Within the first few moments of the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, an implosion occurred in living rooms across the United States: Britney Spears had broken the hearts of an entire generation.
Once heralded as the one-woman entertainment powerhouse of the new millennium, Britney Spears has proven to the public today that she is emotionally unstable, cognitively dormant and has more trouble pinning her evasive shadow of glory to her fake hair extensions than Peter Pan did to his shoes. There's no more romance with Justin Timberlake, no more Pepsi commercials, no more unsoiled wardrobe choices and definitely no more of that sensational tummy that prompted new high-school regulations for T-shirt lengths.
This woman managed to outrun her reputation faster than a celebrity launching a new fragrance at CVS Pharmacy. If it weren't for easy access to concert and music videos on YouTube, folks may forget this girl's dancing feet once commanded stadium-sized performances from Tokyo to Toronto. The media frenzy in recent years surrounding Spears' personal life has tormented the public almost as much as the drive-through employees at every Taco Bell in southern California. Is she a lesbian? Why did she really go to rehab? Why doesn't she spend time with her children? Where is her underwear? The fixation on these vapid enigmas shines light on the public's real concern with a question far more fundamental: Where is the Britney Spears the public once adored?
To put it simply, it ain't that simple. A laundry list of issues has beleaguered the pop star since her doomed marriage in 2004 to Kevin Federline. Anyone who stands in line at the grocery store checkout could tell you more about Britney Spears than her mother could right now. Her management team is apparently high on Whitney Houston's old stash, because it seems to be incapable of effectively guiding the dimming starlet back to her rightful place in the celebrity cosmos. It is possible the general public would be more effective at cutting Britney's hair, changing her clothes and helping her keep good table manners than anyone in Los Angeles.
It was once believed that Madonna would pass down her torch to Spears, but now this starlet is having enough trouble keeping her own candle ablaze.
The solution? Spears' VMA debacle may surprisingly become the most effective reality check for a woman so dazed and confused in self-image. "Oh, my God, I looked like a fat pig! I looked like a fat pig!" she cried out in her dressing room after the performance, according to US Weekly. If Britney needed a wake-up call in her professional life, this latest media blowout sounds loud and clear: Clean up your act, don't burn your bridges, get back to the dance studio and hire a stylist from anywhere but your hometown. In fact, the media's overwhelming disappointment with her MTV performance proves how much they have come to expect from this buxom blonde. But more importantly, it says that if Britney wants a comeback, she is going to have to earn it.
If stardom is Neverland, Britney Spears is in desperate need of some fairy dust. That shadow will show up again - she just needs to be on her toes this time to catch it.
