There is something in Brits eyes still conjuring a cold dead dread.
In the euphoria of the Y2K revival we can't neglect to discuss the latest incarnation of Britney Spears, officially having become an archetype of the current trend of redemption activism.
Of course people sympathise and of course they care, just as they do about things like CLIMATE CHANGE and eradicating world poverty...
The term telescopic philanthropy comes to mind.
Using a public figure’s personal life (and in particular Britney’s) to further oneself or one’s own personal agendas isn’t anything new.
But in order to express that you really give a fuck, it’s essential to remember those like the one who recorded themselves - streaming tears and running mascara - wailing about it under their bed linen. The bar was set high some 14 years ago. This time if one were to look at matters less cynically, it may seem like she’s getting the vindication she deserves regarding the media flaying she received in the late 2000s.
But the media vultures and careerist journalists have swooped in again, the long simmering #FreeBritney movement and coverage of the conservatorship hearing, giving them the impetus to jump on another bandwagon; redundant and rehashing old traumas, and there is little acknowledgement of the context now.
What is the nature of the connection between the emergence of her mental health issues and the mistreatment at the hands of the media, the harassment and torment by careerist journalists contributing factors; Instigation or reciprocal interrelation? Badgering someone into manifesting psychiatric issues they may be predisposed to.
Is it surprising that it panned out this way, a teen Lolita making her mark with the song "hit me baby one more time"? And people did hit her.
And here you can see that there are more problems arising from this rather than celeb pop-drama. An easy target, a giant punching bag for the public and an allegory for the status quo.
But this goes a step too far. Manufactured nostalgia combined with a subconscious worldwide suppression and aggression; everyone watching, waiting and projecting, supplanting the trauma with their own narcissistic narratives. Also true is the money making incentives tied to Y2K nostalgia, and a period in time where Britney Spears was a lot of people’s one true “idol”, so whatever parasocial connection they have with her is deeply seated.
Critics seize the occasion to revise history, redraft Britney’s career with the jargon of academia elevating it to fit the activist momentums, when the bare facts are she was clearly a part of a machine with almost no say in her creative output. They tried to make academic sense of the likes of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton, but they are an integral part of this industry of clans and cliques and having privileged backgrounds, thus they are not expendable. Britney is. And she won't be left alone by the media as soon as she receives emancipation. She does what she was designed to do - getting attention. She is forever battling to court and deny the public, because that’s all she knows.
How or When she lost her virginity- the times she got married-had her mental breakdown- her conservatorship and the list goes on, and all the people ‘stanning’ and facetiously following her moves during this are a considerable part of the issue.
‘Britney Spears celebrates as dad steps down as conservator with sexy dance’
Sickness glitz mixed as fan tribalism and the public is within a reality where they are entranced with the grossness and feelings of superiority. This is a new kind of twisted toxic positivity, mixed with media sensationalism! Stories published and peddled, her own images from her instagram account weaponised against her, with text bent just enough to make you question if Britney’s [not?] really ok?
It’s circling around the issue, because any questions asking about her mental state is considered a hate crime now in light of the conservatorship details, but is this the sequel to the 2007 meltdown?
Suppose it's her right to be free from shackles and malicious parents, it is her right to be able to piss everything away if she chooses to, shitty financial decisions and bankruptcy are customary when it comes to chaotic celebrities anyway. It doesn’t actually matter.
Looking at things now, attitudes during the 2000s were problematic at the time, so we are trying to right the wrongs which is pointless.
What occurs is breeding of more waves of toxicity and culminating in enhancement of the vulture culture.