... one more time.
I have known about Britney Spears ever since Baby, One More Time came out. I got the single for free in some bookstore in Morgantown, WV during my first semester at WVU. They were promoting it heavily and a college campus seemed to be be the ideal place to promote a new pop tart. You have to remember this was the time when people bought CDs like candy and artists could be made overnight or disappear without another sound in the blink of an eye.
One year later, Britney was EVERYWHERE. Literally. She was on magazine covers, on music videos, on the radio, on TV, everywhere. Full disclosure: I have never been a hardcore Britney fan. Yes, I've liked her videos, yes, I have two of her records (BLACKOUT is the ish and full of bops and B in the Mix is one of my fav workout mixes) but I really didn't know much about Britney the person. Oh, I read the headlines the tabloids put out and I read Dlisted for years, but I never really paid attention to Britney. That is, until I sat down with a bag of popcorn and the NYT especial The Framing of Britney Spears. And just like Netflix's true crime series and as the true crime podcasts, this kind of program usually shed a light on a subject that has been seen under a different light for many years. I was shook.
After watching the special, I don't really think Britney is sending subliminal messages through her instagram to her millions of followers, but I do think that her dad, Jamie Spears (a deadbeat dad until his daughter started making millions) is using her as a cash cow. Same as lawyers and assorted hangers-on. Everybody wants a piece of her fortune. This is a woman who has made millions of dollars for other people for years and years and years. A grown woman, mother of two, who has no real contact with the outside world.
Misogyny and greed have almost destroyed her. I realized how Justin Timberlake used his privilege to bash her and how people jumped in the wagon to beat her down. I saw how the fucking paparazzi used her and drove her to a breakdown. Go ahead, watch the special and then tell me that you would have survived the relentless attack of paparazzi for years, the emotional abuse of the men in your life, the demonizing of your being and attractive, sexual person and the constant onslaught of people who think that your talent is limited to your tits and that your voice -your instrument- is electronically produced and that you are good for nothing for twenty three years. Twenty fucking years. Go ahead. Tell me.
And I know everybody has got an opinion about Britney. Don't tell me 'I don't listen to that kind of music' because you do, Blanche. YOU DO. Even when you don't want to. Everybody who has been part of American society during the last twenty three years has heard of and has heard about Britney Spears. Her songs have been on the radio for more than twenty years and they have been the soundtrack of this country for about that same time. Her scandals and marriages and nervous breakdowns have been part of American culture for the last twenty years. No matter how Punk Rock you think you are, you KNOW who Britney Spears is. And this would be a good time for your to sit down and watch this documentary. Because then your implicit biases, your misogyny and your empathy could get a massage. Oh, it's always good to recognize when we have been little bitches. It helps us grow.
The documentary made me revise the idea I had of her, not only because when a series of facts are presented to you in a concise matter you can draw your own conclusions, but because we are always drawn to the surface stuff: the scandals, the shaved head, the Vegas shows. And I think this documentary goes beyond that. Similar to podcasts like Crime Junkie and Jensen and Holes or documentaries like Murder to Mercy or Killer Inside, this documentary made me think about the subject in other ways: Britney is more than ' It's Britney, Bitch!' and more than her marriage to Federline or her relationship with Timberlake. Beneath the glam and the body and the songs there is a 39 year old woman who started her career more than thirty years ago and that currently is not free to make her own decisions because she's hostage to her own fame and fortune.
How's that for a life?
XOXO
P.S. the special ran on FX on basic cable and it's on Hulu. It's also hot-linked above because of course I did that. See? Always thinking about cha...
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This is on my watch list. I’ve seen bits and pieces of her story lately. And I saw the headlines when she lost her case to reclaim her life. This is a travesty. Yes, she has had problems in the past, but she hasn’t been the whacked out character of a few years ago for sometime. Being under control of someone for so long is bound to cause rebellion.
ReplyDeleteShe’s an adult and mother. She deserves to control her life.
