<![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy" - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy" - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Risyt how are you honey, you could be describing me at an earlier age.

Baked_Alaska

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Dear Rant Magazine,

I, an American, will now try to explain the Britney Phenomenon. (Clears throat.)

America is obsessed with blonde underage female sexuality. So ingrained in our society is this fascination there is a non-existent, mythical "cultural avatar" that exists here, labelled "The Girl". "The Girl" is a blonde female icon who arrives on the scene as a (Christian) virgin, yet is also a provocative tease. For teasing suggestions of tender underage blonde minge and the availability of it to male viewers for a (hinted) price, any American girl who decides to briefly play "The Girl" is rewarded with celebrity and money others can only dream about. However, playing "The Girl" has rules. The Girl must only hint at her vagina and never show it. The moment she shows it onstage, in a film or to photographers, the money-making tease is ended and her career will be sadistically yanked and replaced by vicious ridicule.

Sadly, what most American girls who decide they want to be "The Girl" never realize until too late is the second rule: for ending the tease, she must die, and her death must be by suicide. The suicide must also be immediately preceded by an addiction, chaotic marriage behaviors and a spiral of increasingly irrational actions culminating in nervous breakdown. The media created this system of rules and will often provoke the latest "Girl" into the suicide by a combination of unending harassment, ridicule and deliberate supplying of narcotics or booze - often through a "fatal friend", who is usually male and either Mediterranean or an Arab. Once "The Girl" is dead, she is forgiven, eulogized as an icon, and sold on posters and in an endless supply of tell-all biographies.

Then another "Girl" is chosen.

LIST OF "GIRLS":

Jean Harlow
Marilyn Monroe
Sharon Stone
Madonna Ciccone
Anna Nicole Smith
Britney Spears

Diana Spencer is the sole Briton to have been sadly dubbed a "Girl" by the U.S. media.

Madonna and Sharon each revealed their vaginas and thus escaped the curse, but true to the rule their celebrity crowns were immediately revoked and never fully recovered by either. Britney has shown hers, but she is also now dating the Fatal Arab.

When the Fatal Arab appears, "the Girl" soon dies.

Long and weird, but there it is; does that explain it better?






The Authority

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Does anyone actually balance their checkbook anymore? I mean, other than your mom and grandmother.

Also, that AP story was a rip off of a Portfolio story that came out in the February issue. It was called "The Britney Economy."
[www.portfolio.com]

Condéleeza

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> What's interesting about the Britney stories is the infinity of angles there are.
If indeed her mental state is shaky, I can't help but make a parallel with Marilyn Monroe...(How long would have MM lasted with the 24/7 spotlight?)
Adding a political angle, as did MM, would make it complete. Bill and Brit would do an excellent SNL skit...



Mtl777

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> i wonder how many photographers have quit Squad Britney. i'm guessing at least 30.

how long do you think it will take law and order to do an episode based on her life?

carnivorous_deer

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> The only time Britney will hit bottom--which seems like a bottomless well for everyone else--is when she turns up on live TV and pulls a Dwyer/Chubbuck.

Only then will the machine that made this will have hit bottom, grinding to a permanent halt, unable to climb back up.

Cameron Thirteen

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Don't know if anyone's said this already as I haven't read all the comments but how about this?

Only report on the positive things Britney does - reward the good behaviour not the bad behaviour.

I know Jezebel is only 1 amongst millions but why don't we lead by example and instead of having a head line saying 'blah blah poor Britney was a wreck again' why don't you say 'Yay Britney can talk to her sons again!'

malibupuppy

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: Britney's not playing the card at all -- the rest of us are. Almost every one of those child stars you mentioned has had problems, and at the very least, we can agree that a high percentage of child stars have future problems. None of them had the type of exposure Britney had. Add bad parenting and a tendency toward disorder? She's screwed.

She hasn't made any excused for her behavior, because she doesn't even know what what she's doing is wrong.

ArmCandy

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> um, stay in school kids?

blumpkin

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> How fucking sad. A living suicide.

jeritchey

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @kataroo_kangaroo:
yeah, LL is crazy I know. I'm just saying that they are all crazy. I just wish she would stop doing deals with the paps because I HAVE tried and successfully have stopped buying gossip rags, newspapers, I rarely look @ Perez or anything like that but I actually wish I could get up and not have to look at someone menstruating in front of me...it's not nice...I don't want to see someone always going out to get cofee; when there's other stuff going on and I don't nec mean serious stuff but, just something else...? Give it break Brit. She's like P Hilton...

