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Britney Spears reprised her guest role as "Abby," a bubbly secretary, on May 12th's How I Met Your Mother episode. During her first appearance on March 26, Spears was credited with increasing Mother's viewership by more than one million viewers. Britney also garnered positive reviews by TV critics as Abby.
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Britney Spears
Britney has become exactly what she wanted to become, the opposite of what her mother wanted her to be.
Not So Simple
To Dr. Desmond, maybe it started out as rebellion, but the downward spiral of Britney Spears has to do with a lot more than getting from under her mother's thumb. I think the scary part is how people are focusing on her public issues, and not taking the time to unravel the mystery of why the pop star is coming apart. Sure, it's easy to give a cut and dried "Teenagers" shrug and let it ride at that. But plain and simple, Britney comes from a background that somehow made her more susceptible to the traumas she has experienced. Be that an overbearing, "My kid's a star!" mom or fame and fortune at an age too young to understand the pitfalls of that two headed demon. In fact, some of her troubles may have spawned from the idea that all publicity is good publicity. (Think Michael Jackson.) Think any child star you know. The story unfortunately tends to end the same unless a firm hold is put in place early on--that's good parenting. So yeah, maybe her mom did something wrong. But I sincerely think that hoping her daughter perpetuated the image of America's Sweetheart wasn't it.
Not so simple or is it?
Thank you for your reply. I pulled your last sentence out for reference: "But I sincerely think that hoping her daughter perpetuated the image of America's Sweetheart wasn't it."
One could hardly argue for that case if we consider her break out track, "Hit me baby one more time". If that personifies the image of America's Sweetheart, then the concept of what an American Sweetheart is must be redefined.
The entertainment industry is a business like any other. Profit comes first and any sense of social responsibility is shouldered almost entirely by the artist. Britney is not a particularly talented singer, but she was marketable. She was marketable as a "teen sex icon".
The entertainment industry is overflowing with "good intentions" and often throws up "freedom of expression" as a way to avoid social responsibility. Leveraging promiscuity and sex to sell music (or anything from Jeans to Perfume for that matter) is nothing new. Commercialism is driven by basic needs and "sex" is surely no less influential then the need to eat.
Consider Miley Cyrus and her "artful photographs" of late. I personally believe the photographs to be in good taste; however, they do not personify "Disney's Sweetheart" anymore than Britney personifies "America's Sweetheart". Consider the impact those photographs have had on the millions of preteen fans that are still developing their own "moral compasses". Miley Cyrus may have just "unintentionally" sparked a whole new crop of future "teen sex icons".
“Britney” was the unfortunate result of poor parenting combined with an industry that takes entertainment to the limit of the law.
“Fame and fortune” was not the culprit, it was the reward. Sadly, it is the only reward she has earned for all her hard work and sacrifice. Britney has no one she can trust and no one she can rely upon to guide her (with out ulterior motives). That person should have been her mother, and her mother was saddled with the ulterior motive, “I want my daughter to be America’s Sweetheart”.
Point Taken
I agree.
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