I'm not a celebrity gossip kind of person. I don't care who is dating whom or what is going on where, and I'm heartily sick of Paris Hilton. But, dang it, I was really really rooting for Britney at the VMAs. I wanted her to kick it old school, you know?
I didn't watch, didn't even know when it would be on, but then my hubby told me yesterday that Brit blew it (he was reading CNN online). So I went and read it. And viewed part of the disaster. OMG.
Yeah, I know she has more money than sense, and that she's been pretty privileged so far, but I think it's the writer in me that wanted her to show everyone she still had it. I wanted her to strut out there and leave them all wowed. Far from it, she's actually attracted more pity and censure.
When we write, we're supposed to really sock it to our characters. We have to stick them so far down in the muck that it seems impossible they'll ever get out. And then we watch them change and grow and claw their way back even better than before. You ask yourself what's the worst thing that could happen to your character and then you make that happen. The beauty of a romance novel, however, is that your character will survive. She'll get it all back and then some.
And I love that part of the process when I'm reading. I love it when a writer is able to wrench at my emotions and make me root for the character. I love it when the character emerges triumphant.
But life isn't always like that. Britney didn't kick it old school. She sunk even further into the muck and it was damn painful to watch. She's made some dumb choices (K-Fed, anyone?) and earned a lot of rancor with her train-wreck lifestyle these days, but I still hope that won't define her. I want her to come out on top so I can go back to ignoring her the way I always did. I want her to show that young women sometimes choose the wrong guy, and give up their careers for a man, but that they can get it all back again, that they can emerge stronger and wiser for the experience.
I hope she ignores the comments about her belly (puh-leeze, most of us would love to have that body, even with the post-baby jiggle). I hope Madonna calls her up and tells her to persevere. I hope she rebounds. Yeah, if she were my character, I'd probably take her down a few more notches before letting her succeed.
Is Britney really an underdog? My hubby says no. I say yes, at least in my writing brain where characters get kicked around a lot before they manage to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. I'm just a romantic at heart. 🙂
(Note: pic isn't from the VMAs. It's an older photo of a more successful Britney.)
Hi Lynn! Just popping over to say hello, hope you’re all settled into your new digs and enjoying Southern Living. 🙂
I totally agree about Britney Spears. It’s sickening that people are calling her fat. She wore the wrong outfit, but she is far from fat. She would’ve looked nicer if she’d worn a one-piece or something (anything but a bikini) that could support a little girdle to hold in the little pudge and she would’ve been good to go…..but, of course, then you had the performance to ruin everything! She just sort of swayed through the act – no life, no passion. None of the original Britney. It was disappointing.
I’m hoping she can pull herself together, but when those drugs get a hold at such a young age….dunno. And she likely has nothing but sycophants around her, contributing to the problem.
Have a great week!
Yea… I wish I was that fat..
🙂 As for Brit, I think she’s a goner. And yes, I ignore her too. It is hard to ignore her going downhill like this. I almost pity her.
I felt bad for her too. What angers me is that the news media is just having a field day with her. They love building people up just to rip them to shreds when they’re vulnerable. I’ve never been a Brit fan, but I don’t like to see people being pissed on when they’re down. They need to leave the girl alone.
I feel so sorry for that kid. Someone set her up to fail in that performance, in that costume. No way she chose it herself. Her life seems to be coming apart at the seams and no one can help her. I have a daughter the same age and I know how vulnerable they can be.
I watched the VMA’s and saw her perform. Honestly, you can’t stay up until 3 a.m. partying and then expect to be able to perform at your best. She looked like she was drugged, like she didn’t want to be there and didn’t know her dance moves. She even swayed several times as if she was going to fall. Totally unlike her previous performances. Her lip-snyc vibe was way off. The dancing cheesy. The outfit inappropriate for what she was bringing to the song. Sad. Very sad. And ironic that she bombed while the guy she dumped, Justin Timberlake rocked giving the best performance of the night to draw the VMA’s to a close.
Hey, Millenia! Great to see you here! Yep, I’m getting settled in, loving Alabama, and getting reaquainted with sweet tea and fried green tomatoes. 🙂 And, of course, gaining too much weight because of the good Southern BBQ, etc.
You are probably so right about the sychophants! Brit’s cut herself off from her family, probably has no one telling her that some choices are going to cause her grief. I wonder where Madonna is in all this. She’s never struck me as one to pull punches. Being Brit’s friend, you’d think she’d give it to her with both barrels.
I’ll keep rooting for the kid, though. I hope she can shake off the drugs and goofiness and get her head together. Thanks for stopping by!
Hey, Cyn! Yeah, please, if Brit’s fat, then I’d like to be that fat any day. 🙂 I do pity the girl, even though I guess that’s kind of silly because she has more money and opportunity than I ever will. Still, all the money in the world can’t stop you from self-destructing if that’s what you want to do.
Tanya, too right! The media loves it when they scent blood. I’ll never forget Craig Ferguson ripping on the media and how he wasn’t making any Brit jokes after the head shaving because it was obvious the girl was sick and needed help. You don’t kick someone when they’re down. I really admired him for that.
Terry, absolutely! I think if she wasn’t outright set up to fail, then she wasn’t told the truth at least. Even if she chose the costume, no one told her that her jiggle was probably going to bring ridicule and censure on her. Isn’t it ironic that there’s this move away from skinny models on the runway, all this lip service about healthy bodies, and then the press excoriates a 25 yr old mother of two with a fabulous body for having a little jiggle?
Hey, Kathy! Yeah, partying like there’s no tomorrow isn’t bound to help your performance. But I think that’s what’s sad about it all. No one, at least no one with any power to influence her, is telling her that her choices are going to make things worse. For all her lack of prep, I still don’t think any sane person (and maybe that’s the key) would agree to something like that performance and then go bomb on purpose. I don’t think she thought she would. And no one told her she would if she didn’t put more effort into it.
At least that’s my take on it, and of course I’m thinking with the writer brain and imagining how a character could get so messed up and not have a clue. She may have dumped Justin, but he’s a man in a man’s world. He always was going to be okay, just like Kevin will be okay in some form or another. I think there’s something sinister about how we as a culture (or a nation or a society) treat young women who screw up as opposed to young men who do.
Wow, everyone, thanks for the comments! It’s interesting to think about.
Well, there’s dumb choices, and then there’s Britney.
We can hope that this was her BBM and she’ll pull it together from here. Otherwise, this is just gonna get uglier…
I think if she were my character, I’d stomp on her some more, so maybe there’s still hope. 🙂 I’m afraid you’re right and it’s gonna get uglier. Hopefully, she’ll discover she’s made of sterner stuff.