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I LOVE that Xtina turned out so 'normal' (also in MM Club, HUGE singing career, etc). Not every child star turns into a degenerate loser like Britney.

kroliosis

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @katastic: '... did you get a bowl of soup with that?'

My first reaction this morning was - totally Caddyshack!

bigleggedwoman

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Did anyone read this article? It's so, so sad.@kataroo_kangaroo: Watch out! BAngieb is gonna come defend her girl!:)

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> What's a celebrity-obsessed person (and this blog) to do? Do we make a pact to cover the most popular celebs -- except for Britney? Yes. If we really want to know if Britney is still alive, we can easily find out elsewhere. I'd love it if Jezebel became a Britney Free Zone, because I don't want to be feeding the problem any further.

funnyface

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @braak: Seconded.

buggeroff

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Whether you hate her, love her, feel sorry for her, want to read about her, don't want to cover her, are happy she has sunk so low, etc--we are all just sitting here, talking about her and diagnosing what might be causing all her problems, all the while watching her destroy herself.

And maybe it's our responsibility because we by the magazines and visit the websites that increase the craziness and exacerbate the downward spiral of her life, or maybe it's her parents responsibility because they made her what she is, or maybe it's strictly her responsibility as an adult to get herself together...who knows. I think it's a horrible, ugly truth about our society that no one can seem to do anything at all to help her.

missbheave (is not convinced)

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: uh.... lindsay lohan isn't exactly the best example of a well-adjusted celeb. see: dina lohan.

Le Kangourou de Kataroo

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @kataroo_kangaroo:
Yeah, true BUT the didn't court it too, y'know? But yes they were not as hugely successful...

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: Well, I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, and she may not have anything organically wrong with her, but I do think that she craves attention, and that her background as a star since she was a child has caused that. And, as I said, while it may not be organic, I think she's very sick. Her behavior is completely out of control, and the fact that she was put under psychiatric supervision in the first place (even though she wasn't held) tells me that there's something seriously wrong. It may just be drugs, too.

TruculentandUnreliable

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: welcome! i'm so untechno-savvy it's ridiculous. no worries : )

Le Kangourou de Kataroo

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> If Jezebel didn't post about Britney, I wouldn't be nearly as aware of all the crap she has going on. I don't really care about it, but I just feel sorry about her. When I was in elementary school, I absolutely adored Britney. I wanted to be her.
Now, I would never want that life, or anything even close. I just feel sorry for her, and for her kids, because there is just no chance for a normal life for any of them. The paparazzi will never leave those kids alone either, and then they are probably genetically predisposed to some of the same problems their mother has that has led to her crap.

CollegeBookworm

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: It's crazy busy at work today, so I really, really don't have time to read all the comments so THIS is my disclaimer -- SORRY if I answer this the same way 15 other people have. Sorry sorry!

I think what it is that keeps us so hooked on BS (hehe) is that she defies the rule that we all pick up on as we're raised in America: basically, that money solves problems. You work hard, you make money, you pay for your house and your food and your kids and life gets easier. With success comes wisdom, security, and generally better things. So when someone gets really rich, really young, and then goes totally off the tracks into self-destruction and insanity, it's such a perversion of our idealized American Dream that we can't help but watch. Like a train, plain or car wreck -- it's disgusting, sometimes it's horrifying, but it's also hypnotic.

stoprobbers

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @blondegrlz: I think they didn't want to bite the hand that was feeding them.

AthertonMerriweather

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @athertonmerriweather: I saw that story. I would never have guessed the Britney who danced with a snake at the MTV awards did coke. Actually, I didn't think she was Crazy crazy until after she had the kids. Even Chaotic just made her look like a stupid hick, not a mental patient. It also seems crazy that no one else ever ratted her out for the drugs before, when it would have be SHOCKING. Now it's just meh.

BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @kataroo_kangaroo:
Thanks!!! I was wondering how technical you all were...sheez... :)

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: see: Drew Berrymore. And, none of the above had the level of fame Brit Brit did. Don't kid yourself.

