Britney Spears

Has anyone seen Britney Spears on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone Magazine? Is this a good move or a bad move for Rolling Stone and/or for Britney?

Not like Britney needs any more publicity anyway. She's everywhere. But, I actually like that Rolling Stone came out with this new article: "An American Tragedy." It's true. I've seen so many tabloids and video shots of her at her worst moments that it's almost becoming normal. There's not more shock value. But I don't even know what to believe anymore. I look at tabloids and I can't bring myself to believe anything they say. Is that bad?

Angelina has twins!
Jen can't get over Brad!
Brad's upset feelings after last week's fight!
Britney beats a reporter!

Ah! It's everywhere! It's too much! And I don't even know what's true in this country!



So, I was glad to see this magazine come up with an article where I knew the information would at least be fairly true. We've seen her go through phases, from Mickey Mouse to "Hit Me Baby One More Time..." school girl, to skanky girl dancing with a python around her neck. But this article really opened me eyes to the damage done to Britney.

Think about it: Britney was created to be a star by her mother during her childhood. They went to auditions hoping to score big, because they were pretty much bankrupt, and used Britney as their rise to fame and money. And once Britney was in the spotlight, she never came out. She's had cameras on her since she was a child. If I was her, I might freak out too. She can't even go to the grocery store without getting attacked by paparazzi.

Since Britney has always been a star, shes also always been told what to do. This is your new image--this is the new direction you're taking. She never really had a voice. When America responded to what they liked/disliked about her, she changed. We're sick of the schoolgirl look--Britney changes to get bigger boobs. She is critized heavier than most celebrities are for getting a boob job (who knows why) even though she goes on SNL to confront and laugh at the incident. Then she changes into her "Not a Girl, But Not Yet a Woman" stage, trying to show her growing maturity. Given, Britney does not write her lyrics or choose her outfits, so she's just going along for the ride.



She breaks up with Justin Timberlake and is pretty devastated, but she must keep performing and making appearances. Whenever Britney's life went through trauma, she never stopped to recollect her sanity and get over these things in her life. She always kept going. There were always people in the big industry who wanted her to keep going, because of profits, obviously. I don't know if I can blame her--a huge paycheck versus facing the conflicts in your life--the escape was easy to ignore.

As she kept shifting her image, the public reacted pretty negatively. Apparently, Britney was always open about her body and sex, so in her later years when she started actually writing her own songs, of course they started to be about masterbation and sex. The public then deemed her a "slut." This part of her was just always shut up by those controlling her, but now it was her time to unleash herself.

Perhaps an attempt to get back at JT, she hooks up with one of his dancers, we all now know him as KFed, Kevin Federline. Eventually they get together, get married, and have children. We all know what happents next. It's hard not to know in this culture. They make a reality show called Chaotic where they talk about having sex with each other all the time and Britney chain-smokes. And get this--her favorite drink is called the Purple Monster (Vodka, Red Bull, and NyQuil). Ah!



Then Britney spirals down, shaving her head, exposing herself, beating cars with umbrellas, doing drugs and partying--she's not ashamed anymore to show us who she really is. And, I think the main point of the article was this: Britney wants to show us the hurt and pain America has caused her. This is her backlash, her attempt to show us what we've done to her. Her downfall is our fault since we've been bad-mouthing her and stalking her night and day. And you know what, I think she's right.

And imagine this: Now Britney earns money just from being a person. She sold her wedding pictures and baby pictures for a million dollars a piece. A million dollars! Imagine that! Britney does interviews for a million dollars too. That's insane to me. She doesn't even have to perform and she's making money.

But, she's a huge comodity to the entertainment world. She's always on the cover of every month's tabloid, and she's always on some E! channel with new horrific footage. Britney takes up 30% of the attention of magazines and entertainment centers. 30%! They have staff specifically designed just to follow Britney's life. Imagine that job.



The reporter was standing outside of her house after Britney supposedly attempted suicide, and the reporters were all talking. One said that she couldn't die because that's his job. One wanted her to come out on the stretcher so he could bring back something to work. It's just disgusting how focused we are on certain people's lives. I thnk it's terrible. There are more important things going on in this world! We're fighting a war for crying out loud! But we always know our updates on Britney's life. Maybe not Iraq, but we'll know when Britney grabs herself a latte.

I hate to say it or even admit it, but I really hope she doesn't end up killing herself. I wouldn't be surprised if she OD'd (leaving it up to speculation) or just killed herself (maybe some reckless behavior leaving more speculation). What do you think? I think it's bound to happen when she's young. I feel sick even predicting it. Anyway, when Britney found out about Anna Nicole's death, she locked herself in her room and glued herself to the TV. She thought she was next. Maybe she is? But she got way too paranoid thinking that microphones were stashed in her clothes and people were watching her. I don't blame her paranoia--I feel sorry for her.

Again, a direct quote from the magazine writes, "Britney isn't ashamed of who herself. She wants us to know what we did to her."

What do you think?

So, overall, what are our feelings with Britney?

Do we think she's gross and horrible, or do you think that she can't help it because of what America has done to her?

Where can she go from here, or is there no redemption for her lifestyle choices?