tv

The long-awaited Britney Spears movie is here, and her fans are beyond furious.

 

“Leave Britney Alone,” were the tear-choked words one super fan famously gurgled to millions of viewers on YouTube.

That iconic phrase may be almost six years old but fans have once again flocked to pop star Britney Spears’ defence after her long-awaited Lifetime movie, Britney Ever After, was released to the American audience.

Listen to Laura Brodnik and Tiffany Dunk explain why the Britney movie has caused such a stir on the Binge. 

Britney Ever After, a film produced without the 35 year old’s approval, follows her life from its Mickey Mouse Club beginnings to its buzz cut endings and beyond.

The film, which is yet to be released to the Australian audience, ironically stars Australian actress Natasha Bassett as Britney.

Mamamia Entertainment Editor journalist Laura Brodnik spoke about how Bassett’s performance has been met with a tidal wave of anger from the singer’s fan base.

“Look, she didn’t really get the Nashville accent, sometimes it was there, sometimes it was a bit British, sometimes it was a bit Australian, not on purpose,” she said.

“Her fans.. they were so angry on her behalf. The actress who played her actually had to have her Twitter removed and shut down she was being abused so much.”

Natasha Basset as Spears and Nathan Keyes as Justin Timberlake. (Source: Lifetime)
ADVERTISEMENT

Fans have used social media to berate the film for its alleged lack of truthfulness, poor production, poor acting and seemingly negative portrayal of its biographical star.

Laura went on to explain how the overall production failed to hit the mark as an entertaining piece of content.

"I think it was meant to be car-crash fun TV but people did not take it that way, they were very angry," she said.

"It was terrible and not even terrible in a good way. It just painted a very bad picture of the princess of pop."

(Source: Lifetime.)
ADVERTISEMENT

Tiffany Dunk commented on how Bassett's performance was almost everything you didn't want to see in a lead.

"It was like a reverse Meryl Streep," Tiffany said.

Laura explained how fans were enraged with the video over two major moments: the first, a mention of an alleged sex tape; and the second, a break-up that led to a dance battle.

"When Britney and Justin Timberlake have their big fight that leads to the end of their relationship, it takes place in a nightclub, and they have a dance-off," she said."

"All of a sudden, the music stops and they're on the dance floor together. And then it kind of goes freeze-frame, slow-mo..."

Listen to the full episode of The Binge for the biggest TV moments of the week.

You can buy any book mentioned on our podcasts from iBooks at apple.co/mamamia, where you can also subscribe to all our other shows in one place.

You can watch Britney Ever After by visiting Lifetime.

00:00 / ???