Le Kangourou de Kataroo

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @athertonmerriweather: There goes family support on that Intervention episode :(

Her family reminds me of anna nicole's...

DebbieGlibson

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I confess - I got drawn into the drama too. But the Blender article is horrifying. And I keep wondering, "Where were her parents?" Sadly, the Blender article implies it's too late.

julienne

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I do have to admit the Blender cover was genius with the mickey mouse hat filled with cigarette butts...

Le Kangourou de Kataroo

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Also, I don't think we realize this and I'm not saying this is right at all but a lot of those hollywood actors ALL started really young and more, Lindsey Lohan, Micha Barton, Kirston Dunst, Di Caprio, etc etc were all bigger when they were younger the Britney was...she did the Mickey Mouse club thing for a year and then wen back to school exploding when she was 16.

You know, even Christian Bale was a child star?!

I'm not saying the above aren't fucked up. On the contrary-my point is that they are all wierd-Holly-wierd...famous people are very strange people who've had pretty fucked up lives and have fucked up vices..

I just don't know why Britney is playing this card when sooo many of them had earlier successes?

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Her own uncle (her fathers brother) went to the National Enquirer with a story that she started drinking when she was on Mickey Mouse Club and that he saw her do her first line of coke. Supposedly, he has drug problems himself and was in the room with her. I don't know, the whole family is messed up.
[www.contactmusic.com]


AthertonMerriweather

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @sidneyprescott: "not" not "now." Duh.

sidneyprescott

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I want her to now want all this attention. Until then, ignoring her seems impossible.

sidneyprescott

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: psst.... see those 3 little gray icons to the right of every comment? the arrow on the far left will let you respond to a certain comment with the "@rantmagazine:"

Le Kangourou de Kataroo

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I wasn't interested in Brit until she shaved her head. Since then I click any link with her name in it and I'm not over it yet. She's been quite amusing, I guess. I tune in to see what crazy thing Britney has done today? It usually makes me smile. Lately, the saga has turned sad and I find myself watching with something like hope. I keep hoping someone or something will save her from herself.

sjct

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I have been totally feeding on the Britney coverage, but a few months ago Perez didn't write about her for a whole week (I think), and I didn't even notice until he made a big deal about it the following week. It's like a Band-Aid...just rip it away from me and I'm fine, but if it's all over the Internet I'm going to keep reading it. I'm surprised the AP hasn't banned her like they did Paris Hilton.

amandahugnkiss

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @ TRUCULENTANDUNRELIABLE
"And this whole thing about her seeking out the paps and being an attention whore is part of her sickness."

Hmmm..what sickness?? Honestly-I've worked with people with mental health and serious issues-I genuinely don't think she is ill. I can name the amount of friends I have or know or worked with who have Bi Polar or who are genuinely ill....

ADD maybe??

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @blondegrlz: Shar Jackson speaks out in the media a lot - I know she's a frenemy, but she'd do it for the media exposure - she'd be all "Britbrit - think about the babies!" You could prob get Dr. Phil if not Phil and Robin on there...I think she has an older brother too...It could work?

DebbieGlibson

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @notevenslightly: Wow. I've never heard that.. but it makes total sense. Just give me like 5 more years and then I'll make my ascent into stardom. (assuming of course that the world hasn't ended by then)

kthnx.

Reluctant Financier

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @TruculentandUnreliable:
agreed.


vanishingirl

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Another fucked up famous person (Robbie Williams) said that whatever age you get famous at, you stop maturing and stay that age forever. Fine if you're JK Rowling and get famous in your 30s, less fortunate if your parents throw you to the wolves at the age of 15. She's not an adult at all.

NotEvenSlightly

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rednrowdy: Me too. The beanbag chair scene still makes me pee in my pants just a little.

@TheGuvnah: Totally. If she was adult enough to get married and make the decision to have babies, she is adult enough to know that drugs are bad. Mmmmmmkay? (Couldn't resist.)

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @debbieglibson: Britney's episode of Intervention would be so sad though. You'd have Candy there to send her off to Promises, but who else? Sam Lufti and Adnan Whatever don't want her better. Her mom is too busy with the unwed teenage sister. Her dad might show up, but so far he hasn't been able to do much to stop her.

BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> "What's a celebrity-obsessed person (and this blog) to do?..."

