In this week’s Entertainment Weekly, one of the writers makes a weak joke about Britney Spears’ sparkly leotards having more charisma than she does these days. The jab seems made with some sadness—more regret at Britney being a shadow of what she once was, rather than cruelty toward the lackluster performer (and person) she now is.

I get the appeal of the Britney, and have enjoyed some of her tunes, but hasn’t she always been kind of a shadow of a performer—and a person? There was always something hollow in her eyes, something rote in her performance, just something missing. That’s to be expected, I suppose, of those brought up in the marketing/merchandising/Disneyfied machine, as she was. But even the dreaded Miley has a sparkle in her eyes. She’s a spoiled brat, but at least there’s evidence of some (idiotic, selfish, maniacal) wheels turning.

Britney could lip sync. She could perform choreography. She could whip her abs into presentable shape. But charisma? Soul? I could never see it.

It’s really, really sad that this is so, because she seems so obviously a person who has been robbed, in the most fundamental way, of LIFE. She seems drugged into obedience and oblivion. Just a soulless shell, poured into sparkly leotards or sexy schoolgirl outfits.

As “… Baby One More Time” played during my drive in this morning, I sat for a while at a long red light. It’s back to school day for some of the private schools in my area, and across the intersection I spied a girl in school uniform: white button-down shirt, blue pleated skirt, black maryjanes, backpack so big it seemed about to tip her over. The girl was probably six or seven years old, and she was bouncing up and down, big grin on her face, as she waited for the “walk” signal. As the light changed, she bounded across the street, jumping up on the curb with a little twirl, grinning all the while. Then I noticed that her father (presumably) had been waiting in his car to see her safely across the street. She waved at him, still bouncing, still grinning, and he waved back, a broad grin on his face as well.

It was adorable. Genuine and loving and full of life.

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