What’s up with Britney? Remember her eye-opening performance of “Slave” at the MTV VMA’s in ‘01, barely dressed and complete with live snake around neck? Whether you are a fan of this Madonna-kissing singer or not, you have probably at least heard abour her a time or two throughout her whirlwind career. In ‘04 she marries a high-school friend. The marriage lasts all of 55 hours. She then files for an annulment. She later marries back-up dancer and aspiring artist Kevin Federline (K-Fed). Shortly after, her and Kevin welcome into the world their first son, and then another. She then gets divorced, goes into rehab, and unless you have been living life without TV, radio, and the Internet, it is probably no news to you that Britney is walking planet Earth with a new tatoo and no hair. And now, websites, blogs, chat rooms, morning talk shows, and the tabloids all are salivating once again to report about her very public troubles.Like her music or not, respect or disrespect for her, here is a woman who has achieved what few artists ever, and what mostly all desire. She has sold over 76 million albums worldwide, 31 million in the U.S., and ranks eighth as the best-selling female artist in American music history. I recently heard one popular TV morning show host making a mockery of Ms. Spears as he went on and on about her “issues.” As I sat and listened to him, I couldn’t help but feel extremely sorry for her. And I then began to wonder, what if all of my dirty laundry were flapping in the media wind for all to read about, hear, and see? What if, just like Ms. Spears, in a season of my life where I were making poor choices, I too found myself to be the talk of the global entertainment community?
Or, what if all the talk were about you? What if you too found yourself on the other end of despair and at the center of the bantering buzz? How would you feel? Consider this – What if you arrived at work, school, church, ball practice, or any number of places you frequent, only to realize that anyone and everyone within the circle in which you do life knows about everything you have ever done wrong? How would you feel?
My point – how easy it is, from a distance, to glare into the life of another and quickly find reason for fault or insult. How unfortuante to find humor in the anctics of a young pop-queen who, not only has fallen from the top of the pop charts, but by the act of shaving her head, is obviously crying out for something this world has been unable to provide her.