Those are all good questions to ask yourselves, but it's not enough to just ask them, you actually have to answer them too. Why are you are providing links to the continuous public humiliation of Britney Spears and Any Winehouse and whomever comes along after them. Not doing it as much as other websites does not relieve you of your hand in her exploitation. Are you really doing it as a service to us all? Or is it for the page hits? I don't care which one it is, but please be up front about it. Please don't be intellectually dishonest and try to convince us that providing us with ongoing Britney or Amy coverage is for our benefit.

I'm guilty myself of her exploitation. I've looked at Perez Hilton and TMZ and all that shit. Checking Jezebel a few times a day also contributes to my guilt. It's not enough to not click on the pictures, if I really wanted to avoid this stuff I wouldn't open Jezebel at all.

ehkca

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @katastic: As usual, my dear, you are absolutely right.

And this whole thing about her seeking out the paps and being an attention whore is part of her sickness.

TruculentandUnreliable

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @LadySkittlehattington: Well said.

I feel badly for her but eventually an adult is an adult and needs to take responsibility for themselves.

TheGuvnah

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @raspberryjamba: Ok, look at Mandy Moore. Remember "Candy"? She has a good voice too, but not the talent of Christina. But I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity act more like a normal person.

BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I think we can all thank Britney for graphically illustrating for us that fame and money can't make a person smarter, more graceful, more tasteful, more stable or even happier than anybody else.

She probably has rooms full of expensive clothes and jewelry, but I do not envy Ms. Spears. So I guess she sort of symbolizes the emptiness that conspicuous consumption can't fill.

Gumbina80

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @maggles: Cover the coverage. I still don't think there was a need for the link to the photo the other day. But knowing that the media has gone to that length is important. I think that photo was offensive to all women.

Lymed

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @LadySkittlehattington: oh, i'm feeling the love for 'muriel's wedding'. damn, i love that flick.

rednrowdy

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @h_a_l: The only thing about Christina though is that at fairly young age/early in her career (2nd album!), Christina decided that she wanted to be the person that she wanted to be. She didn't want to be packaged as this pink bubble-gum pop singer because thats not who she felt she was.

Britney on the other hand just did whatever the execs, her parents, handlers, etc, wanted her to do. She never got a chance to come into herself. And even when she tried later in her career, the momentum that had been built from all the years prior of being a packaged product was greater than her desire to be herself.

Regardless.. it's still sad, and I feel bad for Britney.

Reluctant Financier

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Lymed: Yes. I am over the schaudenfreude and now just depressed by the whole situation. She is seriously fucked up.

TruculentandUnreliable

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> The cultural obsession over Spears reminds me that so many adults never mentally left high school. It's been argued that HS is a microcosm of society at large and I sometimes agree. Spears reminds me of the popular girls who many classmates want to either emulate or get in their pants. As popular as they may be, their classmates often desire to see their lives turn for the worst (i.e. getting knocked up on prom night, flunking out of school, etc.). Perhaps the schadenfreude pleasure is really all about feeling young again.

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @ LADYSKITTLEHATTINGTON

So true but it's human nature to love, aspire and be interested in something that we feel is unattainable or superior to us-physically, financially and the rest....so I guess when this 'angel' falls; people are obsessed. Wierd. I couldn't care less either and have made an issue not to read or click on any of her posts. BUT I thought what Dodai was saying was interesting..

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @ MAKEMESMILE

I agree completely!! Everything is black and white-let alone the fact that she is an adult AND can walk away from it....it's like why are you still doing this?? MJ had more years of insanity and NEVER created this kind on calculated crap that Britney does...you can't compare..STACYINBEAN...

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @StrawberryOrange: I completely agree with you - sad and pathetic. The girl clearly has some sort of a mental disorder that needs to be taken care of, on top of an addiction that she needs treatment for. And those poor kids are in a "lesser of two evils" situation where K-Fed is considered to be a responsible parent, even though he ditched his last family to hook up with Britney.

I'm not gonna say "leave Britney alone", b/c I think that's the opposite of what needs to be done, though I don't think Dr. Phil did the right thing either. I just hope she reaches her bottom soon and gets some help.

OOOO maybe my favorite show, Intervention, can do an episode on her (OK, I'm not perfect - sue me)

DebbieGlibson

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Lymed:

In that regard, do you think the blog should cover Britney or cover the coverage?

