Internet Culture

Britney Spears’ ‘Slave 4 U’ predicted everything awful about this summer

Hot, sweaty, and full of inappropriate touching.

Photo of Ziwe Fumudoh

Ziwe Fumudoh

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Summer has been around for three months, and we can’t say we’re sad about its

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departure. Now that the polar vortex is just a distant memory, the sun that we

prayed for has outworn its welcome. We’re at the point this August where any

venture outdoors is a matter of life and death. 

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Subsequently, we’ve found

ourselves spending more time away from the sun’s cruel glare, trolling the Internet—as millennials do. And after watching the “Slave 4 U” music video for the hundredth time this week,

we’ve noticed a correlation between Britney Spears’ behavior and the sudden swell of

anger that overcomes us whenever we have to go outside.

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There is a reason Britney Spears is an icon. Like the Eye of Providence, she

knows and sees all. Even in 2001, Spears knew the damage humanity would

wreak on our environment, predicting the record high temperatures, air pollution,

and sexual intensity that have plagued 2015.

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Thus, here are some of the worst moments of summer, as described by “Slave 4 U.” 

“Oh Crap, It’s Actually That Hot Outside” 

We know the feeling far too well. We wake up, check our phones, and see that

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the current temperature is 97 degrees—but feels like 117. At first we think this

is a sadistic trick played by weather.com, considering this kind of heat seems

physically impossible. We’re thousands of miles from the equator, and nothing

about summer in Manhattan says tropical. 

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Yet nature is full of surprises. Hellish

heat is the new normal.

We open the window of our stuffy apartment and are hit by a brick wall of

humidity. It’s so damn hot outside, pigeons are nosediving into the pavement.

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Britney understands this plight. Why do you think she’s leaning over her balcony

like that? She wants to jump. This humidity is not only messing up her hairdo, it’s

got her feeling like all hope is lost. 

“There Are No Work Appropriate Clothes For This” 

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We’ve started sweating in places we didn’t even know had glands. And since Bill

de Blasio hasn’t built those air-conditioned tunnels that The Jetsons promised us,

we have to confront the heat whether we want to or not. Sometimes that means

we have to go outside in a crop top and external thong. It may not be business

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casual, but it’s the only thing keeping us from heat exhaustion. With this August

humidity, our coworkers should be grateful we showed up in any clothing at all. 

There is no

such thing as indecent exposure in 100-degree-plus weather. At the very least we

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should be allowed to work on our tan. Yes, we have the body of a sexy teeny-bopper. Yes, our belly button is completely exposed. Please stop staring and start

working on staying hydrated. 

“Why Is Everyone Touching Me?” 

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August summers bring out the worst in people. We’ve come very close to cussing

out toddlers, but those oversized babies could’ve taken us. Everyone is moist

and everything is annoying. 

The last thing anyone wants to do is enter the

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seventh ring of hell, otherwise know as the subway platform. No fresh air gets in

and no fresh air gets out. Masses of vermin and unhygienic people congregate for several minutes before a gust of sewage-like air signals the arrival of a train. We’re excited

to get on the air-conditioned car only to realize that it’s so crowded, strangers are

rubbing their sweaty cottage-cheese bodies all over us. 

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It’s as intimate as this mass orgy in “Slave 4 U.” Foreign men lick the perspiration

off our faces. Our eyes roll to the back of our head, not from arousal but from the

very real possibility we might faint. 

“We Will Burn This Place To The Ground If We Have To”

Have you ever been so sullen, so desperate, that you’ve attempted to trigger your

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sprinkler system? Us neither. This is in no way an admission of guilt. 

All we’re

saying is that air-conditioning is a basic human right that every person deserves.

Rent is already too damn high, not to mention the catastrophic bill that comes

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with leaving our AC on for 64 days straight. During the summer, we’re all pushed

to our breaking point. Some react violently, lashing out at those they love, and

others devolve into anarchy. 

In Britney’s case, this means getting relief from the scorching heat at the risk of

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setting the building on fire and going down with it. We’re desperate, too. We’ve

been so hot that we wish we could peel off our skin and walk around as an skeleton. So hot that a nuclear winter sounds semi-appealing. So hot

that cryogenically freezing ourselves is a legitimate life decision. 

“What Is That Moisture Falling From The Sky?” 

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That moisture is the sky crying. She is sad because humans have mistreated her.

She knows that no amount of tears will restore her to her former glory. 

It happens

very infrequently but once in a blue moon, water will fall from the sky, and in a

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post-apocalyptic fury, people grab their bowls and begin dancing in the street. No

one knows when the rains will come again and as demonstrated in “Slave 4 U,” it’s best to celebrate the moment without acknowledging how sad it is.

Photo via BritneySpearsVEVO/YouTube 

 
The Daily Dot