Fuelling the fire
Hollywood’s not the only one to blame . . .
Jessica Stewin, Volunteer Staff
Britney Spears has plagued the headlines for all the wrong reasons with her va-jay-jay flashing, head-shaving, and rehab walkthroughs. Britney’s need for help is obvious, and, with the extreme measures she’s taken to get her craziness across, I can only pray her actions are not merely a publicity ploy. But is it simply the pressure of stardom and Hollywood that has pushed Britney and celebrities like her to this extreme? Or is there something else driving the problem? Britney’s shenanigans have become so extreme that other celebrities have taken her situation and used it for their own publicity. There have been numerous public statements of sympathy for her, including the timely concern of Phillip McGraw, a.k.a. Dr. Phil.
Dr. Phil was invited by the Spears family to visit Britney at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he barged into her room as she was about to be discharged. The family made the unfortunate mistake of thinking Dr. Phil was a real doctor.
Apparently, TV doctors do not need to follow the rules doctor-patient confidentiality, or at least Dr. Phil isn’t restricted by this nuisance. On Entertainment Tonight, Dr. Phil confirmed his visit to Cedars-Sinai and publicly expressed his feelings on Spears’ situation, saying, “My meeting with Britney and some of her family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention. I am very concerned for her.” This statement outraged the Spears family, who knew enough to recognize that the supposed doctor had violated their trust by speaking about Britney’s health. Equally infuriating to the family was Dr. Phil’s plan to have a TV special on the Britney chaos.
On Monday, Jan. 7, Dr. Phil posted on his website his intention to film a show that could help families in circumstances akin to the Spears’ situation. He also stated that Britney’s situation was “too intense” for him to go forward with the show he had originally been planning and that he would not be addressing the Spears’ situation out of consideration for the family. However, it will be interesting to see how many other families Dr. Phil is able to dig up that have pop idols who also assault cars with umbrellas, shave their head, and have two children with a surprisingly successful deadbeat dad.
Which of course brings us to the Britney boys and Brit’s strange ability to bring success to all her past hook-ups. Her golden va-jay-jay, which she now proudly displays, has brought success to Justin Timberlake (supposedly her “first”). Timberlake is hugely successful; after all, who hasn’t had “Sexy Back” stuck in his or her head at some point? As the magic faded, she found K-Fed, who now enjoys a $20,000 monthly allowance and the pity pennies he squeezes out of his rap “career.” As of late, Britney has been seeing a photographer who has coined quite a bit of cash selling photos of Spears to the paparazzi. Jason Alexander scored his five minutes of fame via a two-day marriage to the pop star. Others include Fred Durst and Colin Farrel; you can see Famoushookups.com for a full list. These men have achieved success by exploiting Spears, which must weigh heavily on her as she sees their success grow and her career spiral downward into the oblivion of the celebrity D-list (members of which include Kathy Griffith, Nick Lachey, the other members of ’N Sync, and many more celebrity cast-offs).
You cannot go a day without a new story on Spears or her recently impregnated 16-year-old sister. Some have blamed the girls’ mother for their destructive nature, but the force that is celebrity has formed much of the chaos that drives so many to panty-less excursions and rehab. But what fuels celebrity? Well, that would be you, the consumer of media. You fuel celebrity by buying the magazines and supporting the craze that surrounds those who have achieved fame. Your consumption creates the need for more: the need for more drama and more pictures — pushing photographers farther to capture the craze and pushing celebrities harder to stand out. Perhaps Dr. Phil has provided us with some legitimate advice — just leave the drama alone and walk away from another crazy show. He may just be a real doctor after all.
Jessica Stewin is a University 1 student.