Cover the coverage. It's so fun to be meta.

Maggles

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Poor thing.

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @boogieoogieoogie: that creep Adnan whatshisname said the same thing, that Britney was like Diana

abagofsand

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Picture yourself at 16- insecure, no real self-awareness, a big ball of angst and uncertainty. Picture that, overnight, you're splashed all over EVerything, that you are simultaneously an object of contempt and lust and deplored and adored by millions of people. Imagine that's your life for the last what, decade? Every step and misstep exhaustively chronicled and criticized and reported, with varying degrees of accuracy?

WOULDN'T YOU BE CRAZY TOO?

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Listen, the only other person to ever gain so much popularity and fame at such a young age was basically Michael Jackson. We ALL know how that turned out. A lifetime of freakish activities for us all to watch!

stacyinbean

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> What of Britney's role in always putting herself out there in the media spotlight. People are so quick to blame the papparazzi's...and yes, they are vultures, but if she wanted to keep out of the spotlight she could. She's making all these very public spectacles of herself and it's not very surprising that the public is eating it up.

MakeMeSmile

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> From the first moment I laid eyes on Britney, I knew she was going to annoy me, be huge, and then turn into a total car wreck. I know it's mean, but I just don't care what happens to her now. She's an adult. She's made a lot of idiotic choices. And she's ended up wealthy and insane. I spent 18 years ankle deep in cow shit, went to college and into insane amounts of debt, worked my butt off to get a job, and can't afford to buy laundry detergent at the moment. I would much rather spend my time musing over someone who is worth my attention and I can pretend cares about me just a little as a person. Like Toni Collette who gave me Muriel's Wedding to spend Friday nights with when I'm too poor to drink with my friends. Or my girl America Ferarra. Britney has never done a thing for me. Hence, I don't care about her. Updates to reassure me that she hasn't died are fine. But I'm not going to pretend that she means more to me than she does just because she's officially a nutbag and a risk to herself.

That is all.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @hortense: i have never liked her for that reason alone. she was propped up as a sexual image that was being sold to children, and it was everybody's fault - family, friends, herself, her publicists, agents, lawyers, etc. they all let it happen because their wallets got fat off of it. and now look what happens. is it any wonder?

rednrowdy

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I appreciate you acknowledging the inherent conflict in continuing to post about Britney, and I appreciate the restraint in the amount of coverage. Given our celebrity worshipping, 24-hour information culture, it's hard to imagine how anything could be different. It is still saddening to think about the entire situation. The only thing I can do is not click those links.

minesbigger

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Meanmllemustard: No kidding. She's like the real life Truman Show, except she wants it, because it's all she has. I don't know if she can say there was ever a person in her life who cared just about her and not about her money. At least not one who is around today, who she can turn to. And that's really sad.

lalaland13

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @h_a_l: That's different, because Christina is smart and musically talented. Aside from being able to sing, she has perfect pitch and writes some of her own music. I'm sure Christina gets respect from the people she works with.

raspberryjamba

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> People make fun of her everyday. I'd be bat-shit crazy too.

hammerimissu

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @raspberryjamba:

She's not dead, yet it still feels like we're all feasting on a corpse.

Maggles

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> ^^^ ok- I guess we all LOVE to hate her now but I guess KATAROO_KANGAROO has explained the reason why she was soo liked at the first place soo much. I know she's a worldwide star but apart from the UK, the US pretty much leads the world when it comes to young hot pop properties-and anyone they churn out; other countries pretty much follow and well come more then say, a popstar from Pakistan or even the UK...

rantersparadise

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I know a lot of people hate Britney Spears, but I can't imagine leading her life. I mean...I already feel crazy enough, but to have every moment of your life taped like it's a crisis? Imagine running on constant fight or flight...it would be insane. The whole celebrity culture here is just like gladiator fights in Roman times: You take a person, elevate them to godlike status, and put them in hideous situations, until you are lucky enough to witness their gory demise.

keetens

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> You know, it must suck to be her. But it isn't as though she is entirely a victim of a mercenary paparazzi horde. It's pretty universally acknowledged that one of the reasons there are so many photographers around her all the time is that she calls to alert them whenever she leaves her house. So is it pathetic and sad that she seems to have such a symbiotic relationship with the media, yes. Her only friends (and now boyfriends) shouldn't come from people paid to follow her around. But at the same time, she seems desperate for that very attention.

