2008 Woodie Awards
Save Britney, Save the World
Brad Taylor
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
There is no escaping the ever widening web of the fall of Britney Spears, but are we the spider or the fly?
Everywhere you look the last few weeks there has been no escaping the media frenzy surrounding the pop star. Major news has been sidelined in favor of the latest "Britney Buzz." Has she lost her mind? Are her kids safe? Are any of us safe?
In a world of disposable pop icons, Spears has risen to the top and we were all there to watch. From her "Mickey Mouse Club" days to her two marriages made in tabloid heaven, we have all been along for the ride with the former Mouseketeer.
Now it seems like the world is turning against Spears like a pack of jackals ripping apart the carcass of a fallen antelope.
If you do a Google search on the name Britney and rehab, you get 4,470,000 hits. While the entertainment website TMZ.com has 356 stories featuring Spears, nearly 100 more than American Idol and fellow tabloid vixen Lindsay Lohan. On the video Web site YouTube.com, a "FOX News" piece on Spears cutting her hair has gotten more than 60,000 views.
So complete was the media coverage on Spears' shaved head, that it was featured as the top story on every major news television program, and her cut off locks of hair were going for thousands of dollars on eBay.
But before we break out the torches and pitchforks, perhaps we should find the real monsters.
I don't think Spears is viewing her news piece more than 60,000 times, or bidding for her own hair. Our obsession with celebrity culture has helped create this mess. If we didn't buy the magazines or watch the tabloid TV, then it wouldn't be news and it wouldn't bring in the big bucks.
Maybe, just maybe we should all step away from our MySpace pages and stop blogging long enough to look at the image of a woman going through a crisis. If we can replace our thirst for gossip and celebrity with compassion and understanding, then perhaps we can save Britney Spears and save ourselves in the process.
Everywhere you look the last few weeks there has been no escaping the media frenzy surrounding the pop star. Major news has been sidelined in favor of the latest "Britney Buzz." Has she lost her mind? Are her kids safe? Are any of us safe?
In a world of disposable pop icons, Spears has risen to the top and we were all there to watch. From her "Mickey Mouse Club" days to her two marriages made in tabloid heaven, we have all been along for the ride with the former Mouseketeer.
Now it seems like the world is turning against Spears like a pack of jackals ripping apart the carcass of a fallen antelope.
If you do a Google search on the name Britney and rehab, you get 4,470,000 hits. While the entertainment website TMZ.com has 356 stories featuring Spears, nearly 100 more than American Idol and fellow tabloid vixen Lindsay Lohan. On the video Web site YouTube.com, a "FOX News" piece on Spears cutting her hair has gotten more than 60,000 views.
So complete was the media coverage on Spears' shaved head, that it was featured as the top story on every major news television program, and her cut off locks of hair were going for thousands of dollars on eBay.
But before we break out the torches and pitchforks, perhaps we should find the real monsters.
I don't think Spears is viewing her news piece more than 60,000 times, or bidding for her own hair. Our obsession with celebrity culture has helped create this mess. If we didn't buy the magazines or watch the tabloid TV, then it wouldn't be news and it wouldn't bring in the big bucks.
Maybe, just maybe we should all step away from our MySpace pages and stop blogging long enough to look at the image of a woman going through a crisis. If we can replace our thirst for gossip and celebrity with compassion and understanding, then perhaps we can save Britney Spears and save ourselves in the process.
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