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Music News: Britney Spears - 'Femme Fatale'
Member Since: 5/3/2010
Posts: 26,013
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HIAM 
This song is so great, please promote it or something Brit.
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Member Since: 11/24/2006
Posts: 24,963
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Quote:
Originally posted by chris1991
Britney your breaking my heart! |
"It feels like nothing really matters anymore
When you're gone, I can't breath
And i know, you never meant to make me feel this way"
-Everybody Hurts
I can imagine you singing that to Britney 
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Member Since: 1/17/2011
Posts: 6,037
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gerls, here's a review made by MTV Buzzworthy about the video. I liked the review, she made some valid points, but she's seeing too much from an artistic and not personal view. It's pretty good though. Posting in a minute.
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Member Since: 1/17/2011
Posts: 6,037
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As a designer, I was intrigued by Jonas Akerlund's abstract and artistic take for Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" music video, and I feel that the video is loaded with interesting metaphors related to Britney's career. I may or may not be correct in my interpretation of the video and its hidden symbolism, but let's give it a shot:
The Britney we see in the beginning of the video is representing Britney NOW. When the meteor is shooting toward Earth, it is literally symbolizing the premiere of this video and the arrival of a new era of music. As the meteor hits, we see the city below illuminate with color (the same colors also found in her jacket, the dancers' hair and her jewelry), representing the rapid spread of her music across the world. It is 2011, and Britney has returned to Earth. In the opening scenes, we see Britney surrounded by a wreath of microphones. For the first time, we are seeing Britney address the power she has over the industry. It is hard for anyone to deny that when Britney talks, the world listens.
Throughout the video, we see Britney rise and fall in the center of a vortex comprised of speakers, microphones and television screens depicting Britney's iconic music videos, along with scenes from her 2008 documentary, For The Record. This room represents the Britney of the past and is the archive of everything she's ever done and created. The white dress she wears is a metaphor for a blank canvas and a new beginning, as Britney begins the creative process behind a new era of music. She is revisiting her past, but she is ready to create something completely different. Britney is also wearing a tubing device on both her arms and along her fingertips. In order to help explain the symbolism behind the tubing, I'll make reference to the lyric in "Circus" where Britney says "I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins," although in "Hold It Against Me," it's not adrenaline, it is art. The tubing is symbolic of veins running through her body, and the paint is symbolic of her art. Britney lives to create, and music is in her blood.
As Britney rises, her dress getting longer, we notice that her dancers are writhing below her. The dancers emerge from underneath her dress, blind, but little do they know, Britney is still there, right above them. Despite their handicap, they continue to dance, but to the sound of Britney's old videos on the walls surrounding them. The blind dancers are symbolic of us, Britney's loyal fans, as we wait for new music but can't see or hear what is happening behind the scenes. Nonetheless, we are always there under her, supporting her, even if we can't always see how she's doing or what might happen next.
As we kick off the dance break, we see a joker-faced Britney raise her arms as paint begins to spray from her fingertips. I think the joker-faced Britney is used as an unexpected twist to the bridge of the song, because most fans, myself included, expected a dance routine here. But Britney surprised us, making us all stop for a second and say "...wait, what?!"
Now before I continue, let me just ask a question. If you are a creative person, whether you are a singer, dancer, designer, painter, writer, etc., can you relate to the feeling of second-guessing your work, doubting yourself as an artist? I absolutely can. I think the Britney vs. Britney fight scene is a visual representation of doubt and insecurity that any artist feels during a creative process. As her creativity flows (the paint spewing from her fingertips), she simultaneously battles her inner fears and doubts as an artist.
We see two identical Britneys battling each other — one wearing a deep shade of purple, and the other in a vibrant shade of red. If I had to take a guess I would say that the purple-clad Britney represents her fears, as deep shades of purple are said to represent mystery, depression and sensitivity. The Britney in the red dress represents her fire, passion and excitement... possibly even anger as she fights off her self-doubt. There's even a split second during the fight when the Britney in the dark purple dress takes a pretty powerful swing to the other Britney's knee and you hear her knee crack. I'm almost positive that this symbolizes her 2004 knee injury, an event that I'm sure has left her apprehensive as a dancer. While the fight scene is AMAZING and beyond fierce (check out this fight-scene GIF wall I made over at MTV Buzzworthy), after a few replays, I began to feel a bit sympathetic toward Britney. My creative outlet may not be dancing, but as a designer/blogger there have been several times where I felt my work wasn't good enough, or I've felt defeated and wanted to give up. The inner struggle we see Britney facing is reality. It is easy to forget sometimes that celebrities are people, too, and none of us are perfect.
Intermixed with the fight scene, we see glimpses of paint spraying across the screens of her old videos. The canvas grows larger for Britney as we see a shot of her dress blowing up to an enormous size, and her movements become more erratic, symbolizing the intensity of her creative thoughts. By spraying the screens in the room Britney is not completely painting over her past, she's only adding new colors (music) to her archive of work. The remixing of the audio during this entire scene is brilliant. From the growling, the fighting sound effects, and the clicks of her heels, Akerlund has given us a much more exciting twist to the original song.