Meanmllemustard

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> i don't hate her, but i do think she's never found her "limit", b/c obvs the people who are supposed to tell her "no", i.e her parents, are/were profiting from her talent/tragedy/train wreck. brit and her sister would have been better off being raised by wolves that that pair of money-grubbing fuckers.

Charlotte Corday

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @MsDirector: @h_a_l: No kidding. She had to save her parents, and she never got to be a kid because apparently she was the parent? God, I don't know. But that is one hell of a deal for a kid-get a record deal, and oh, you save your parents from bankruptcy! And they've been cashing in ever since. She has no idea what it's like to be a kid or an adult or anything and oh this makes me sad and angry.

For the record: after my parents split, my mom ended up filing for bankruptcy. It sucked, people were calling all the time, etc. She still can't get a tax refund because it's garnished, even five years later. I hate it for her. But it made me a -cliche alert-better person to see her go through that. Now I know not to get my ass so far in debt I can't handle it (student loans aside, sigh). I have two low-limit credit cards and that's really all I need right now. Things are kind of tight at this exact moment, actually. Sigh.

God I wonder if her parents were like "If you can get a record deal, we won't lose the house!" Bastards.

lalaland13

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Not that they are alike in many ways but this somewhat reminds me of Princess Diana. How crazy the paps were about her and how there was this big backlash against them when she died. I wonder what it will be like when Brit Brit dies and what gruesome pics im sure will be taken after. It's seriously sickening to think about how low they will most likely go.

Boogie drinks a lot on Sunday SeriousDay

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> As much as I agree with the sentiment that she was/is completely exploited, sold into stardom too early, etc, I refuse to believe that she's not utterly selfish and that part of this isn't her problem.

With that said, her new album is AWESOME - by far the best one yet, and no one's paying attention to that.

Carrie Potter

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Miss Pelled: it's true. I mean look at Christina, who became popular and was just as much of a sex doll as Brit at the time. Now she's all married with a baby that I'm sure she'll never loose custody of. Also, homegirl can sing.

h_a_l

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Poor Britney, everyone has to feel sorry for her. She's obviously beyond helping herself and she has no one in her life that loves her enough to help her. I feel very bad for her children. If fed ex is the better parent then it's a very very sad thing. Her mom needs to kidnap her and take her away till she gets better, but then her mom's part of this very problem..

justthinking

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @katastic: That photo of her sitting on the curb and crying broke my heart. I'd go for a britney-free jezebel.

flynnchick

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Lymed: Definitely true, dat. There's so much to say about the Britney Spears coverage. It's almost as morbid as the Jon Benet coverage, and she hasn't even died yet!

raspberryjamba

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> As another mentally unstable young woman who refuses to seek treatment (but probably should), I kind of feel like her life could have been mine if I was suddenly picked to be a pop star at such an early age. So I feel for her a bit, but also breathe a sigh of relief that my life could be much, much worse. At least I know the people in my life are there because they care about *me*.

Risyt

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @maggles: I think you misunderstood. My comment was about why Jezebel should be covering Britney Spears, not why people are fascinated with her.

Lymed

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I'd be fine if there was no coverage of her whatsoever - don't even need updates to know she's still alive.

ChanRasit

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @AndSheWas: Ha, the same thing happened to me. Except the first time I ever heard of Britney was when my best friend in 9th grade was lamenting that her beloved Nick Carter was rumored to be dating "some girl called Britney Spears". I was like, "who the eff is that?? Girl, you know you'll get Nick someday." Haha, now he's a bloated trainwreck too, and she grew out of it thankfully.

NatalyaPetrovna

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @maggles: OK, you beat me. But great minds and all that, huh?

CMG

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Can we say "schadenfreude"? It's the deep (or not so deep)-seated desire to see those we envy brought low; and I don't care who you are, you feel it sometimes. I think it's the whole "Ah-ha! Being rich n famous doesn't prevent you from being a ginormous fuck-up!" Regular people go down the crapper daily, but who cares about them?

Ok, rant over.

CMG

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Doesn't some part of all of us want updates about Britney, if only to be sure she's still alive?

The day the internet is broken, I'll know that Britney died.

