On Train wrecks and overcast days

I try to refrain from commenting, except for the occasional remark in passing to a friend, on Britney Spears' life, but in light of the buzz surrounding her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards, I feel compelled to offer my two cents.

I watched the clip of her much-maligned showing on the music channel's site and I have to say that I'm not sure why it's been trashed everywhere from CNN.com to The Baltimore Sun. The decision is unanimous. Every reporter, arm chair entertainment pundit, and friend (or relative) of mine agrees. Before I saw the 4 minute "train wreck," I heard that it was "disgusting," "terrible," and "so awful." I didn't hear (or read) a single reference to Britney's opener without reading how pudgy, fat, or bloated she looked. This one number has the world agreeing--Britney's career is over for good, that there's no coming back, that she can't even lip sync for goodness' sake.

Sarah Silverman, crude individual that she is, was particularly vicious in her summation of Spears' routine. The comedienne called B's children "adorable mistakes," and assessed that Britney, at the age of 25, had already accomplished everything she was ever going to accomplish in her life. Then there were some other references which were so vile, that well, it's best to forget them.

Anyway, I couldn't wait to get home so I could see what the entire country was on about.

Here's what I saw:

A lackluster, hackneyed, overtly sexual performance by a girl who has made a series of bad choices. There was nothing original about the concept (but then again, I always think that skimpy clothing and stip tease moves are a copout), and she did seem to be out of sync, but it wasn't "embarassing," and while I recall a significantly more toned girl than the one who was on stage, she isn't so out of shape that the outfit was out of the question. Incidentally, everyone has jumped on the "she's so wobbly, she's so fat" bandwagon. Is no one examining the message behind that? I mean, it's mean-spirited, relentless commentary about the girl's weight, which I'm sorry, is not that out of hand.

From where I sat, there was on "problem" with her performance. I was simply bored by it. If I hadn't heard that it was awful, I'm not sure I would have known it was supposed to be.

Maybe I'm missing something?

I think that the last several failed magazine interviews she's had are far more scandalous and indicative of real trouble than last night's showing. Her shenanigans haven't really elicited much pity from me in the past, but this current assessment of her does.

It doesn't seem fair.