Britney Spears: Classic or Dud?

Her audiobook is currently free on Spotify — anyone else listening to it? I’m on ch 13 iirc.
I love the part of all musical memoirs where they talk about their childhood relationship w music.

I found her book really frustrating. It felt like it was written by AI, or maybe under-written (in the literal sense). She's just like this automaton - and then I did this, and then I did this, I went out for drinks, and then I recorded an album and went on tour, and so on. Just no revelations and the most shallow bits of introspection, no details or insight where I hoped to get some. And lots of red flags that made me question her credibility. Like when she dismisses the claim of some bodyguard at a hearing that she was doing drugs because "he wasn't cross-examined," but then a couple of pages later she writes "I probably shouldn’t admit to this, but I was hell on wheels. I was taking a lot of Adderall." And then a couple of pages after that, after defending her behavior as overblown, admitting "I’d had my moments. I’d had my wild spell. I’d been high on Adderall and acted crazy." Or claiming news of her distress was inflated, and then in the next chapter she literally admits she had a breakdown.

More troubling are bits where she keeps getting busted popping unnamed "energy pills" that she defends as harmless because they're over the counter, or how she repeatedly and specifically pines for alcohol when she's being controlled in the conservatorship, downplaying her drinking while admitting to getting "wasted." There are passages that remind me of the Chappelle Rick James sketch (where he denies rubbing his boots on Eddie Murphy's couch and then in the next breath admits it). In her case, "When I walked in, she screamed at me and we got into a huge fight. She said it was because I was wasted. She wasn’t wrong. I absolutely was. But ... " etc.

Just kind of extra sad, since even now, in the book, in the *title* of the book, she continues on this self-infantilization track. Yes, I was legally an adult, but I still felt like a kid. I may be 40, but I feel like I'm only now becoming an adult. And so on. She was treated like shit and taken advantage of, but never once seems to learn lessons from her mistakes (mistakes she readily admits to) that would have saved her so much trouble and pain. And even more tragic, never questions her circumstances, or invokes her agency, just doing what she's told from the start, unaware she can ever say no, or that she has options. Like, she's given a court-appointed lawyer that she apparently pays $500,000 a year, not realizing she could hire her own lawyer until *13 years* have passed. Just rough. I wish someone had been looking out for her.

the whole thing is terribly sad to me

I'm not sure if I can read the book

some of her mouth noises are more interesting than 95% of what the entire music industry can do with their whole voices, I still listen to some of her tracks to this day on repeat more than I can stomach most other pop songs, and when she was younger, in interviews, she had the maturity of the world, and the kindness

the whole story over the years is just painful. brilliant artist

I listened to the audiobook and it’s good to hear Britney on Britney in her own words, on her own terms. What comes through most strongly in spite of having MW read the book: this is pure Brit. She’s funny, silly, an adrenaline junkie, loving mom, enthusiastic dancer/singer, and complicated person. I was glad I spent the time.

the whole story over the years is just painful. brilliant artist

― Swen, Sunday, January 28, 2024 12:29 PM bookmarkflaglink

Yeah - she had to contend with a fuck-ton of pressure from a very young age, even before becoming the obsession of creepy paparazzos pointing out every little imperfect thing she did, or turning her head-shaving into a punchline and mocking her for it.

Looking forward to the book. I did have a problem with the lionizing some did of the #FreeBritney movement. Obviously, it is a good thing that she was to get out of her conservatorship, which is what she wanted, and I do think most people did have her best wishes at heart, but a fairly sizable portion of that movement had and still has a terrifying understanding of boundaries. and people want to "No True Scotsman" away these folks like they're a handful of randos but...they're not.

Last year, Britney deleted her Instagram, and a bunch of these 'fans' called the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, demanding they do a welfare check. Which they did, found Britney was fine, and Britney begged for fans to respect her privacy. Many of them seeing her act in ways they didn't like, like posting nudes/lewds on Instagram, and posting about it, concerned, as if they wanted her freedom so she could act in the way THEY approved of. some of them even expressing regret for her being released from her conservatorship. of course, some of these people are just the same assholes that were gawking at her before too, but it's disheartening to see after she got what she needed, fans don't want to let her enjoy her newfound freedom.

still a lot of work to be done - https://www.cbc.ca/arts/britney-spears-freebritney-mental-illness-cultural-reckoning-1.6784718

I think ... yeah, she's complicated. I think she still faces a number of challenges.

it feels like part of the problem in the cultural reckoning, if there is a problem and maybe it's just a point of relevance, is that there seems to be a need for the assignment of blame. feels like maybe it's not all everybody's fault, nor is it all her fault in terms of credibility etc, but there is a gray area in between. and regardless, I think the hope is maybe she can unpack some more art in the second half of her life.