When the paint stops spraying from her fingertips, it symbolizes the end of her creative process. She's poured her heart into her work and she's exhausted, thus causing her to collapse. When she collapses, her inner demons (the two fighting Britneys) are finally at rest and her dress is coated in a rainbow of colors. A new piece of art is now complete.
As she awakens, we reach the final scene of the video. The passionate Britney in the red dress has triumphed over the other. To me the finale is a celebration of her winning this battle and kicking off a new chapter of her music career. She looks great, and the jet-black ensemble gives her a powerful "Femme Fatale" appearance. We've seen Britney release dance-focused videos, we've seen "sexy Britney" before, and we've even seen her tackle the cliche girl-chases-guy storyline a couple times, as well. But for the first time, we are seeing a completely different Britney. The "Hold It Against Me" music video adds a quirky, artistic and conceptual video to the Britney Spears vault. She is experimenting with art and style, and I am so proud of her for taking that risk because I personally feel that the end result is one of her best videos ever.
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Member Since: 11/12/2009
Posts: 13,575
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I love how the video can be interpreted in so many different ways, its so powerful .
Everyone seems to have an opinion on what it means, which is great!
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Member Since: 3/21/2010
Posts: 19,112
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hey lemmy do you have a link to the just Jared review of the four clips?
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Member Since: 11/12/2009
Posts: 14,298
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Quote:
Originally posted by hector.adriel
As a designer, I was intrigued by Jonas Akerlund's abstract and artistic take for Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" music video, and I feel that the video is loaded with interesting metaphors related to Britney's career. I may or may not be correct in my interpretation of the video and its hidden symbolism, but let's give it a shot:
The Britney we see in the beginning of the video is representing Britney NOW. When the meteor is shooting toward Earth, it is literally symbolizing the premiere of this video and the arrival of a new era of music. As the meteor hits, we see the city below illuminate with color (the same colors also found in her jacket, the dancers' hair and her jewelry), representing the rapid spread of her music across the world. It is 2011, and Britney has returned to Earth. In the opening scenes, we see Britney surrounded by a wreath of microphones. For the first time, we are seeing Britney address the power she has over the industry. It is hard for anyone to deny that when Britney talks, the world listens.
Throughout the video, we see Britney rise and fall in the center of a vortex comprised of speakers, microphones and television screens depicting Britney's iconic music videos, along with scenes from her 2008 documentary, For The Record. This room represents the Britney of the past and is the archive of everything she's ever done and created. The white dress she wears is a metaphor for a blank canvas and a new beginning, as Britney begins the creative process behind a new era of music. She is revisiting her past, but she is ready to create something completely different. Britney is also wearing a tubing device on both her arms and along her fingertips. In order to help explain the symbolism behind the tubing, I'll make reference to the lyric in "Circus" where Britney says "I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins," although in "Hold It Against Me," it's not adrenaline, it is art. The tubing is symbolic of veins running through her body, and the paint is symbolic of her art. Britney lives to create, and music is in her blood.
As Britney rises, her dress getting longer, we notice that her dancers are writhing below her. The dancers emerge from underneath her dress, blind, but little do they know, Britney is still there, right above them. Despite their handicap, they continue to dance, but to the sound of Britney's old videos on the walls surrounding them. The blind dancers are symbolic of us, Britney's loyal fans, as we wait for new music but can't see or hear what is happening behind the scenes. Nonetheless, we are always there under her, supporting her, even if we can't always see how she's doing or what might happen next.
As we kick off the dance break, we see a joker-faced Britney raise her arms as paint begins to spray from her fingertips. I think the joker-faced Britney is used as an unexpected twist to the bridge of the song, because most fans, myself included, expected a dance routine here. But Britney surprised us, making us all stop for a second and say "...wait, what?!"
Now before I continue, let me just ask a question. If you are a creative person, whether you are a singer, dancer, designer, painter, writer, etc., can you relate to the feeling of second-guessing your work, doubting yourself as an artist? I absolutely can. I think the Britney vs. Britney fight scene is a visual representation of doubt and insecurity that any artist feels during a creative process. As her creativity flows (the paint spewing from her fingertips), she simultaneously battles her inner fears and doubts as an artist.
We see two identical Britneys battling each other — one wearing a deep shade of purple, and the other in a vibrant shade of red. If I had to take a guess I would say that the purple-clad Britney represents her fears, as deep shades of purple are said to represent mystery, depression and sensitivity. The Britney in the red dress represents her fire, passion and excitement... possibly even anger as she fights off her self-doubt. There's even a split second during the fight when the Britney in the dark purple dress takes a pretty powerful swing to the other Britney's knee and you hear her knee crack. I'm almost positive that this symbolizes her 2004 knee injury, an event that I'm sure has left her apprehensive as a dancer. While the fight scene is AMAZING and beyond fierce (check out this fight-scene GIF wall I made over at MTV Buzzworthy), after a few replays, I began to feel a bit sympathetic toward Britney. My creative outlet may not be dancing, but as a designer/blogger there have been several times where I felt my work wasn't good enough, or I've felt defeated and wanted to give up. The inner struggle we see Britney facing is reality. It is easy to forget sometimes that celebrities are people, too, and none of us are perfect.
