Promoting
Pepsi with the Peppiest: A Family Affair
by Sarah Hull
Getting
in Deep with Britney Spears: An evening of informal Britney Analysis
with the Girls who Saw it All...On Friday, Britney Spears played
at the Gund Arena in Cleveland. A number of Oberlin students attended
the show. The Reviews Sarah Hull, intensely curious about
such a highbrow event, asked the students for an interview. They
agreed. Their responses (which follow) may surprise you.
Sarah
Hull: Um, when was the concert?
All:
Friday (Nov. 9).
Here the interview gets interrupted by a discussion of cigarette
confusion.
SH:
What was Britney wearing?
Julia
Mcbee: She changed outfits a lot.
Katie
Dewitt: For the first half she changed about every song.
Juliana
May: For the last song she stripped into like a
basically a
bra and underwear.
JMc:
For the finale
she was wearing like a bra and jeans
really
low jeans.
JM:
Really low jeans, I dont know how we didnt see her butt
crack
SH:
Maybe it was like double-sided tape?
Laughs
Okay,
so what was the scene like? What was the audience make-up?
JM:
Ages five to 15, and their parents. And then, our age group, male.
KD:
No, our age group, female! I feel like most of the men there
were a lot of guys but they were like, teenage guys.
JM:
Or 23 year old packs of men together.
KD:
They were teenage boys I thought.
JMc:
I thought they were like 18, 19.
KD:
But also definitely mostly female. And they wouldnt agree
with me but I was pretty sure it was a mostly blonde, female crowd.
JM:
Really dyed, crimped.
JMc:
Lots of families. Lots of girls.
KD:
Lots of little, little girls
JMc:
I feel like I saw one woman with a baby and infant.
SH:
Was she breastfeeding?
JMc: I
dont know.
Laughs
KD: Can that exchange go in?
SH:
Yeah, of course.
Laughs
JM:
And there were definitely people there who were there to see her
take it off. Like, we heard people scream take it off.
JMc:
I saw like, an old man. I honestly did. He was definitely at the
concert and it was definitely weird and a little creepy
SH:
So what was the general vibe, was it like decoy overtly sexual
sexual but like it was family fun?
JMc:
I feel it was both.
JM:
She made a big disclaimer in the middle. She said I get a
lot of shit, well she didnt say shit, shes
like I get a lot of flak for what I wear, what I dont
wear, what I say, what I dont say, and to tell you the truth,
Im not a little girl anymore.
JMc:
And then she sang a song about how shes not a little girl
anymore. It was also very commercial. And they may have to do this
I guess but like in the beginning the emcee came out
KD: First of all there was an emcee.
JMc:
He came out and promoted Pepsi, he made a little Pepsi commercial
onstage. It was weird, you know, it was like thanks to all
the people at Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi.
JM:
And like he had us do a Pepsi commercial. [To the audience] he was
like okay, when I hold the Pepsi up youre gonna go oooh
and when I drink it youre gonna go ahhh, and then
when I hold it up youre gonna scream and clap.
SH:
Weird. So did you feel like it was creepy?
JM: It was weird
JMc:
I was really surprised. Well maybe not really surprised. But kind
of disturbed by the amount of family that was there. Because like,
her show was really sexual. I mean shes gyrating on stage
the entire time
There were little, little kids there, and the
scariest part was that there were a lot of little girls were dressed
in like
not in Britney outfits but in sparkly pants, tube top.
Here there occurred a digression concerning Dewitts knowledge
of cheesy fashion.
SH:
I feel like I look at Britney and I end up feeling bad for her.
Did you feel like she was empowered or did you feel like she was
a total T&A tool?
JM:
I feel like she feels fine about what shes doing. I felt bad
for her just because it was like
KD:
It was like soulless.
JM:
Well
no
for me at least its like what kind of a
life she has. Its like, she does these tours that are so scripted
and so spectacle-like and circus-like. And I feel like she definitely
doesnt have much say.
KD:
But I dont feel bad for her the way I think youre asking.
I dont feel bad for her like shes shaking her ass up
there and thats all shes worth.