JessicaLovejoy: Heart of Dykeness

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Would she even be famous if she hadn't been teetering on the edge of crazy disaster from the very beginning? I mean, several other similar female stars rose to popularity around the same time--and many, if not most, of them were more talented--but they have never held the same sway over the public "imagination."

Miss Pelled

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @stacyinbean: Ah, well as long as her priorities are straight. (/sarcasm)

TeenageGangDeb

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> On another note, that hat is awful.

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Lymed: I totally forgot about that commercial. Yikes, that really is messed up.

AthertonMerriweather

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Lymed:

As much as I'd like to get on board with this argument, i think the Britney fascination is fueled by a healthy dose of Schadenfreude.

Not that I'm particularly above taking delight in the misery of others, rich, vapid others.

Maggles

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @hortense: Her parents allowed this to happen to her for the priviledge of having her be everybody's sex doll, everybody's star.
Human sacrifice is alive and well.


raspberryjamba

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @nadarine: @BiscuitDoughJones: Yeah, but she's not EVIL. People loooooathe her. My point is, she's mostly (with the exception of her kids) just a danger to herself. You never see any reports of her doing anything malicious (which you would if she was, just stupid, careless things.

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Seriously, she is like one of those teenage virgins of the sun that were wined and dined for three years and then sacrificed for the sun god. Britney is dead already. Poor thing.

raspberryjamba

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @raspberryjamba: She really was set up to take a terrible fall. Anybody whose parents allow them to be blown up and marketed as a Lolita sex doll at age 15 isn't going to be okay at age 25. Period.

hortense

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> We took a child and made her a sex symbol. We had a former Senator and presidential candidate salivate over her in a soda commercial. Now people are making millions of dollars documenting her fall from grace.

Jezebel needs to cover Britney Spears not to show us that Britney spears is alive, but because she is perhaps the ultimate objectification of a woman by the media.

Lymed

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I don't know, the situation has gone from being vaguely amusing to just sad and pathetic.

StrawberryOrange

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> She doesn't know how to live without the spotlight. I think she'd be in much worse shape if she wasn't getting any attention at all. I do wish she would go away, though.

gracielu

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> i think i would shoot myself if i had to be on Britney alert 24/7.

suprblondnunchuckpro

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Bless her heart.

BAngieB

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I think her way of saying that she was no longer for sale was shaving her head...we all saw how that yurned out

CityNola

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @TeenageGangDeb: She's in the state of LA struggling to control the fetus inside the womb of her youngest daughter. Sadly enough.

stacyinbean

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @Pinkosaurus: If she seriously has a mental disorder, she probably WOULD be this crazy!

kroliosis

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I can't imagine a more soul-sucking job than being part of a 10-person Britney reporting bureau.

Miss Pelled

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @TeenageGangDeb:
honey, if you were Lynn, Spears Britney probably wouldn't be in the situation she is now.

Lynn is obviously one of the reasons Brit is where she is now. And she's probably on her way to the bank.


vanishingirl

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> She is the extreme example of a celebrity becoming nothing more than a product. And unfortunately her parents pushed her into this world to be exploited so young that she really has no concept of what a normal reality is. I honestly don't think this girl/woman can be healthy and I don't think she can live without the papps and media attention. Without them she probably feels she ceases to exist. It's just really sad and a wake up call to all the future stage mothers who think its a good idea to pimp out your kids. People, this life does not end well no matter how much money you end up with at the end of the day.
Rant over.


sirsnarksalot

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @hortense: That might be a joke, but between joke and joke many truths are told. Britney is a sacrificial virgin/lamb.

raspberryjamba

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I remember it like yesterday, I was fifteen, and my best friend was lamenting the fact that this new "Britney Spears" singer was rumored to be dating her boy-band crush, a Mr. Justin Timberlake. I told her not to worry - this Britney girl was a flash-in-the-pan, a one-hit wonder, she would be a has-been before she turned eighteen, I mean, the girl couldn't even sing for chrissake.

Hum. Well I was right, in some forms, although I'm fairly sure Brit will always and forever be remembered, no matter what happens to her from hereon out.

AndSheWas

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Wow, her record deal saved her parents from bankruptcy. And now she barely talks to either of her parents. This makes me feel bad for her.

h_a_l

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> "For a woman who has been exploited as a product almost all of her life, is there an easy way to say 'I'm no longer for sale'?"

