 |
|
|
|
|
|
 Probe Movie Review by Alice Higgins Professor of Wymyn's Studies University of Toronto Crossroads - Starring Britney Spears I must confess a fair bit of ignorance when it comes to the popularity of pop music sensation Britney Spears. My own musical taste tends to run to the more sophisticated. The last time I enjoyed a song that was also a top 40 hit was many years ago when The Indigo Girls released Closer To Fine as a single, and I only attended the Lilith Fair Concerts out of cultural curiosity. That having been said, all I knew about Miss Spears was that she is quite popular with young wymyn, and that the penis-stroking masses of phallic exuberance happen to find her quite bewitching as well. Thus, I went into the new film Crossroads with only a vague notion of what to expect. Perhaps I should have been tipped off by the crowd -- mainly adolescent girls and middle-aged raincoat-wearing men -- that perhaps the film may not be my cup of tea. What I saw on that screen shocked me. Britney, a striking young womyn with firm breasts and tight muscular definition, spends the opening scene of the film nearly naked -- no doubt to the delight of the penis-polishing perverts in attendance. I sat in the darkened theatre watching the pneumatic Miss Spears wiggling and shimmying around her bedroom, lip-syncing to a Madonna song clad only in a T-Shirt and skimpy panties! Moments later, she strips down even further, wearing little more than a pair of tiny lace panties for an inexplicable tryst with a boyfriend. After these first 10 minutes, I was convinced of one thing: Britney Spears is one of the most charismatic young wymyn to grace the screen since Judy Garland. I have to confess that her stage presence was so strong (skimpy outfits notwithstanding) that I found it difficult to watch anything else on the screen. For the first time since Melissa Etheridge appeared on the infamous "coming out" episode of Ellen, an on-screen musician captivated me totally. Alas, the film itself has problems. Miss Spears dates and has sexual relations with a young penis-bearing man -- always a mistake -- and over the course of the road trip she takes with her two girlfriends, not once do they collapse in a Sapphic pile of limbs and labia as they might have. The presence of the enchanting Britney made up for the film's shortcomings, though. For the first time in my life, I can appreciate that over which the penis parade is all worked up. One thing is clear: Spears would definitely benefit from taking my wymyn's studies courses, so that she can fully appreciate what her sisters can offer her. In the meantime, I'm off to the Virgin Megastore to see if I can find a copy of that HBO special that she made. In the name of cultural curiosity, of course. |
|
|
|
or whenever we damn well feel like it. Copyright 2001-2004 / All Rights Reserved No use allowed without prior permission. |
|