Sexuality and American Culture

I think Britney's latest video warrants some collective discussion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psCNcbyvizI

A lot of the crucial issues we've been discussing are directly addressed in this video. The issue of language: If You Seek Amy, heard F-U-C-K Me. The newscast that begins and ends the video has a caption that reads: "Britney Spears Song Lyrics Spell Out Obscenity in Disguise"). This concept of "obscenity in disguise" is visualized. Britney takes the stereo typical suburban home and transforms it into a whorehouse-- a collection of half-naked people seductively rubbing themselves and dancing in various rooms of the house, watching others and being watched. The image in the middle of the video illustrates performativity and absorption of media images: Britney and other women dancing in a living room on some couches, a television flickering in the background and projecting light onto them, and a group of men in the background watching the whole scene. And then of course we have Amy-- decked out in hot pink, white heals, bleached blond hair, and nothing less than CHERRY PIE [!!!]-- putting on the forementioned masks, descending down a flight of stairs amidst a collage of patent leather, and walking out the front door. As soon as she enters the space of the front lawn (the publice sphere), the white-picket fence, as well as her perfectly constructed family, house and neighborhood (all disguises) come into view, and are recorded for further projection by a host of television crews, photographers, and reporters!!!

"It doesn't make any sense, does it [!!!]"

Anyway, I think it's totally genius! Britney is Back!!! I think it's a great comment on the the nature of public and private spheres. We have these images of who how to look, act, and feel out on the lawn, but an entirely different reality in the house. The great part of this video is that the house-- the supposed private sphere-- is saturated with a bunch of wild strangers, representative of virtually being able to see and interact with others all the time, the constant penetration of outside life on inside life on inside life on outside life, an orgy of spheres.