XOXO 👨❤️💋👨
When she lost in court about her conservatorship I was livid. How can that happen? Well, I know how it can happen: money. But it was chilling. When she was whacked out it may have been probably because she was indeed unstable but have you seen her life?
DeleteI think you should watch it. And then let us know.
XOXO
The gif with the yellow snake is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteIn Italy there was a pornstar who also did shows with a tame snake. here she is.
She now she lives in Rome.
Oh, that MTV show was iconic. She was at the height of her fame. And I know Cicciolina! Wasn't she married to what's his name, who made the balloon doggies and the cool art?
DeleteXOXO
Jeff Koons! hand he has a child: Ludwig Maximillian Koons, 29 october 1992.
Deletehere he is his new Instagram
He's very beautiful and very similar to his mum. Remember that Ilona Staller was Miss Hungary
That's right! I always mistake him for Koontz, the writer. He had a show here in the Art Institute. I have a reproduction of his balloon dog sitting on my coffee table.
DeleteAnd his son does look like Ilona. She's always been beautiful.
XOXO
Truly, I never listened Brittany - I'm a Rock and Roll kind of guy. Sadly, she was a hot mess and because of that she was taken advantage of in so many ways. I suspect she is still a hot mess, albeit a medicated hot mess. Her guardianship will keep her under her father's thumb until the money runs out.
ReplyDeleteBut you obviously know of her. It's not about listening to her music, Dave. It's displaying that sligh disdain for her situation that tells me that you , too, have been influenced by how she has been treated.
DeleteDon't you think it's sad that a human being is treated as a living, breathing ATM by her own family?
XOXO
Creative, brilliant , talented, manipulated, controlled, driven crazy, hidden by helpers, it is Brian Wilson all over again.
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteWell, Wilson is genius, but Britney had all the potential to become what she became and more. I do believe there may be some instability issues, just like with Wilson, but nothing you would not see in your daily life. Wilson escaped, no? Britney still is under the control of those horrible people.
XOXO
I am not a fan, because it was never the kind of music I liked, or I was older when she hit it and thought, Nah. But I do believe she surrounded herself with people, even family, that she thought would take care of her, but they were all reaching into her pocketbook instead,
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the sad part: it was the people she trusted, the family she thought would look out for her who now exploit her. She's a cash cow. Literally. And that's depressing. She should be enjoying the fruit of more than twenty years of hard work.
DeleteXOXO
The young to very young who suddenly become overnight sensations and stars have my complete sympathy. Even those who don't become HUGE stars have my sympathy. Because they are eventually taken to the cleaners mentally, physically, and always financially. I've heard of Britney, I've heard her, because who hasn't? Unless you lived under a rock out in the Kalahari. But never bought any of the music, never went to see her show. I know her father is a crook, most likely those "really close" who hang on are most likely leeches and will disappear when the ride is over. No matter what one may think of her or the quality of her talents, she's not one to be envied. At all. One of the "new Mousketeers" who has paid a very large price.
ReplyDeleteP.S. And, ain't that the shits? I had a friend whose mother pushed her into film until the age of 19. This is back in the olden and golden days of Hollywood. The entire family worked in the business. Thing is, she hated being an actress, but loved to dance. But her mom literally forced her, and took every penny. How? Her mother signed the MGM contract, and back then there were no union rules to protect minors. It's pretty fucked up. XOXO
DeleteOh, the child stars? They are in for a world of pain. Some never recover. Didn't VH1 had a Where Are They Now that literally was populated by ex-child stars? So Britney's case is one of those that are one in a million, given her level of stardom. At one point, she was as famous as let's say, Madonna.
DeleteNow it's all about how much money they can make off of her. And yo are right, it's not what we think of her as an artist. That's irrelevant. It's how she's been treated as a human being what incenses me.
XOXO
She's paid a high price for fame and success, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteOh, she has.