JMc:
Like, I think shes happy and I think shes into it.
KD:
Also just because I feel this is going to sound stupid
its not expressing herself thats the point. Because
its pop music. Thats not the way pop music works. But
if it was like, Blink 182, we wouldnt be sitting around worrying
about it. Its cuz its like, a manufactured, female pop
star who wears skimpy outfits. And
obviously Im not privy
to Britney Spears personal life, but I do feel like she is
up there living out something that she aspired to
And whether
or not thats true
I guess maybe I feel like empowering
is not the right word, but its also not pitiful. Its
neither. Its just someone being a singer and being a dancer
and putting on a good show for people. And if you think thats
sort of sad then any kind of entertainer is sad.
JM:
Its kind of vaudeville-esque to me, in terms of the turnover.
Just the amount of shows she does, the kind of audience she requires.
It ends up being really quick and easy and a good time. Sort of
like junk food, in some ways. You know, its just like not
that great for you but immediately it is, and then its over
and then you kind of dont think about it that much besides
having posters and T- shirts to sort of say that you were there.
And its kind of, thats the thing about the spectacle.
The only way you sort of remember it is with the kind of accessories
that go along with it.
SH:
I dont know. I just feel like my problem with Britneys
kind of overtly sexual image is that I feel it is a little bit dishonest.
Cuz she sorta comes out and plays this good girl next door but at
the same time shes wearing no clothes.
KD:
But that was all recently [that she started singing these very sexual
songs].
JMc:
And you know its true, like the whole song Slave 4 U
or whatever, its different from her earlier stuff. And its
more
KD:
Overtly sexual.
JMc:
Yeah, exactly. But thats what she wants to do and like, shes
not doing that little girl image anymore.
JM:
I kind of was a little bit offended by the Slave song
at the end, and the video. Theyre pretty disgusting if you
ask me. Not necessarily the dancing sections where theyre
all in unison but the parts where theres like a group around
her and shes in the middle and she looks like shes being
fucked. And she sort of introduced the song by taking off her clothes
and saying dont you guys feel like theres just
something in you that you cant control, and youre a
slave to it? And I think that she was trying to say that,
you know, its a body thing, its a kinetic thing,
its something that makes you want to move, youre a slave
to your movement. And that would be one thing you know, if
you were a slave to your body and you just were doing it. But the
movement is so overtly sexual that its almost like Im
a slave to this man.
KD:
Thats what I was going to say more than the dancing,
more than the video I think that the thing that is offensive
about it is that
the overt message of it is there is
a man, and I am his slave. Because of my desire maybe
but
still, I am in his control. And Im not like a Britney lyric
archive, but if I remember correctly it seems like a lot of her
songs and this is where the dishonesty comes in for me like
what you were saying before I feel like [these previous songs]
have essentially really similar messages but whats more subversive
about them is that theyre not overt and that shes saying
Im just a little girl
I led you on by accident
hee hee but clearly thats not the point of the song.
The point of the song is that shes playing with her own sexuality
and using it as power, in like, a really objectified way. And I
feel in the same thing like Hit Me Baby, One More Time
can be read very easily as a highly sexual song. But those songs
are kind of played and presented as more innocent and I think thats
almost to me much more offensive.
Although seriously I dont find it offensive, I actually dont
think the sexual dancing in [the video] bothers me at all, I think
it is kind of liberating and fun. Sexiness is great. I dont
really think that because someone is being publicly sexy that theyre
being objectified. But what bothers me is more the words of that
specific song, as opposed to the way its presented. Whereas
with the other songs its the exact reverse its
the way that its presented in combination with the words
JM:
And the other thing I just wanted to say was, I dont enjoy
the music on the same level that I appreciate other music. And I
feel like the reason why we all went was more like a curiosity,
in the same way that you go to see the acrobats and the trapeze
artists.
KD:
And its also like a movie like Youve Got Mail. You dont
go to see it thinking this is going to be great
you go to see it because you think this is going to be fun.
SH:
We should probably wrap this up. But hey, was it worth 50 bucks?
All:
Yeah, definitely.
JMc:
I wish we had a better view, though.
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