Because Britney Spears announced herself to the world in a way that essentially shouted, “Hey pedos, check me out!,” it would still be deemed problematic by many to suggest the notion of “re-soundtracking” her “…Baby One More Time” video to the tune of Madonna’s “School,” one of the many standout tracks from her latest album, Confessions II. And yet, looking at the aesthetic and pacing of Spears’ debut video now, “School” is definitely what comes to mind (or maybe that’s only if you’re a hybrid Madonna-Britney fan).
Indeed, now that “School” exists, from the moment the camera, positioned in an “at ground level” way, pans toward Spears’ tapping shoe against the metal leg of her desk, it’s easy to hear the opening, drugged-out notes to the Stuart Price-produced bop. When director Nigel Dick cuts to Spears’ bored expression as she impatiently taps her pencil against an open textbook, it’s also Madonna’s initial voiceover to “School” that would retroactively work well here, with the latter seductively yet blasély saying, “There’s only one thing I like more than sharing what I know with other people. And that’s learning. Please someone, teach me something I don’t already know.”
While some would argue such “rhetoric” doesn’t suit the vibe Spears is giving off at all during this opening scene (instead wishing to be unchained from her book and out doing “philistine things”), it certainly applied to her thinking behind-the-scenes as she dealt with out-of-touch and not-so-intelligent executives, as well as none other than respected music video director Joseph Kahn himself (who wouldn’t be “reanointed” by Spears as a viable director for her work until the video for 2000’s “Stronger” and, later, for 2004’s [though released on In the Zone in 2003] “Toxic,” 2008’s “Womanizer” and 2013’s “Perfume”). For, as Spears recalled to Rolling Stone, “They had this really bizarre [a polite euphemism from a polite Southerner] video idea, this animated Power Ranger-y thing. I said, ‘This is not right. If you want me to reach four-year-olds, then okay, but if you want me to reach my age group…” She then went on to say, “So I had this idea where we’re in school and bored out of our minds, and we have Catholic uniforms on.” Already, Spears is speaking the language of Madonna, a notorious Catholic (even if considered a “lapsed” one by the more devout) who has spent most of her own career thumbing her nose at the religion by blending the “sacred” with the “profane.”
And yes, as far as Catholic school uniforms go, it’s certainly profane to shorten skirts and tie up tops so that stomachs are exposed, thus, appealing to a quintessential trope of the male fantasy—and one that had gained more traction in the late 90s and early 00s as schoolgirl-themed porn became more widely available. Yet, in Spears’ signature “who me?” sort of way (despite also reminding listeners early on, “I’m…not…that…innocent!”), she would remark that her thought process was, “‘Why don’t we have knee-highs and tie the shirts up to give it a little attitude?’—so it wouldn’t be boring and cheesy. Yes, “attitude” is one way to phrase what the look “gives.”
In any event, the point is that Spears was teaching others what she knew and desperately hoping that a grown-up could at least teach her something she didn’t already know. Like how to appeal to teenagers. Alas, that job was up to Spears as well—though she ended up appealing to people (read: creepo men) far beyond that age bracket once the video was released. Nonetheless, as she dances and runs about the halls of Venice High School (the same place where Grease was shot, and yes, Spears might have been slightly inspired by that kind of “vibe” as well) with a coterie of other “students,” the lyrics to “School” would work just as effectively.
Including Madonna’s repetition of the phrase, “I’d rather be your lover.” Later, that will apply to Spears’ obvious “heart eyes” for the guy sitting on the bleachers (try not to be too weirded out by the fact that her real-life cousin, Chad Spears, plays this part) near her in front of the basketball court (at a certain point when Spears is doing another dance breakdown, one can even just make out the lettering that reads “Venice Gondoliers,” another telltale sign of where the video was shot). The person she obviously didn’t really want to break up with and is now prompting her to beseech him to get back together with such confessions as, “My loneliness is killing me,” “When I’m not with you, I lose my mind” and “The reason I breathe is you.”
As for the scenes where she’s dancing outside of the high school in white sweatpants (though they could pass for track pants as well, should Regina George ever be on patrol) and a pink bra top, they would pair well with Madonna’s assurance, “I can make moves on the dance floor/I can make love on a man’s floor/Tell me you’re a man, but you’re not so/Tell me that you love me, but you don’t know.” But, of course, certain parts of that verse go back to the ick factor of Spears being just sixteen when this video was shot in August of 1998 (which, incidentally, would have been the same month as Madonna’s fortieth birthday). At the same time, if one can “look past” that (as so many also seemed to when Spears did her salacious debut photoshoot [helmed by none other than David LaChapelle] for Rolling Stone), it makes room for the many other ways that the lyrics of “School”—along with its pulsing, rhythmic beat—work so well for this video. Not least of which is Madonna declaring, “School is in session.”
While the antithesis is technically going on throughout “…Baby One More Time,” there’s no denying that there’s plenty of other kinds of “schooling” going on (not least of which is Spears schooling her audience in the art of yearning). And most of it falls under the lusty category Madonna’s talking about in her “education-themed” song. As for the final “twist” of the “…Baby One More Time” video—that it was all a daydream Spears was having while still sitting there bored in class—well, let’s just say it’s in keeping with having the kind of “healthy fantasy life” that Madonna has long advocated for.
+ There are no comments
Add yours