The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears
TV Documentary, 2021, TV-MA
Premise - A documentary on Britney Spears' controversial conservatorship, in which her father, Jamie Spears, has legal control over Britney's finances, medical care, career, and general life. This conservatorship resulted after Britney was deemed medically incapable of taking care of herself following a widely publicized "mental breakdown" in 2008. However, motives for taking on a conservatorship, given her widely profitable career, may be much more sinister.
Review - Interestingly I hadn't even heard of the #FreeBritney controversy until the past year or so. The context in which I had first heard of it was, as many others, Instagram. Many devoted Britney fans have been trying to leave Britney messages in her Instagram comments that allow Britney to, supposedly, give context clues that she is in trouble. For instance, people will comment and upvote "Britney, wear a yellow shirt in your next post if you're in trouble," and then she would. I honestly saw this and thought it was a joke at first, like Ted Cruz being the Zodiac Killer. I didn't think Britney was actually being held against her will. Some quick research proved me wrong.
That said, most of the details of the conservatorship were unknown to me. Actually, many of the details of her career were unknown to me. I grew up with Britney Spears as a household name from when I was a toddler, and therefore was not at the age to understand or truly follow her career. I've always loved her music, but known little about her. I was surprised to see how innocent of a public image she supposedly had in her early career, because her songs and music videos have always dripped in sexuality. I do have vague memories of her 2008 breakdown, when she shaved her head, and of course when that video went viral of "Leave Britney alone!" It was all comical at the time, especially given the fact that I was a kid, but in hindsight it was awful.
I love the recent awareness of female pop stars' agency (or the lack thereof they have had in the past). Everything from Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun, to Kesha and her abuser... Britney Spears is perhaps the most extreme case in which she legally is not in control of not only her career, but her ENTIRE LIFE. Her medical care, the people she is allowed to see, the custody of her children... it's all in her father's control. A father who, as evidence would suggest, only cares about her money.
The documentary questions the conservatorship model generally, but also the way in which Britney's specific case is uniquely susceptible to corruption. She is one of the richest pop stars in the world and therefore ownership of her life is treated as a literal commodity, in which a bank LITERALLY has part ownership of her.
The major downside of this documentary is the lack of involvement from legitimate parties. They interviewed ex-paparazzi, gossip podcasters, and some legal folks who couldn't really share. The only really insightful person was an ex-personal assistant. However, no family members were involved, and of course, Britney herself was not involved as it was not clear whether or not she even received the request. Her dad would control that. (79/100)
Quote - Free Britney, bitch
What to watch for - Any footage of actual Britney. There's a VERY rare amount of footage where she actually talks about how she dislikes the conservatorship and wants to have control back of her life. Also, that interview footage with her brother is disgusting and should be incriminating enough. He was talking about how annoying it is that the women in his family want to control their own lives. And the interviewer was like ????? that's what human rights are???
If you liked this documentary, I'd recommend Taylor Swift: Miss Americana!
Comments
Post a Comment