FEATURE:
Framing Britney Spears
Will We Ever Hear from the Pop Superstar Again?
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THROUGH the years…
PHOTO CREDIT: Image Group LA/Walt Disney Television via Getty
I have talked about Pop music and how it has changed. I think it has become more about variety and emotional exploration rather than hooks and big choruses. That may be a slight against older Pop but, actually, I prefer that sound. I do think something has been missing from music for a long time. One of my favourite Pop stars from the ‘90s and early-2000s is Britney Spears. I like all of her work. To me, she was one of the last Pop artists who could provide something quite emotive but also deliver these huge tunes that remained in the memory. It has been a tough past few years for her and, now, there is a documentary out that gives us an insight into the tribulation of Spears. Framing Britney Spears has been released through Hulu in the U.S. I want to bring in a review from The Guardian. They explain why now is a particularly relevant time for the arrival of Framing Britney Spears:
“In a brisk, bracing 75 minutes, Framing Britney combs through the mountain of archival Britney material – coming of age just before the internet, she was a heavily documented star from the start – from her childhood in smalltown Kentwood, Louisiana, to the cascading highlights of her career: tinkering in the studio, the smash success of … Baby One More Time and Oops I Did It Again, mass fascination over her relationship with the ‘NSync boybander Justin Timberlake, marriage to backup dancer Kevin Federline, mass fascination with her fitness as a mother, breakdown.
Much of the film is dedicated to explaining the legal concept of conservatorship – a court-appointed guardianship usually for elderly or infirm people – and subtly (or, with a couple of first-person interviews, not so subtly) arguing against the arrangement that places Britney’s father, Jamie Spears (according to the film, a largely absent figure in her life until money was concerned), in control of a 39-year-old pop star still raking in millions. Adam Streisand, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who specializes in conservatorship arrangements, recalls in the film a meeting with Spears at the Beverly Hills Hotel immediately after her involuntary psychiatric hold in January 2008 – an event heavily documented by paparazzi at the time – in which the singer reportedly accepted the conservatorship on one condition: that the conservator not be her father. (The court subsequently barred Streisand from representing Spears on grounds of inability to seek counsel based on a sealed medical report, and appointed the lawyer Samuel D Ingham III to represent her instead; as of 2016, Ingham had collected $2m in fees from Spears’ estate).
The film is another notch in a string of slow-rolling, ever-expanding reconsiderations of American celebrity culture, and particularly the female tabloid figures of the 90s and aughts, one facilitated by the larger #MeToo retelling of sex, power and the spectra of traumas faced by women, partly by the simple passage of time. From films such as the Oscar-winning OJ: Made in America to Lorena Bobbitt, such revision relies less on new information than simply staring hard enough at the existing record. Asif Kapadia’s delicate, harrowing documentary Amy compiled audio recordings and home video to capture the rise and frenzied fall of Amy Winehouse, victim of a similar, and concurrent, frenzy of paparazzi sharks, lucrative tabloid coverage and public derision, even as her musical talent remained esteemed.
In 2008, fresh into her conservatorship, Jamie Spears allowed MTV documentary cameras to film Britney, who offered one of her few public takes on the arrangement to date: “If I wasn’t under the restraints that I’m under right now, with all the lawyers and doctors, and people analyzing me every day, and all that kinda stuff – if that wasn’t there, I’d feel so liberated, and feel like myself,” she said. Much of the discussion on Framing Britney will hinge on the controversy of her guardianship, the growing #FreeBritney movement. But there is a second point in the typical Britney “all that kinda stuff” that demands attention, too – an indictment of all of us, sitting in plain sight”.
At thirty-niner, Spears is hardly an artist who should retire and would lack any sort of modern appeal! Her last album, Glory, was released in 2016. I do feel that there is still a lot of demand for her music. I have always admired her as an artist and the way she has approached her career. It is clear that Spears is going through an especially tough period of her life. With legal issues still looming large, it could be a long time before she has freedom and is clear of her troubles. Perhaps music is at the back of Spears’ mind, though I feel it would be a shame if her conservatorship battle was the final chapter as it were – if her legacy was more about this than her music.
