When I think of celebrities that have been portrayed negatively in the press, there are many names that come to mind for a variety different reasons. Celebrities are under the microscope constantly. Any move a celeb makes is recorded and analysed. No one is perfect so when celebs make a mistake it is broad-casted like crazy. The celebrity that comes to my mind first when being exploited in the press is Britney Spears.
When Britney Spears first started out she appealed to the younger "bubble-gum pop" fans. She sang innocent songs and acquired a young fan base. As she started to grow up her songs started to change in content as did her actions in her everyday life. Many parents were upset by this change in character because she was a role model type to so many young girls. Her "growing up" period was just the start to her downward spiral in the public eye.
She married a sort of "wanna be" rapper and became classified as a sort of "white trash." Her behavior was classless and controversial. The press capitalized on her odd behavior changes and blew everything out of proportion as is common in the press. The blow up of her behavior ended up making her actions get more and more strange. It was as if she went crazy from being watched so closely by the world. Everyone remembers her hospital stays, 911 calls, rehab visits and hair shaving escapade. Her odd behavior gave the press tons of room to exaggerate and analyze. At the end of the day the press loves having something to talk about to keep the people entertained.
I don't think Spears was as bad off as the press tried to depict her to be. I think the harshness of the press pushed her to be more mentally sick than she really was. With that said, when embarking on fame, one has to be able to endure the harshness of the press because it isn't only the craft that the people become entertained and obsessed with, it is the every day lives of celebrities.
To me it sounds like you are saying screw the press. I am completely for that. I don’t like them at all. Why is it that we need to know each and every detail bout someone’s life? I can care less about what some celebrity did last night or where they are going to be tomorrow. What they do is their own business. If you look into anything hard enough you will find something you don’t like. It has come to the point to where you are walking on glass when you become a celebrity. If you make the wrong move you’re going to get cut. it is almost to the point of do you even want to become popular? The instant you do, you basically lose your privacy.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Britney Spears was horrible. She was pretty awesome, still think she is. Going through that emotional roller coaster that she was on due to her life and the press, paparazzi, and everything else, and still making good music. That woman has skill and heart. Not many people would be able to go through all of that. I have a great amount of respect for her, regardless of her mess ups. There are a lot of stars that have been royally screwed by the public like she has, and it is a shame that it happens. It is a shame because they are doing what they love and for the people none the less, and people hate them for it sometimes. I would like to see them take a step into their lives and see how “easy” it is. Wow, got a little heated there huh? Well you have written a pretty good blog to get me to realize that I am going over my word count. Hope to read more in the future.
Yes Britney Spears did start out innocent and bubble but look at how young she was,and as she got older she started growing up and so did her music that is what usually happens when you enter the music business so young. People should not execpt you to stay the same, and I think living this type of life always under constant surveillance and being judged for any and everything you do would cause any person to crack. The pressuer of being a celeb is hard alone then to be in the spot light for making every day mistakes that we all make is unfair and makes life hard for them. if the press would leave them alone and let them be just what they are, people. maybe they would not make so many mistakes trying to be so perfect.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Brittney Spears definitely got a lot of negative comments from the press. She grew up-as did her music. That’s the only explanation for her, and it is a perfectly good explanation. I also agree with you that the press made her look worse than she really is. I think that she, and a lot of other celebs these days are made to seem far worse than they actually are in reality. I do not think her music is a great influence, but that should be something you should judge personally and not let what the media says affect your opinions of it. Like you, I also think that the press blows everything out of proportion. If you do one thing wrong, then the press will find out and make it 100 times worse than the original issue actually was.
ReplyDeleteShe has definitely gotten her share of bad press. It seems like these days, the media has nothing better to do than report on every movement of these entertainers. It is really crazy how everything they do from which coffee they're drinking to what club they hang out at is publicized every day. I think artists should really be portrayed for their music alone. I'm not the kind of person to really think much of what the media has to say anyways but in the case of Brittney Spears, they definitely went overboard. I think they even drove her to some sort of mental breakdown. What she could do as well as other artists is begin to sue these photographers for violating their personal lives. I know if I was walking my child down the street and somebody decided to start taking pictures of him I'd have some real problems with it. Your post also reminded me about the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident where pictures of her abuse were leaked to the press. It is really sad that the media feels they can publicize this material with no threat of infraction. The media really should be building people up rather than continuing to harm these individuals. There is enough negative PR out there without their constant TMZ updates.
ReplyDeletePoor Britney I feel so bad for her. I have been a fan of hers since I was 11 when she started out as a young teenager. I agree that her fan base was a younger crowd. As she started to mature so did her music and her behavior. Every single person in the world goes through this it’s called growing up. I guess people just expected her to be 17 with pigtails forever. Realistically that would never happen to anyone. I also think that all of the pressure the entire world put on her and the constant watch, made Britney have a bigger mental breakdown than she probably would have. I know if the entire world thought of me as a slut and a horrible mother and people were living outside my house only to follow me around to document my every move to use against me I would probably have a mental break down as well. But nowadays she seems to be in a very good place and is doing well for herself and her sons. I hope she can keep it that way and tell all the haters to suck it
ReplyDelete