The
audience of MTV's 20th annual
Video Music Awards on August 28th knew they were in for something
a little bit different for this year's opening act, but few were
prepared for what they saw. Britney and Christina opened the VMA
show dressed like brides singing Madonna's classic hit "Like
a Virgin," which then segued into Madonna's new song "Hollywood"
as Madonna stepped out of the wedding cake wearing a modified
tuxedo. What ensued was a drag show of sorts in which Madonna
was the "groom" and Britney Spears and Christina
Aguilera were the virginal brides, culminating in a french-kiss
between Madonna and Britney, and then between Madonna and Christina.
The
underlying pulse of lesbian sexuality in the performance would
have been interesting but not "shocking" if not for
the "sugar mamma" power dynamic between Madonna and
Britney/Christina, and the now-famous kisses.
During
the performance Madonna's dominance was clearly established through
the body language and interaction between her and Britney and
her and Christina. She frequently put her hands on Britney's and
Christina's bodies, both possessively and intimately--stroking
Britney's face, putting her hand on her Britney's hip, putting
her face against Christina's thigh as she pulled the garter off
Christina's leg (a popular American ritual performed by grooms
at the wedding reception). Britney
and Christina lapped it up.
When
they actually kissed towards the end of the song, however, the
women crossed a line that suddenly made explicit that which, up
until then, had still been implicit. With the kisses, there was
no more room for interpretation, no gray area--the women were
clearly supposed to be lovers.
And
Madonna, Britney, and Christina weren't playing tender, lovesick
lovers, they were playing raunchy, in-lust lovers. This is not
familiar territory for American viewers, who are used to television
shows that emphasize the romantic side of lesbian romance and
de-emphasize the sex.
This
performance was clearly all about sex and domination, a distinction
that wasn't lost on some in the media, as well. The San Francisco
Chronicle described the event as Madonna "dressed like a
dominatrix bridegroom...french-kissing both Aguilera and Spears
like a she-dog marking her territory" (Aug 30) and Slate.com
described Madonna as "the man—the sugar daddy, maybe,
twirling the little girls, keeping them in line, and finally kissing
Spears. She also kissed Aguilera, to be fair, but the camera barely
registered it, and we all know that Madonna has long leered at
Britney. Britney swooned into the kiss, her mouth soft" (Aug
29).
The
kisses became the highlight of the VMA's,
the moment no one could stop talking about even days after it
was over, and Madonna, Britney and Christina only fueled the fire
through interviews in which they all spoke positively about the
kisses, which were rehearsed several times as part of the performance.
Madonna,
who has always been very supportive of gay issues, stated in interviews
after the show that she enjoyed the kisses, as did Christina Aguilera,
whose video for her hit song "Beautiful" celebrated
love between gay men. On Access Hollywood and Extra,
Aguilera commented about Madonna "she's a good kisser...she's
got very soft lips and there's nothing like kissing a woman."
Up
until now, Britney has never taken a stand on gay issues one way
or the other. But when a reporter on Entertainment Tonight asked
Britney after the show "What does it feel like to be kissed
by Madonna?" Spears responded that "this is something
I've dreamt about since I was a little girl. I cannot believe
this just like freakin' happened. I am on a major high right now.
I feel very cool." This is heady stuff coming from a young
woman who only a few years ago was the reigning queen of teen
innocence.
