Let us go back. “All the way” to 2016. The year many say set off the chain of events that would send America down a path of destruction from which it would never return. Before that fateful November, however, there were simpler moments to concern oneself with. Like the release of Britney Spears’ ninth album, Glory. Billed as one of Britney’s best albums of her career (for taking a more “serious” tone and emphasizing her vocal ability on a grander scale–of course, take that with a grain of salt), Glory fell short in a particularly glaring way: the album cover.
A photograph taken by Randee St. Nicholas (who would replace LaChapelle) on the set of “Make Me…” serves as the simplistic, “ethereal” image we’re supposed to infer is part of the “glory” of embracing a more “engaged and involved” Britney (again, this was 2016, when she probably still was, instead of checking out mentally as evidenced by her Instagram of Insanity by Way of Daily Sameness). Yet there was another photographer at hand throughout the promotional artwork creation for the record: one, David LaChapelle. Considering that LaChapelle had directed the original version of the “Make Me…” video before having something of a falling out with Britney over the final product, maybe all Brit needed was time (a moment that was hers) to heal in order to be okay with showing the world something a misogynist prick did (and make no mistake, gays can be the most misogynistic of all). However, precisely because he is a misogynist prick, he is able to make Britney look her most objectified (therefore “best”) in years. Arguably not since the days of “Oops…I Did It Again” has she appeared so… ogle-able.
This is also apparent in the original cut of the video, the one that LaChapelle remarked upon as follows, “The video wasn’t released because Britney didn’t like it.” Perhaps because it was 1) way too grimly Leaving Las Vegas for her taste and 2) filled with the long-standing objectification of Spears that has been present throughout her career, except on steroids. Complete with G-Eazy mounting Britney and banging her so that we see him from her perspective (it has un certain Being John Malkovich quality). Oh, and Britney gyrating inside of a cage next to her pool after being in something of a mock orgy with a gaggle of gay men. The “making a video” within a video concept remains (along with overt OrangeTheory Fitness and EOS lip balm promotion and some scenes of G-Eazy still in the mounting perspective pose, though slightly less offensive) in what would become the final version. Making Los Angeles instead of Las Vegas its focal point (casting, after all), one must also remember that Britney was still very much the Queen of Vegas at this time, hence LaChapelle favoring many The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert-flavored shots of her for the concept behind the photos.
But when Britney decided to turn the tables on LaChapelle and the many others throughout her career who have preferred to cash in on her by way of stringing her up for her sex appeal by releasing a more tongue-in-cheek video for the song, she perhaps thought dispensing with all work LaChapelle did on the project would be best. Which is why if she was going to use his artwork at any point, it would have been best to do it in a context pre-#MeToo movement, when it was still “okay” to get away with such visions of sexual apotheosis told from the viewpoint of a man. While Britney was merely trying to “give back” to her fans for getting Glory to number one on the iTunes charts for its anniversary (even though it was released on August 26), changing the cover now somehow almost feels like both a capitulation to patriarchal perspectives on women, as well as a bittersweet reminder of what might have been for the album had it possessed this cover for its promotional blitzkrieg. One that was particularly stymied when someone had the not so bright idea for Britney to perform right after Beyonce at the 2016 VMAs, then still in the thick of being worshipped for her release of the visual album, Lemonade.
As enthusiasm waned for promoting the record via other means besides her long-running Vegas residency, Piece of Me (which ran from late 2013 to 2017 before Britney decided to bring it to other cities on a short-lived tour), the grandeur of Glory seemed to get lost, with Spears opting to cease making any music videos after “Slumber Party” (perhaps because she met still current boyfriend, Sam Asghari, and got permanently distracted). Thus, Spears offered all of two singles from a record chock full of songs tailored for radio airplay. And one is just sayin’…maybe by setting a higher standard with a better record cover to begin with, more care and attention would have been given to Glory to secure its success in the time it was released.