DeleteAnd it's sad. She's an adult woman, a mother. And she's worked hard for what she has. She should be able to enjoy that.
XOXO
Hold on to your pearls hunty. I was never a fan and couldn't take the chipmunk voice and bubble gum pop. Two songs I liked were toxic and boys...otherwise all her songs bled together for me. They all sounded the same.I think for me she came across to scripted, to over produced to be massed out and to be discarded, and routines looked to rehashed and robotic. Her and Jessica Simpson were the same show for me. And when she tired to do some stunts for news or to generate interests I felt she tried to hard and looked desperate. I'm quite frankly surprised we need a tell all movie considering its not been that long in her life yet...especially with other far more interesting people that have been in music. I don't dislike her.... But I've never gone out of my way to listen to her either. But she has got taste in men. She had Willie Gomez as a backup dancer!!!! But otherwise she surrounded herself with idiots. Crooks and takers....and she paid the price. I hope her life is better now.
ReplyDeleteOh, I only like Blackout and her remixes. I am not really a fan. And you have basically nailed the issue: she came across to you as robotic and scripted. She came across like that because she was scripted. The Britney we know was a product. She started when she was eight. She's thirty nine now.
DeleteI think you should watch the NYT documentary (she cannot use a credit card or a phone, so her putting out a movie to redeem herself is totally out of the question) and let us know what you think.
XOXO
Putting it on my watch list...I'm currently binging the new Dynasty (how did I get sucked into it???). Anyway, was it the Discount Den that you got the free CD? I loved the Discount Den!! Loved loved loved it. Oops wait, you said a bookstore is where you got the CD. I'm babbling. It's snowing out and winter makes me a little stir crazy.
ReplyDeleteI think you should totally watch it. I sat down expecting some glossy review of her greatest hits and ended up incensed about the lack of humanity of people and the injustices done in the name of 'protecting' people suspected of mental illnesses. That' without counting the sexism and the craven ambition.
DeleteAnd no, it was not the Discount Den (their incense and record deals were epic!) This was the bookstore on Main, just up from the Hungtinton Bank! Go, Mountaineers!
XOXO
I feel you, I hear you, I agree with you. My opinion of Britney has run hot and cold from day one. I did not like the initial pedo vibe. I thought... adult men are manipulating a child to behave like a sex doll. Britney is lovely to look at. She has a limited voice, but utilizes it well and has a lot of style. Circus and Femme Fatale were the first albums of hers I truly could enjoy, because I felt... this is adult Britney. But you are correct. Men continue to push her out on stage and make her perform like a circus act. It makes me sad, because her music makes me happy. Makes me dance. Even during the crazy period (Blackout), I found there to be strength and edge in the music - produced and written by men. So hers is a gloried story sullied by misogyny. As for the woman herself? Who is she? Where has she been hiding all these years? When will we hear her speak for herself? Sad.
ReplyDeleteI could kiss you, Upton.
DeleteYou totally get what I got from this: she's not Maria Callas but she's a decent singer who was packaged in a way that would make her more sealable. She was manipulated from a very early age to produce money for others.
Men have used her and badmouthed her all her life because she's an attractive woman. She has reached a point in her life where she could be producing her own music but nope, she's still paraded around and ordered to do a dog and pony show to keep giving those lawyers and her horrible father money.
I like her music. I think Blackout is genius and fun, and I dance to GimmeGimme every time. Is it everybody's cup of tea? No! But whose music is?
I also wondered where the real Britney has been. I would like to know THAT artist.
XOXO
XOXO
Thanks for taking care of us, Sixpence. It is sad how society can chew up and spit out people once they have served their purpose. Greed sure has shown the true colors of a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteHeh. You're welcome, Mr. Shife.
DeleteI found her story to be a sad reminder that people will do anything for money. Anything. Even reduce another human being to a vehicle to enrich themselves. On plain daylight. With the blessing of the courts.
XOXO