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Originally written July 29, 2005. In a superficial sense, the OIDIA videos showed a shift of focus away from Britney’s soul to her body as her “people” realised that she was now being perceived as a super-sexy young star. Let’s take a look at them:
Oops I did it again (dir. Nigel Dick)
A spaceman finds “evidence” of Britney Spears, then the scene transfers to an industrial setting for some jerky and robotic dancing. Britney’s scenes in a red catsuit are intercut with more sightings of the spaceman, and at one point she meets him and they talk about how he has retrieved the Titanic necklace for her. In another scene, Britney, in white, lies on a circular platform surrounded by recumbent dancers. The viewer is left feeling somewhat detached from Britney, very much an observer and very much at a distance.
Lucky (dir. Dave Meyers)
Britney announces the song in a winsome manner, then, in a sequence of scenes caricatures the life of a “star”. She even sits on a star and sprinkles stardust on the earthlings below. And “Lucky” meets and greets her fans outside the Oscars in a way the real Britney must often have wished had happened at the UK Crossroads premiere. At one point a narrator-Britney in red watches the “Lucky” Britney in white – who proves to be something of a prima donna. The red Britney shows pain in her eyes, while all the other Britneys are obviously acting, and we can take this as a metaphor for her life.
Stronger (dir. Joseph Kahn)
Britney, pissed at her cheatin’ boyfriend, stomps off and alternates some defiant behaviour with an astonishing chair dance, dressed in sexy black. (Note to Butt Grabbers Society members – her butt looks amazing in those tight pants!) Her athletic body has never been better displayed, even in the later videos where she’s half-dressed. The story moves on to a scene in a car with drama and lightning and a near accident…..but from the almost-car-wreck the defiant Britney emerges once more and strides over a bridge looking impossibly gorgeous.
Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know (dir. Herb Ritts)
Herb Ritts is more famous as a stills photographer and this video shows why. It’s fairly static, but that doesn’t make it bad. It’s a quiet, still little moment, a pause amid all the craziness….a beautiful reverie on the simple theme of physical love and sensuality. Britney’s like her July image on the 2005 calendar and her long and flexible tongue arouses the viewer’s imaginings. She looks gorgeous (though I’d have preferred her in a bikini!) and the camera quite simply makes love to her.
Nigel Dick’s video is like his revenge on Britney for rejecting his BOMT treatment - the OIDIA vid places her in that cartoon-mannekin role he always envisaged for her. Perhaps it’s a Freudian slip. Joseph Kahn doesn’t see her as anybody’s dummy, and uncovers the more rebellious Britney who was already chafing against the constraints of her non-stop, overprotected existence. Dave Meyers has a laugh at celebrity, stardom and fan worship but is sensitive enough to point out that the real Britney knows about irony and sees herself as an observer as much as a participant. Herb Ritts simply celebrates her beauty and sexuality.
None of these videos achieves the intimacy and empathy between Britney and viewer that the BOMT-era vids did. By this stage in her career, Britney was already a phenomenon, and all four directors attempt little dramas that reflect that. We are the audience watching Britney the beautiful star - we are no longer her confidants.
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