Blog RSS FeedThe saner side of Britney…
Sunday night, MTV premiered “Britney: For the Record,” a fairly no-frills documentary about Britney Spears. It features several plain-talk, intimately-set interviews with her at a hotel, and follows her through 60 days of her life, culminating in her surprise appearance at Madonna’s Los Angeles concert, which I remember well because it was part of a series of things that royally screwed up my commute. (Thanks a lot, Madge!)
In general, I don’t feel very strongly about Brit one way or the other, except that she and Paris and all those girls have kind of horrified me with their antics in the past. I have compassion for her the way you have compassion for the monkeys at the zoo who would obviously rather be riding the merry-go-round and jovially flinging their poop at each other than begging you to swing the peanut cup at them.
The documentary was interesting. In a lot of ways, it felt like a slow exhale. There are funny bits, uncomfortable bits, and touching bits (such as when Britney breaks into tears and says simply, “I’m sad”). You get a very clear sense of how literally trapped she is, for all her money and fame. She can’t leave her house without being followed by fifty (five-zero) carsful of paparazzi. She gets out of her car to cross a sidewalk, only to be forced back inside by the crushing mob of photographers, many of whom literally don’t care whether they hurt or scare her, as long as they get “the shot.” There’s a great moment where (a terrifyingly Botoxed) Madonna talks to the camera about how her experience and Britney’s are similar, and how they’re different.
Yes, Britney carved her own canoe, but as she points out, she was young. It was fun, at first. And now she’s paying the price, although she refuses to see herself as a victim.
So anyway, regardless of how you feel about Britney, if you happen to catch this documentary, give it a chance. It doesn’t ask you to like her music or her performance style.
Ultimately, what it does is humanize a girl who’s been largely dehumanized.
And in this day and age, where we package bright, ambitious young women as commodities, encourage them to sell their souls and bodies, and then throw stones and insults at them, every bit of reclaimed humanity counts as progress.
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Undoubtedly, there is a element of tragedy to her life that has been noted in the lives of many others who have also been overwhelmed with too much too soon. I hope the best for her.
As for Paris Hilton, can you name a SINGLE artistic or intellectual achievement with even the slightest substance that would account for her fame? Just one will do.
I feel so mother hennish and prudish about these sorts of topics. I'm the type who turns the gossip mags around in the racks so that I don't have to see the exploitation. And every time I see Britney in spite of my best efforts, I have an urge to kiss her on the top of her head and tell her that everything is going to be ok. I'm glad that she seems to be finding her way. I hope that she eventually finds some joy. And I hope that people will back the &*$% off and let her grow up.
Like Christy, I ignore the gossip magazines and, quite honestly, I could not pick Britney or Paris out of a line up if you paid me.
If I were Britney, I’d sneak out my back door, dressed like an utter nobody (I could send her a selection of nobody clothes if she liked, or coach her on how to look like a nobody). Then I’d take a big wad of cash and travel down to Tierra del Fuego and spend seven years learning Spanish and riding wild ponies. It is sad that she has so much youth and potential — and no doubt a fortune too — and yet she feels her life is over. Honestly, she could do anything in the world she wanted to with the proper inspiration…
I watched the documentary. I feel for her.
I’ve always felt sorry for her.
I’ve also felt extremely pissed-off with her parents. C’mon, you losers, grow up and be parents! It is proven that young females require a strong, positive male influence during their adolescence. It’s really too bad.
Wow, I’ll have to check out Britney’s documentary. I once had to write a big paper about her for school, believe it or not(the topic was a star who went from fame to shame).
How sad. Britney is sort of like the old drug-addled Elvis. While her epic battles with fame are happening at a tragically young age, at least she’ll have a chance to live through it, hopefully.
It reminds me of a quote from Bill Murray on fame– “If you want to be rich and famous??just go for rich and see if that doesn’t do it for you.”
People can be so vicious…we love a good rags-to-riches story, but we don’t like it when these same people stay on the pedestal too long. Sad…your last paragraph was very true.
I once heard of this thing called “parents.” Then there’s Britney, Lindsey, Paris et al.
Where the heck are the parents and how could they, for the sake of money, stand idle or even enable such poor decisions?
So, I do feel sad for Britney–mostly that she was forced to grow up so quickly.
And that’s all I’ll say about that.
sad to see any human being go thru what she’s gone thru… and yes, i blame the parents