Boulevard of Broken Dreams
February 5th, 2008Over the past decade, I’ve ridden The Britney Spears Roller Coaster like so many others.
From feeling the rush of the first loop of that speeding coaster, brought on from a crush on that naughtily-innocent schoolgirl during her teens, to the twisty-turns of the rails through my heart as they harbored hidden jealousy of her more publicized relationships while she blossomed into a young woman.
There were many ups and downs on this ride, for fans, onlookers, and Miss Spears herself. Yet, somehow along the way we all jumped from those speeding cars to the safety of the platform, while witnessing her roller coaster of life spiraling out of control to the ultimate train wreck.
And, somehow, along the way, everyone stopped caring.
Even worse, over the past dozen or so months, the collective soul of the public seems to have evolved from the pointing and whispering at her highly publicized episodes and escapades, to an actual rising tide of hatred toward her.
While not actually wishing any harm toward Britney, I did even find myself enjoying the voyeurism of watching her fall from grace. Sadly, that seems to be human nature. To build the person, or persona, of others up to the point of worship - only to take a sadistic pleasure in watching them fall back to the gutters of celebrity - humiliated and despised.
You can deny it all you want, but you stop and look at the car wreck - or in this case, the train wreck - just like everyone else. Deep down inside, we’re all the same.
In my eyes, that guilty pleasure of watching her career and life decline has become but a distant vision as I’ve focused more on Britney the person, not Britney the celebrity.
This is a person who was used by her parents, family, and friends, from a very young age, for their own greed and gain. And even today they haven’t stopped.
This is also a person with psychological problems beyond her ability to control. In the past couple of years while her life spiraled out of control, not one of her “friends” were there to help her. There were many riding the gravy train, and others making it worse. But not one friend who would step in to her life and help her regain control of it.
It must suck having so many people in your life, yet not a single one of them who really cares.
Look beyond the flashes of the paparazzi in those photos of recent months. There are plenty of them around. Look beyond the dented Mercedes, the shaved head, and the embarrassing public performances. Instead, look at her eyes. Look into them. If you get beyond the celebrity, you’ll see something very sad. Something very troubling.
I’m convinced that there’s still a little girl in there, crying for help. I just hope somebody hears her before it’s too late.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Yep, that’s exactly what I was thinking about Britney.
It’s sad about a lot of the young Hollywood stars these days (Lindsay Lohan comes to mind). They just don’t have that parental “rock” to fall back on. They’re too busy trying to live vicariously through their child to really pay attention to what their child is actually doing. It’s all about the money…