Everytime

For most people, the newest video of Britney Spears, "Everytime", left question marks in their minds. Was this a suicide video? How the hell did she get blood on the side of her head? What's with the baby? Did she really die in the video? What's with the ending?

Unlike the "Because I'm a Girl" video of the Korean pop group KISS where they used symbolisms to strengthen the story, "Everytime" used symbolisms to tell the story. It started off well, telling a story of a harrassed celebrity and his boyfriend. However, starting from the scene where she drowned in the bathtub onwards used symbolisms too much that they drowned their significance along with the emotions attached. As a result, instead of inducing tears or whatever emotion they wanted, people would just be left ALONE in wonder. If ever there were tears, it was probably due to the song's somewhat doleful lyrics and melody. The video could not stand alone.

To answer these questions produced by the video, here's my explanation. If it's correct or not, only Britney or the producer would know. As far as they're concerned, Britney said that it wasn't a suicide video, so Britney fans, your star wasn't planning on committing suicide anytime soon.

The video showed an overworked Britney being harrassed by the media. As she attempted to wade through the sea of photographers, she got hit by a camera on the side of the head. She was unfazed, as she had only one thing in mind, to relax back home. She finally reached her limousine and sped off towards her home.

Along the way, Britney and her boyfriend argued. When they finally reached home, she tried to refrain from talking back to her boyfriend. She just wanted to relax, not to add another burden. The guy angrily threw a vase at the wall, but she still continued towards the bathroom to have a relaxing bath. She took off her shirt. Then, the scene was cut to the guy who took off his shirt in the living room. This was a device used to say that Britney took off the rest of her clothes in the bathroom. This was also a subtle symbolism of both Britney and her boyfriend "stripping" all the negative emotions out and cooling down.

As Britney soaked in the bathtub, she ran her hand on the side of her head and found blood on her hand. If you remember earlier, she got hit by a camera on the way to her limousine. She fainted and sank to the bottom of the tub.

This scene was cut to a scene where Britney, in white, was running in a white hallway. This scene was repeated more than twice in the video. It signified that she was running away from something. She was also running towards the camera as if she was running to us for help.

It then returned to Britney's home where his boyfriend rescued her from drowning in the tub. She was unconscious, so she was brought to the hospital via an ambulance.

Now, in the hospital, Britney, clad in white, was walking along. She passed by herself on a hospital bed with doctors and nurses around trying to revive her. In the other part of the room, there was a mother who just successfully delivered a baby.

The scenes shifts back and forth from the running scene to the hospital scene. The camera finally zoomed in on the newborn baby. Then, it was cut back to the bathtub scene where Britney rose from the bottom of the tub, wiped the water away from her eyes and smiled.

From what I understood, she didn't really go to the hospital. She did almost drown. The scenes thereafter were therefore, a "life flash" much like what the famous saying, "Your life flashes in front of you before you die."

Her "life flash" had two stages as seen in the divided room. In the left, Britney was half-dead. In the right, a newborn baby, a contrast, a past and future. Her "life flash" ended on the baby. This signified that she was now like a newborn baby, clean, and worry-free. Britney "rising" from the tub signified moving on, a cleansing, a "rebirth", a new Britney. Her problems in the past (rumors, ex-boyfriend, etc.) that burdened her so much were washed away by the water, and no longer bothered her anymore. She was ready to face everyone and everything once more.

And of course, one can't help feeling that this video was also a publicity stunt to hype up Britney again.

Black & Blue
This upcoming UAAP season, Norman Black, is now the Team Development Consultant of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.