Friday, February 23, 2007

The Public Execution of Britney Spears

Rant Levels = high
So Britney shaved her head. Call in the national guard.
In case you haven't seen Craig Ferguson's take on the over-exposed Britney, do yourself a favor and click on this nicely colored link HERE.
Essentially, its more about his own experience, but he's also calling for a moritorium on all Britney bashing - and I couldn't agree more. Folks, the media is killing this poor girl and as long as we keep jumping at every piece of bullshit Britney news, they won't stop until she's completey bat-shit insane.
In case you're wondering, I am 100% genuine here. I honestly feel bad for the ex-pop princess. And to demonstrate why, I ask you to clear your mind and live a couple years in the life of Britney Spears.

Year 1-3 (rough estimate) you're a bazillionaire media darling. You're also young and so you trust the media moguls and PR people when they say that they can make you even bigger if you just let them make the most out of your good looks and great voice. They convince you to let them shape your image - your style - your sex appeal. So you agree and soon, as promised, everyone in the world loves you. The cameras love you, the talkshows love you, your fans love you - it's the dream come true. Everything you are is what the media wanted you to be - and it's worked. They've pumped you up because you are a hot brand and after selling a majillion (new number) records, you can't help but believe your own hype.

Year 4: Things are good. But lo and behold you learn the hard way that everyone loves a loser as much as they love a winner and soon all that media attention takes a turn. Soon, the media wants to hate you because it sells more paper. Overnight, your successes are trumped by your every single mistake - mistakes that normal people make every day, but are suddenly the BIGGEST FUCK-UPS ever according to the very same media outlets who once put you on a pedastal. Soon you can't fart in public without Entertainment Tonight calling you a dirty whore.

Year 5-ish: After being under a microscope for years and having ever failed singer call you a fake, you say 'fuck it. If they hate me, I'll lay low. I'll get married, live the normal life'. Simple, right? Not by a long shot. Because now the trendy thing to do is showcase every mis-step you take. All the sexually frustrated old men who once found you attractive are now so easger to tear down whomever you pick as a mate. In this case, the guy you pick is a little rough around the edges. You know this, but you also plough through because you know him better than everyone. Still - for the next couple years you wake up to the newspapers, magazines and tv reminding you what a douchebag he is. You try to avoid them, but it's useless...you know his every move and how everyone hates him. Everyone wants you to fail - and if that means tearing up your marriage, so be it.

Year 6: So you dump him. You shake off the bad press. But by now, you're like 'fuck it - they don't want me to be popular, they don't want me to be happily married, they don't want me to be a good mom - I'm starting to go a little crazy - I need to let off some steam.'
Nope - sorry. You want to have some fun? Guess what - you're a dirty , vagina-flashing whore now. Why? Well...it sells ad time on ET and the public absolutely loves watching you spiral downhill.

Year 7: You shave your head. Anything for attention at this point will help. You've also cracked a little under the strain of a billion eyes - all telling you what a dirty, talentless tramp you are. You drink more because what else is there to do? You've resigned yourself to the fact that nothing you will ever do again will be cast in a positive light - so why try?

And....scene.

I won't say she hasn't made her mistakes, but I dare you to stay sane after the barrage of horrible press. I was never a huge Britney fan, but what I'm seeing these days feels more like a public execution than entertainment news.
Leave it alone. Let her be. There's bigger fish to fry out there - people who need to be scrutinized.
When and if Britney goes too far, it will be on our heads, people. And you know what? She'll be a saint. If Britney were to go tomorrow, she'd be the 'Fallen Angel' we all loved. Because tributes get ratings, too.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said. That's why I always say that "fame" and "success" are two separate things. The best thing about being a writer is that no one really cares what you wear or who you screw. BOO-YA!

Anonymous said...

Yep, you had to know I was going to post about this. Do I agree with the extent of Britney-watching? No. Does that mean to let her off the hook? Definitely not.

Why, you ask? By adopting the role of a singer, actor, etc. you are adopting the lifestyle knowing what comes with it. There are no misconceptions here. Is it right? No. Is it reality? yes.

So you know children are going to look up to you. So what do you do as a role model to millions? You marry a guy (you know him best? They knew each other for a few months) who left his girlfriend who was currently pregnant with his child for her. Is he equally to blame, yes. But it's not like he was leaving and then Brit came along - he did it then.

Fast forward to the drunken nights with Paris Hilton while your son is at home with a nanny. What kind of mother is she going to be the next day?

Fast forward to going out clubbing and deciding not to wear underwear...and take no caution in stepping out fo the car. That's going to be a great image of Mommy for her son to see when he grows up.

Look, I'm not advocating the paparazzi is right, but I have a little sister and hope to have a child some day. This is who these girls look up to. What they wear, what they say, what they do for some reason does have an impact on them. It is a lot fo responsibility for one person, but it is the reality of the job. The CEO doesn't like to be responsible for losing 100,000 people's life savings when he takes the company into the pooper. Which is why there is the peripheral responsiblity to more than just a theoretical construct of a company. It is the reality of the job.

Being a role model is the reality of the job. To claim you never asked for that is like saying I put a message on cigarettes saying that smoking is what all the cool kids do (with a picture of some teeny bopper) and then saying I didn't ask for them to smoke. It's part and parcel. You can't ask people to consume what you're selling, aiming for the heights of popularity, fame and wealth, yet expect they don't want more.

I don't subscribe to this club, and the sheer fact that I have been able to cite so many britney incidences bugs me, but that's what it is.

She is a mother and regardless of fame or not, would you not be talking about Mrs. Jones next door that is always walking around with her top off in the garden when she has a little boy, and coming home hammered while Mr. Tom on the other side has to look after her kid? A bad parent is a bad parent. Bad decisions are bad decisions - and can anyone honestly say Federline was a good decision?

Anonymous said...

P.S. The way to stop the onslaught is to maybe take some of the advice. Although it is framed as an execution - maybe the fact that so many people are shaking their heads means you should stop and take notice.

Hey, maybe I shouldn't be out drinking 5 of 7 nights and coming out hammered.

Hey, maybe moms actually use that new invention called underwear so that they aren't flashing their bits to the world (when you know cameras are around.)

Maybe the guy who is leaving his pregnant girlfriend for you may be bad news (I think her mom even told her that one.)

The onslaught was brought on by her - you don't see every other star in the news every day. Just the ones making horrible decisions (that not everyone makes every day - did you check into rehab for 24 hours for a quick fix for your sex addiction? Are you going to make a sex video, put it in a rental garage and then not pay the bill so it gets auctioned? Do you abandon your child more often than not because you're not ready to stop your partying and drinking? Hey - maybe they can even hold your hair back the next morning...wait, she has no more.)

Again, this probably sounds like advocating the media cricus - which I 100% am not. I wish it would stop. I think they make celebrities' lives more dangerous than they need be - Princess Di, Stalkers, etc. But that's not the reality - and in reality we should really try to be good parents, even if misguided in youth.

General Risk said...

MB we share far too many oppions, and think far to much alike sometimes it kind of scares me.

anyway this is my alertantive blog, you should check it out and pass on the good word