After Britney Spears was supposed to make a “comeback” performance (all just because she shaved her head) at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, the media was quick to lambast her flaccid, “embarrassing” display. Looking at said rendition of a lip-synced “Gimme More” now, it still rings true that Britney wasn’t that invested in the performance, but it honestly exhibits far more showmanship than what most singers offer at present. Perhaps setting herself up for an unwanted comparison to “Fat Elvis,” Britney opted to sing the opening verses to “Trouble” before her segue into “Gimme More.” This was meant as a knowing nod not only to her tabloid reputation, but the fact that the VMAs took place in Elvis’ honorary “home” of Las Vegas that year (Brit not yet knowing her own fate would be a Vegas residency against her will as well). But Britney seemed to be the only one relishing her tongue-in-cheek humor. Everyone else, instead, was sharpening their claws (as made evident by several expressions from fellow celebs in the audience).
Worst of all, Brit’s still fairly-fresh ex, Justin Timberlake, was the host—and the winner of many awards that evening. A salt-in-wound factor that the Lifetime movie about Spears—Britney Ever After—was sure to emphasize. With no shortage of criticism the following day, ranging from calling her “listless” to “lumbering” to “dazed,” Britney had become a laughingstock. In essence, this was no longer the perfectionist Britney the world had become accustomed to. No, this was Brit in her washed-up Elvis phase for sure. In fact, there was even an article released in the aftermath called, “Is Britney the New Elvis?” Comparing their “bloated” appearances (Britney literally looked like a normal person) and respective fondness for junk food and drug abuse (Britney’s was well-known by this time, and even being spotted with Provigil in her purse was enough to set tongues wagging), one thing that was still too early to document was the parallel between Colonel Tom Parker and Jamie Spears. The former being a “father figure” to Elvis (despite his own dad, Vernon, still being alive) and the latter being Britney’s “real” dad. A little too real, in terms of abusiveness.
Alas, as we’ve seen time and time again in the music industry, just because someone appears powerful doesn’t mean they actually are behind-the-scenes. Indeed, it seems as though there’s some psychological aspect to having fame and clout that makes the person in possession of it more vulnerable to having their power stripped away, as though they want to constantly test the limits of loyalty when massive amounts of money are involved. And oh, how the Spears family—with Jamie at the helm—tested those limits. Repeatedly. That definitely included Jamie Lynn Spears. And ironically, for further six degrees of separation absurdity, Austin Butler, who has brought Presley back to life in Elvis, cropped up as a lead in the fourth season of Zoey 101, the show that made Jamie Lynn “a star.” This occurring at a time when Britney was still fiercely protective of her (not that) “innocent” little sister before coming to terms with the reality that she was actually “scum” (as she wrote freely on her Instagram—among many other damning accusations upon being released from her conservatorship).
Britney and Elvis, however, chose to keep a close-knit relationship with their families at the start of their fame. Not just because they were so young, but because trusting anyone else felt like it would be a fool move. Little did they know… In contrast to Britney, Elvis remained within the paternal clutches voluntarily as the decades passed. But each star’s take on the suddenness of their celebrity is elucidated in a 1972 press conference during which Elvis appeared before a number of journalists with his father. One reporter ineloquently asked Vernon, “At what point did you realize your son was more than your son and our very, very famous person?” Vernon waffles a bit before settling on the obvious moment: that 1956 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Elvis elaborates, “All kidding aside, it happened very fast to all of us, my mother, my father and all of us. Everything happened overnight so we had to adjust to a lot of things very quickly.”
The story was the same for Britney as well, who often didn’t realize why people were staring at her in 1999 until she remembered she had a number one single—and the infamous video that went with it. In truth, it’s the type of video that definitely would’ve attracted the pedo in Elvis—a notorious Humbert Humbert type, whose magic number for “women” (a.k.a. girls) always seemed to be fourteen. Maybe he had a savior complex, or maybe, as some people have tried to say of Michael Jackson, he was obsessed with the innocence he never got. Or maybe he was just another dude living in pre-#MeToo patriarchy. For one aspect of fame Brit never got to enjoy was “having fun” with boys. No, no. That would only get her branded as a slut. Whereas Elvis was simply a good-looking man “blowing off steam.” When Brit did any such thing, it was front-page news about the fall of America and her being a shitty role model. Which is how her father wormed his way into getting her a conservatorship in the first place. Too many wrong moves and all at once she was being strapped to a gurney and branded as a madwoman while Elvis got to tear it up in Vegas until he ate and drugged himself silly. Elvis might have had an “honorary conservator” in the Colonel (who also grossly mismanaged funds), but his freedom was boundless compared to what eventually befell Britney. Just another case in point of the double standard women—and especially women in the entertainment industry—are forced to go up against.
While the Colonel strong-armed Elvis into sticking him with him till the end of his days because he would have been completely broke otherwise, Jamie maintained Britney under his thumb by using the threat of keeping her own children from her with the power of the conservatorship. Very effective fear-mongering indeed, for Britney never blatantly spoke out against her father or the vise grip he had, instead offering loaded statements over time that could be easily interpreted to understand her misery (e.g. that 2008 special, Britney: For the Record). Ergo the dawn of the #FreeBritney revolution.
With both icons having lived as prostitutes for their oppressive fatherly pimps, there’s no doubt that each was left to wonder quite often if the fame and alleged fortune was all worth it—particularly since they couldn’t even pursue the projects or embrace the authenticity they actually wanted to. In the Baz Luhrmann biopic, Elvis’ own fear of disappointing the Colonel is especially manifest at the outset of his career, when he obeys the request to appear in coattails on The Steve Allen Show—and not “wiggle” in any way (both Elvis and Britney being verbally lashed consistently for oozing sexuality through choreo). Forced to sing “Hound Dog” with the same breed of canine next to him in a top hat, Elvis fans were immediately disenchanted with his sudden buttoned-up vibe. And all so the Colonel could keep the U.S. government off his own back, what with being an illegal alien and all.
Fittingly enough, an interpolation of “Toxic” occurs for a brief few moments in Elvis (perhaps a knowing wink from Baz)—and one truly wishes some kind of mash-up had occurred for the soundtrack (along with Lana Del Rey providing a cover). But it’s clear Britney is far from ready, if she ever will be, to return to recording. Unlike Elvis, she’s no longer allowing herself to be a slave (yes, the uncanniness of her having a song called “I’m A Slave 4 U” is a bit too much).
Not only connected in being egregiously pimped out for profit by those who were supposedly closest to them, both Brit and Elvis were born to cash-strapped families (hence the money-grubbing later on) in Mississippi before ending up in other Bible Belt states (she in Louisiana and he in Tennessee). The distance between their birthplaces of McComb to Tupelo is roughly four hours and fifteen minutes by car. But the distance between Spears and Presley is so much closer than that. As though the latter reached across time and space to connect with another legend and say, “I know this is terrible honey” (even if he was being a lecher while saying it). On the plus side, at least Britney has finally regained control of her life and her fortune—and one can only hope she never encounters another Colonel Tom Parker sort again. Or that, if she does, she’ll have the good sense to run as far and as fast as possible in the other direction.