Intermixed with the fight scene, we see glimpses of paint spraying across the screens of her old videos. The canvas grows larger for Britney as we see a shot of her dress blowing up to an enormous size, and her movements become more erratic, symbolizing the intensity of her creative thoughts. By spraying the screens in the room Britney is not completely painting over her past, she's only adding new colors (music) to her archive of work. The remixing of the audio during this entire scene is brilliant. From the growling, the fighting sound effects, and the clicks of her heels, Akerlund has given us a much more exciting twist to the original song.
When the paint stops spraying from her fingertips, it symbolizes the end of her creative process. She's poured her heart into her work and she's exhausted, thus causing her to collapse. When she collapses, her inner demons (the two fighting Britneys) are finally at rest and her dress is coated in a rainbow of colors. A new piece of art is now complete.
As she awakens, we reach the final scene of the video. The passionate Britney in the red dress has triumphed over the other. To me the finale is a celebration of her winning this battle and kicking off a new chapter of her music career. She looks great, and the jet-black ensemble gives her a powerful "Femme Fatale" appearance. We've seen Britney release dance-focused videos, we've seen "sexy Britney" before, and we've even seen her tackle the cliche girl-chases-guy storyline a couple times, as well. But for the first time, we are seeing a completely different Britney. The "Hold It Against Me" music video adds a quirky, artistic and conceptual video to the Britney Spears vault. She is experimenting with art and style, and I am so proud of her for taking that risk because I personally feel that the end result is one of her best videos ever.
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 that was amazing.
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Member Since: 6/3/2006
Posts: 51,724
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Guys can Britney have a family time without worries for a moment? She'll eventually promote the single/album after this but let her live her life!
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Member Since: 3/18/2008
Posts: 40,057
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Quote:
Originally posted by ρз∂гσ
Guys can Britney have a family time without worries for a moment? She'll eventually promote the single/album after this but let her live her life!
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!!!
She deserves a break after making that epic music video 
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Member Since: 3/21/2010
Posts: 19,112
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Quote:
Originally posted by ρз∂гσ
Guys can Britney have a family time without worries for a moment? She'll eventually promote the single/album after this but let her live her life!
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THIS!
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Member Since: 11/11/2009
Posts: 7,700
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Quote:
Originally posted by ρз∂гσ
Guys can Britney have a family time without worries for a moment? She'll eventually promote the single/album after this but let her live her life!
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& what happens if she doesn't?
i love Britney. i will always support her.
but Britney just continues to disappoint her fans.
we give her everything and she gives us nothing.
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Member Since: 6/5/2009
Posts: 13,743
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cahleb
& what happens if she doesn't?
i love Britney. i will always support her.
but Britney just continues to disappoint her fans.
we give her everything and she gives us nothing. |
She said she was going to promote the album on Twitter 
Why are we all still having this discussion. She will eventually promote. It's going to come--- let her rest on a vacation. That makes it more obvious that she is about to do a lot of promotion if she is going to visit her family right near the album release.
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Member Since: 11/11/2009
Posts: 7,700
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Quote:
Originally posted by Vini
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I might be a little lazay
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Member Since: 11/11/2009
Posts: 7,700
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Quote:
Originally posted by thegmangrant
She said she was going to promote the album on Twitter
Why are we all still having this discussion. She will eventually promote. It's going to come--- let her rest on a vacation. That makes it more obvious that she is about to do a lot of promotion if she is going to visit her family right near the album release. |
what's the point of promotion when the single is already dead?
it already fell down 3 spots on iTunes.
it's going to fall even more tomorrow.
the youtube views are going slow now.
would it really ****ing kill her to do ONE interview?
ONE ****ing performance instead of going on her seventh ****ing vacation this month?
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Member Since: 10/24/2010
Posts: 2,243
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cahleb
I might be a little lazay |
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Member Since: 11/7/2009
Posts: 9,863
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cahleb
I might be a little lazay |
We need to complete the song now 
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Member Since: 7/23/2010
Posts: 6,744
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cahleb
what's the point of promotion when the single is already dead?
it already fell down 3 spots on iTunes.
it's going to fall even more tomorrow.
the youtube views are going slow now.
would it really ****ing kill her to do ONE interview?
ONE ****ing performance instead of going on her seventh ****ing vacation this month? |
negative
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Member Since: 9/23/2009
Posts: 26,796
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cahleb
I might be a little lazay |
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 3/1/2007
Posts: 19,847
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cahleb
I might be a little lazay |
You all killed me with those lyrics! I can't even.
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Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 17,522
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Quote:
Originally posted by ifyouseekLEM
After reading a thread on Exhale, I finally checked out the Gimme More instrumental (I love instrumentals, but idk why [b]I never checked out GM before  )
Anyways.....I came.
Britney's singles have THE BEST instrumentals/production hands down.
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You have only just listened to Britney best ever instrumental?
Chile. 
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