We weren't ashamed to be corny.

March 21, 2016 7:07 AM

The script was for a retelling of Antigone set in an African American town in the 1930s, and it thoroughly impressed Carli. "The writing shook me, it was so good," she said. The women tried and failed to produce the film with Miramax, at which point Carli had her lightbulb moment: "What do you think about Britney Spears?"

--Not a Hit, Not Yet a Cult Classic: Shonda Rhimes on the Making of 'Crossroads'
posted by almostmanda (26 comments total)

[R]etelling of Antigone set in an African American town in the 1930s....
"What do you think about Britney Spears?"

The Hollywoodiest of Hollywood moments: Here's great script about black people. How about we have someone white in the lead?

(On the other hand, it seems like this was a pretty decent-sized stepping stone for Shonda Rhimes, among others, so maybe the scales, on this score only, are balanced.)
posted by aureliobuendia at 7:15 AM on March 21, 2016 [3 favorites]

I have very fond memories of walking to Sainsburys, running into a bunch of nerdbro guys from work who were there to pick up their copies of Attack of the Clones on DVD, and I was picking up Crossroads.

The DVD has an entire segment where Taryn Manning teaches you how to cut strips in of the bottom of your t-shirt and then add beads to each strip.

It's all so earnest and cheerful and I love it.
posted by Katemonkey at 7:17 AM on March 21, 2016 [6 favorites]

Mount was initially hesitant to take on a film starring the teen icon, but was eventually persuaded by none other than his City By The Sea costar Robert De Niro, who was a huge fan of Spears and even ran lines with Mount on set, reading Britney's part.

*head explodes*
posted by Etrigan at 7:18 AM on March 21, 2016 [19 favorites]

[R]etelling of Antigone set in an African American town in the 1930s....

Wait, does Crossroads have Britney Spears getting entombed alive for burying her disgraced brother?

I need to see this movie.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:30 AM on March 21, 2016 [12 favorites]

I have very fond memories of walking to Sainsburys, running into a bunch of nerdbro guys from work who were there to pick up their copies of Attack of the Clones on DVD, and I was picking up Crossroads.

You definitely got the better end of that deal.
posted by beerperson at 7:41 AM on March 21, 2016 [6 favorites]

I don't like beads, they're coarse and rough and irritating and get everywhere...
posted by Artw at 7:58 AM on March 21, 2016 [12 favorites]

Now that Shonda Rhimes is powerful and rich, can we get that Antigone movie now?
posted by pxe2000 at 8:26 AM on March 21, 2016 [9 favorites]

My wife has watched this movie a couple of times since we've been together, and I've never been interested in watching with her, specifically because (as referenced in the article) it was so widely panned by critics, and I always thought of it as a trashy teen movie. Now after reading this though, I think Maybe I'll sit down and watch it with her next time.
posted by KGMoney at 8:27 AM on March 21, 2016

I heard Britney really wanted to play the Taryn Manning character but her people didn't want her to be single and pregnant by sexual assault. It might explain why Manning's character is the one who wants to sing and Britney's pretty much just hanging out.
posted by yellowbinder at 8:28 AM on March 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

This article needs more Kim Cattrall.
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:42 AM on March 21, 2016

However, most who worked on the film seem not to care about the opinions of old white men.

Seem?
posted by GhostintheMachine at 9:05 AM on March 21, 2016

My brother the film nerd still unabashedly loves this movie.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 9:16 AM on March 21, 2016

Britney Spears is in Crossroads??!!? Is she one of the Julliard students at the beginning, before Ralph Macchio goes down to the delta to look for the lost Robert Johnson song or something?

And what does any of this have to do with Antigone?
posted by Naberius at 9:17 AM on March 21, 2016 [7 favorites]

This is the first Crossroads that came to mind for me. I'm definitely in the wrong thread.