There are going to be many who says Spears is a minor footnote in Pop history and many of her albums have not been that well received. She has split critics art various points of her career, but I feel that she has had this enormous impact on popular culture. I want to bring in a section from Britney Spears’ Wikipedia page, just so one can get a sense of what she has done for music – and the huge array of artists who cite her as an influence:
“Referred to as the "Princess of Pop", Spears was credited as one of the "driving force[s] behind the return of teen pop in the late 1990s". Rolling Stone's Stacy Lambe explained that she "help[ed] to usher in a new era for the genre that had gone dormant in the decade that followed New Kids on the Block. [...] Spears would lead an army of pop stars... built on slick Max Martin productions, plenty of sexual innuendo and dance-heavy performances. [She became] one of the most successful artists of all time — and a cautionary tale for a generation, whether they paid attention or not." Glamour magazine contributor Christopher Rosa described her as "one of pop music's defining voices. [...] When she emerged onto the scene in 1998 with ...Baby One More Time, the world hadn't seen a performer like her. Not since Madonna had a female artist affected the genre so profoundly."
Billboard's Robert Kelly observed that Spears's "sexy and coy" vocals on her debut single "...Baby One More Time" "kicked off a new era of pop vocal stylings that would influence countless artists to come." In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number one on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time and Rob Sheffield described it as "One of those pop manifestos that announces a new sound, a new era, a new century. But most of all, a new star [...] With "...Baby One More Time", [Spears] changed the sound of pop forever: It's Britney, bitch. Nothing was ever the same.
Alim Kheraj of Dazed called Spears "one of pop's most important pioneers". After eighteen years as a performer, Billboard described her as having "earned her title as one of pop's reigning queens. Since her early days as a Mouseketeer, [Spears] has pushed the boundaries of 21st century sounds, paving the way for a generation of artists to shamelessly embrace glossy pop and redefine how one can accrue consistent success in the music industry." Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz described Spears as "an American institution, as deeply sacred and messed up as pro wrestling or the filibuster." In 2012, she was ranked as the fourth VH1's 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era show list.VH1 also cited her among its choices on the 100 Greatest Women in Music in 2012 and the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons in 2003. In 2020, Billboard ranked her eight on its 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of all-time list.
IN THIS PHOTO: Grimes/PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Grieme
Spears's work has influenced numerous artists including Katy Perry,Meghan Trainor, Demi Lovato, Kelly Key, Kristinia DeBarge, Little Boots, Charli XCX, Marina Diamandis, Tegan and Sara, Pixie Lott, Grimes, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld, Pabllo Vittar, Tinashe, Victoria Justice, Cassie, Leah Wellbaum of Slothrust, The Saturdays, Normani, Miley Cyrus, Cheryl, Lana Del Rey, Ava Max, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, and Rina Sawayama. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga said that Spears "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her." Gaga has also cited Spears as an influence, calling her "the most provocative performer of my time." Before Spears joined The X Factor, Simon Cowell explained that he is "fascinated by [Britney]. The fact that she's one of the most talked about – not just pop stars – but people in the world today, means that you've got this star power. [...] She's still hot, she's still having hit records and she's still controversial, there's a reason for that." Marina Diamandis named Spears as the main influence behind her album Electra Heart. Lana Del Rey has said that the music video for "Toxic" inspires her. Spears has had a direct influence on singer Porcelain Black's work after growing up around her music as a child. Black describes her music as a "love child between" Marilyn Manson and Spears. Rita Ora's music video for "Only Want You" was inspired by Spears's "Everytime" music video, and said in a stories from Instagram, "Hey @britneyspears this was for you because I love you so. Pay homage to the ones who inspire! #icon”.
I think Framing Britney Spears is an important documentary; I would suggest people seek it out. I would like to see one in the future that discusses her impact as a Pop phenomenon and the brighter side of her legacy – where there is more focus on the music as much as anything else. It would be sad if her career stopped here because, whether you like her music or not, one cannot argue against her influence on other artists. Since the documentary came out, Spears has taken to social media to say that she needs to lead a normal life and spend time out. This gives us hope that she will return in the future and get back on the stage. Let us hope that, when it comes Britney Spears and music, that there is…
MORE to come in the future.