, & just hope she’s the one making the decisions from now on.
‘Buy my perfume y’all! And stop looking at me! Buy Sony computers! Don’t read gossip!’
The product placement is actually tame compared to Avril’s newest video, though.
I hope Britney read this, because I liked it and I am not a fan at all. Seing all those comments, you can say that Britney stiil make people think and talk. So good for her. At first I thought it was the same old thing : cavernous voice (what does her real voice sounds like by the way ?) and a hunky guy that hits on her. And you know it can’t work any more because of all her private drama we know of and that she is not 20 anymore. But then it changes and with all the paint, tne fight, you get a little bit more of maybe some Personal stuff from Britney. Hold it girl !
@#79 KatScorp – I liked your analysis. I’d also like to add that at certain points it seemed like an intentional charicature of Lady Gaga – the all too obvious product placements (like in Telephone which also had Plenty of Fish) and the dancing in front of the flames, the jerky editing, and the sign of the cross dance move(like in Bad Bomance). Overall I enjoyed the HIAM video. Even though the dancing was a bit dissappointing the overall message was actually autobiographical and showed quite a lot of self awareness for a Britney video. Yes, the spark is gone, but it seems that she is aware of it. It’s as if Britney is trying to fight off her old image, she’s trying to be reborn into a new adult image, yet somehow she can’t or doesn’t have the energy to and there’s no resolution: she gives in and returns to the familiar dance routine we have all seen before.
I agree with the few here who like the video.
It was certainly the most honest video she’s done in awhile. Think about it we as the public see her as a popstar but never as a person and this video was the only one where I saw some insight into her as a person instead of a media image/pop icon. It seems like she wants to maybe be more of an adult artist instead of pandering to the tween set like she used too.
I mean she put it all out there- the video talks about her rise and her very hard fall from grace.I kinda thought the part where she’s fighting herself represented her being bipolar (never confirmed by her but long rumored)
Overall I liked it but felt it would have been understood by alot more ppl if they weren’t dizzy from all the fast cuts.
Let’s not forget that most people with her ailment have a hard time keeping up with a regular job, let alone be a celebrity.
After all it’s not Einstein, it’s Britney Spears… this video is right down her alley.
Oh boy, where to start. No emotion and flat affect. There is nothing about this video that makes me want to watch or hear it again. I agree with previous poster who stated they need to let this woman grow. Quit trying to act like she is still a teenager. Nobody is buying that. Also auto tune is ruining the music industry. Makes me feel old but I long for the days when people had to have vocal talent. And can they photo shop videos because body wise she looks totally different than when the paparazzi catch pics of her?
I agree, she looks vacant. There’s no life there. Let the poor woman heal already! She may NEVER be able to perform again and that’s okay, the cash cow has produced enough. It feels abusive and needs to end.
Ok so first I watched it and thought it was awful, just really bad and pointless.
@Emily is right. I read the review at MuuMuse, and then went back and watched it again.
If you changed the different colored paints she is squirting around to blood, this could be a Manson video. Much darker undertones than at first, I think.
I hate this song.
Somebody was inspired by Gaga. Product placement, white shit everywhere, circular camera rotations, blarg
I agree with KatScopr. Ever since Britney had her mental breakdown and lost custody of her kids (and was hanging out with that sketchy manager her family got her away from), she doesn’t actually dance anymore. Let’s face it–the girl can’t sing. However when she was young, she had a presence on stage (I mean who walks around with an actual snake on them on stage??) and danced a lot. However in all clips of her Circus tour, she doesn’t do much. She kinds of stands there and lip synchs as her back up dancers dance for her and kind of carry her around the stage as she poses around. And of course there’s lots of sounds and lights… all show but very little substance… very little personality. It’s too bad but I guess that’s the way she is going to be from now on.
Honestly, I still don’t get how a Southern white girl DARED call herself a slave.
The media hounds people when they aren’t being offensive by pretending they are. That Slave 4 U was wrong b/c of her age, for any female to be telling men that, and then a Southern white girl in America sings about how she’s a slave and this went uncommented upon? The sick, dirty old horndogs running the news were blinded because at the time she was bringing out their and the nation’s inner pedophile.
I’m glad she’s a grown woman now lip synching dance tunes.
Ugh, she looks worse than ever. So fug. The song is as bad as all of her other stuff.
If I was held at gunpoint and had to choose between her and Gaga, it would definitely be Gaga over this train wreck. And I’m not even a Gaga fan.
Wow this really depressed me.
I miss 1997.
after reading the thread and all the comments, it looks like no matter how the video turned out, or her voice, everybody feels sorry for her, for what she is going through today; it is all so pathetic that cannot even bring a real bitchy comment to the table, not that would be any purpose in it;like it was pointed out before,on this site, how can you sustain a sexy diva, famme fatale image, when all the pics of her in the real life show a sloppy woman with no interest in looking healthy, beautiful or sexy, with no real clothes culture or even the wish for one; in the end it just makes sense, all this video crap has to make people talk and forget about the real poor joke of a person that she is and that is making all of us sad.
LOL with all the comments above! But critics have spoken and they’re PRAISING THE SONG AND THE VIDEO… one of the best videos ever released by her and by any other pop star right now… If you don’t know anything about music (callig HIAM generic? Really??? Dubstep influence that NOBODY have made before)or about videos (watch Katy Perry, Kesha or Even Eminem recents videos for examples) then you should STFU. Way to go Britney, teaching the art of making music videos and everlasting music to the new generations (even when she had the breakdown, looks medicated and seems to be uninvolved in the process, the results are way better that anybody else’s)!
go away already Britney….you stink!