But now that I think about it, wouldn't that be a star pairing in a film that could come out of left field: Tom Waits and Britney Spears. He could be the alcoholic grandpa who sells her soul at the Crossroads for her music career. I mean, she is from Louisiana and all. Kinda weirdly fitting.
posted by deadaluspark at 9:20 AM on March 21, 2016 [3 favorites]

I thought of this one, myself.
posted by jonmc at 9:36 AM on March 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

I definitely agree with the article's statement that the film is just so unflinchingly sincere. When I saw it in theatres its lack of snark made me uncomfortable and so I dismissed it. I think I need to rewatch it. This article makes it sound like I have been missing out! Thanks for the great post!
posted by wyndham at 9:49 AM on March 21, 2016

But now that I think about it, wouldn't that be a star pairing in a film that could come out of left field: Tom Waits and Britney Spears.

We are not getting this movie because I'm a good person who has done good things, but I have not done enough and could never do enough on this earth to deserve this movie.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:24 AM on March 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is so sweet, I'll have to go look during the weekend
posted by mumimor at 10:34 AM on March 21, 2016

Is it okay to un-ironically love Britney Spears again? Because, if it is, I'm still not going to do it.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:42 AM on March 21, 2016 [6 favorites]

Ha, I was thinking of this Crossroads. Incidentally, one of the dullest opening credit sequences of all time.
posted by doornoise at 12:14 PM on March 21, 2016

If they'd thrown in a few close-ups of the driver that could have been the perfect antithesis of the Sopranos' credit sequence.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:33 PM on March 21, 2016

The scene between Kim Catrall and Britney Spears is subtler and more heart breaking than it had any right to be, and weirdly naturalistic
posted by PinkMoose at 3:17 PM on March 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was a teenage girl when this teenage girl movie came out, and I teen girl-ed out about it!

I loved this movie, and I love Taryn Manning because of it. I listened to BoomKat, which was her band she had with her brother for a lot of years, and I was very excited to see her face on OITNB when it started.

Is it okay to un-ironically love Britney Spears again?

I think maybe it's because I'm exactly the demographic she was targeting, but I have ALWAYS liked britney spears un-ironically. She makes really fun pop music, and I feel like she made a lot of very public stupid mistakes that reflected (to a more extreme level because of her fame, obviously) a lot of the regular mistakes that a lot of girls make while they grow up. I don't know, but sometimes when you're a 24 year old idiot who feels like they ruined their life and are on the verge of having a meltdown, it's good to see someone beautiful and successful right there with you, and then when you're 28 and feeling good and like a powerful grown up lady, it's nice have Britney get herself together and bounce back too. I've always felt like.. really fond of Britney.

Plus, is there a better song to do any kind of physical activity to than "Work Bitch"? (maaaaybe Gorillaz - DARE, but other than that, no.)
posted by euphoria066 at 9:19 PM on March 21, 2016 [5 favorites]

Yes to Britney Spears! I was in my late teens when Hit Me Baby came out, and was far too cool to like pop music (I was going to illegal raves instead), but I have still always loved Britney. I do 't think it is possible to hate on Britney and still call yourself a feminist (sure you can dislike the music, but as a very young woman negotiating a hostile and misogynist media, she has had a very tough row to hoe).

And Piece of Me is one of the best songs about the precariousness of fame (along with Lady Gaga's Paparazzi, and maybe Beyonce's Pretty Hurts though that's more about beauty standards in genera). Show me a male performer or any band that can measure up.
posted by tinkletown at 5:09 AM on March 23, 2016

I am watching this RIGHT NOW, yay Netflix!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:58 PM on March 26, 2016

Review, having not seen it since it originally came out: The plot creaks, but it's well-cast and well-acted ... better-acted than the script deserves, really. The teenagers are mostly believably teenagery and it's fun to watch, particularly when the girls are being giddy. And I totally forgot that the punch-throwing training ties back into the plot. The plots are a biiiiiit darker than I remembered, for sure.

Also Britney has consistently super-cute hair in this movie.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:35 PM on March 26, 2016