Well, first you have to know to say that in the first place, and if being exploited as a product is pretty much all you've ever experienced, you're not necessarily going to know that it's something you can reject, much less that it would be good for you to do so. That certainly seems to be the case for Britney.

MsDirector

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: She was set to be the new Madonna. She was hot, talented (at least in entertaining), and fresh. Everyone watched her go from being a little teenage girl to being a huge global phenom. She was the golden girl. Which is why everyone is now fixated on her demise. Part of it is perverse- the car wreck you can't stop looking at, but mostly, I'm at least transfixed by it because 5 years ago this was the last thing anyone expected out of her. She was America's bubble-gum pop princess. Now she's America's favorite train-wreck. Love her or hate her, you can't help but be curious as to what's going on.

I just hope she gets better.

Le Kangourou de Kataroo

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @katastic: I dunno. I think to have so much money and just flush it down the drain like she does, when there are so many people in the world who have nothing, it makes her a terrible person.

BiscuitDoughJones

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @braak: yeah at this point i've kind of lost the plot. i used to be obsessed, but now it's just repetitive.

J.D.Regent

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Also: Seriously, where the hell is her momma? What the fuck is Lynn Spears doing right now and how come she's not in LA struggling to control her daughter? If I were Lynn Spears I'd wrestle her to the ground and SIT ON HER if that's what it took to keep her home and away.

TeenageGangDeb

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @J.D.Regent: Well Amen.

hortense

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Can't we just assume that she's alive and insane, and you can update us when she dies?

She's no more alive and insane today than she was yesterday.

braak

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @hortense: i was totally gonna break it down theologically for you, but then i remembered you are in catholic recovery too so instead i'm just gonna LOL.

J.D.Regent

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @katastic: I don't know- I'd think that by being a completely unstable and irresponsible mother (ooh, so judgey! bad mother!) to her kids, she's hurting them.

nadarine

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: I don't know if loooo-ve is the word. Loooo-ve to hate, yes.

angelicola

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: I don't think that the people who love to watch her like or love her at all. No one cares about her career, it's all about Britney the crazy bitch now.
For me, the part that is fascinating is that her actions are literally unbelievable. Who the fuck is she? How does she live this life? How does she really feel? But it doesn't keep me up at night or running all over the internet to look at all her pics.

KnitSandwich

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I read an interview with her in which she stated, "If I cut everyone out of my life that has ever tried to exploit me or cash in on me, I'd be all alone. I don't want to be alone."
It made me so sad for her.


AthertonMerriweather

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> She's the ultimate Billy Wilder movie. She just is.

TeenageGangDeb

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine: It's not just the U.S.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> So, if her album deal didn't succeed, she'd be just as crazy, impetuous and crisis prone but just anonymously in Louisiana? I don't believe that.

Pinkosaurus

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> The more I learn about Britney Spears, the worse I feel for her. As soulless as TMZ and X17 are, they have, oddly enough, made me a more empathetic person, at least with regards to Britney anyway.

AndThenTheresMaude

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @J.D.Regent: Does Jesus count? Because technically kind of, right?

hortense

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Depressing.

I've never liked the girl, she's like a manufactured Hostess snowball.

But she's obviously been fucked by people who have put their own selfish needs above caring for her.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> Oh, God. She's not the WORST person. She doesn't hurt anyone but herself, the poor thing. She's messed up and seems to half zero self-awareness, but she's not evil/ depraved. Jesus.

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> @rantmagazine:

she's a disaster, and a lot of ppl take pleasure in watching her continuous failures. That's human nature.

vanishingirl

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> the prisoners and suicides thing is seriously scary.

J.D.Regent

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> It is amazing, this industry that's grown up around her. But I am still convinced there is not a person in her life right now that's not making money off her, or that cares enough about her to save her. Very very sad.

vanishingirl

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> she's gonna be the most profitable suicide EVER!!! beating out kurt cobain.

J.D.Regent

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I don't think that the phrase "prisoners and suicides" is exactly... in-applicable to Britney. Unfortunatey.

nadarine

]]> <![CDATA[We're All Guilty Of Fueling The "Britney Economy"]]> I genuinely want to know-what is it about her in the US that you guys loooo-ve soo much?? I'd love anyone to give me a run down because it is a phenomena....

I just don't get....She's a good popstar but??

rantersparadise

]]>