Vanity Fair: "The Shockingly Melancholy Britney Spears Documentary You’ve Never Heard Of"

[_lebot]

Sorry guys, I’m on mobile! Just got this alert from Vanity Fair, worth a read! If anyone can post the full article it would be greatly appreciated  

MY LONELINESS IS KILLING ME

The Shockingly Melancholy Britney Spears Documentary You’ve Never Heard Of

Documentary filmmaker Judy Hoffman was given behind-the-scenes access to the biggest pop star in the world in 2002, and created an unconventional film about the loneliness of fame. Then the movie basically disappeared.

Full article here

Watch Stages:

 

 

 

[phareezy]

Interesting read. I've never seen this documentary but will watch tonight.

[NotBuyingIt]

Stages? It didn’t disappear!

[Tear the floor up up]

Oh, wow - thank you so much for posting. I really am a big fan of Stages so it's interesting to read how it came to fruition.

It looks like the The University of Chicago are doing a screening April 8 at 7pm Central time - I wonder if this includes commentary or a Q&A by Judy Hoffman?

https://filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu/events/2021/stages-three-days-mexico-britney-spears

[reVolution]

Love Stages, it was a nice movie

[Oxic]

That's an interesing interview, thanks for sharing it! I didn't know Britney wanted to study at NYU, that's new information!  And I always thought Stages was simply a documentary to promote her tour on Mexico, because it was the first time she was coming to a Spanish-speaking Latin American country, but I never understood why it showed so little about the concert! Now it makes sense! 

[I'mNotTheAverageLady]

Wish she would have gotten to go to NYU

[_lebot]

7 minutes ago, I'mNotTheAverageLady said:

Wish she would have gotten to go to NYU

Me too! I wish she would’ve stayed in NY honestly.

[Martian_M00d]

Holy cow, I've never seen this documentary  Thanks for posting it! 

[Anti-Hero]

I knew right away from the thread title it was stages. Her best documentary I think.

[Steel Magnolia]

Stages is a true documentary.

It's a filmmaker's film.

[abluebutterfly]

Thank you so much for sharing !!

[femmepop]

yeah I've always loved this doc! so moody!

I like the part where she's singing out of the balcony.

wow, didn't know it was the same filmographer who did Grey Gardens!!!  so cool....

obviously it would have been really cool to have more access to Britney in this doc but now I get why it's so minimalist. they just wanted to leave her alone 

the stages book is so weird.. I bought it recently and it seems like it's PR/damage control of her image after the Mexico flip-off scandal and the Justin breakup. Every page is like trying to reinforce how wholesome she is and how close and loving her family is with each other. kinda unsettling when you think of the current situation.

 

[femmepop]

24 minutes ago, Martian_M00d said:

Holy cow, I've never seen this documentary  Thanks for posting it! 

omg! go watch NOW!

[britneyluv]

3 minutes ago, femmepop said:

omg! go watch NOW!

Is there a link in the article to the documentary? I can't read the article because I don't have a VF subscription 

[femmepop]

10 minutes ago, britneyluv said:

Is there a link in the article to the documentary? I can't read the article because I don't have a VF subscription 

 

[britneyluv]

32 minutes ago, femmepop said:

 

Thank you!!! 

[(You Drive Chris) Crazy]

What a great article!!! Thank you!l for posting! 

[Urbanney]

We watched Stages when we did Exhale movie night a couple months back, and I hadn’t seen it in years. I couldn’t believe how monotonous and boring it was. Like I feel like I wasted an hour watching it. It was like an hour of nothing happening. 

I will say it made her life look really undesirable to me. Her just sitting around waiting for the show to get put together, always on the road, isolated, all work and no fun. 

[phareezy]

I just finished it a little while ago and it almost feels like it's not completed? Or these are outtakes. The edit was a choice lol

What I did find interesting was seeing a lot of the same sentiments Britney has been echoing for years RE: needing a break and wanting to explore other creative outlets. She's been tired for decades. You can also see just how much everyone on her team really loved her. I'm a sucker for anything behind-the-scenes so I loved this but it's also one of those docs that I only found interesting because the subject is Britney. I wouldn't have watched this if it were about anyone else (except Mariah ).

I found it a little jarring but also pleasant that when they did have the chance to ask her questions, they didn't (eg when she was getting ready alone in her room for the photoshoot). You would expect someone to start asking questions or even Britney to talk but nope. We just watch her get ready and that's it lol