Britney Spears' legion of boom

Britney Spears either slayed the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night or shuffled around stage like she was still waking up from an ill-advised nap. The reactions were mixed — as they tend to be with our princess of pop. But far more compelling than the snarky hate of the critics was the ferocious defensiveness of fans insistent that, hey, at least she's trying.

When critics questioned Britney's ability to effectively strut or mouth the words to potentially old recordings on Sunday night, the Britney army rose to her defense, either fiercely denying that lip syncing took place or praising her showmanship, pre-recorded vocals and all. But most of all, there was unbridled excitement over how energetic she was, a sense of glee based just on her willingness to put in the work. It was less devotee and more stage mom.

The question of Britney's effort (or lack thereof) can be traced back to her post-breakdown revival. In the decade-and-a-half through which we have been blessed with her cultural presence, there is that clear demarcation of Britney's fall from grace: the year 2007. Her bald head and outward-facing loss of control marked the first truly public breakdown amid the rise of tabloids in the internet age. The whole thing is so aggressively public knowledge, even the phrasal regurgitation of, "If Britney survived 2007, then X," has become cliche.

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Yet, the significance of said survival has shifted over the years. Britney has technically been back for a while now, first with a nice wig, then new music, then a Vegas residency. Her estimated yearly earnings still dwarf that of Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Meghan Trainor combined. You don't want to know how much she makes from perfume sales alone.

But, in a way, Sunday night did mark an official resurgence. Yes, she already had the residency, but Vegas is seen as an eternal placeholder, a sort of purgatory, where pop stars sit on life support, waiting for their public admiration to pull the plug. And so, the BBMAs, as vanilla and unimportant as they may be, marked a powerful thrust toward the space Britney occupied when a yellow snake coiled around her impossibly perfect body.

This nostalgia is the key to her fandom. Even the most aggressive fans would have to admit the dancing has long since become a bit jilted — but they would also remind you she's given birth twice and is almost 35 years old. It would be thrilling to live our lives in the moment of that warm reptilian embrace for all eternity, but people age, time marches on. And it's here Britney's legacy works against her nearly as much as it helps her. We have such a potent memory of Britney in her prime. Our nostalgia for the past nearly always eclipses the significance of her current achievements.

It's this context which fuels that stage mom mode of Britney fandom. Adopting the "Leave Britney alone" mentality, most famously espoused by Chris Crocker in a now-famous YouTube video, means embracing the entirety of Britney's narrative. It makes sense to get excited simply by Britney's showing up, especially when you remember everything she's been through over the course of her lifetime in the public eye or that she's still under the control of a conservatorship today.

We all remember the malfunctioning robot rendition of "Gimme More" at the 2007 VMAs nearly as well as "Slave 4 U" in 2001. Your personal perception of Britney today is defined by whether you consider her in juxtaposition to the peak or the nadir, as someone who can never fully recover or as an underdog making remarkable strides. If you take the latter view, the BBMAs weren't phoning it in, but a triumphant signal of her return to the spotlight. There are so many elements which build into rooting for Britney the way her army does. Britney fandom requires a dedication to her legacy, but also a purer emotional connection, which, at its core, simply demands her efforts to be recognized.

I called Chris Crocker to mull all of this over, and, of course, he put it best. "We've seen Britney at her lowest, so we know this is her giving it her all," he said, far less distressed than in that iconic moment recorded under a bed sheet, but equally passionate. "No matter how you look at it, if you know a person is doing their best, why would you try to bring them down?"