Well, just in time to make it twice in one month.  Britney Spears has gone to the hospital for a psych evaluation under the behest of her psychiatrist, which is apparently not Dr. Phil.  If you’ve seen any network news today, you’d know that at 1AM this morning a motorcade of L.A.P.D. and private vehicles transported her to hospital along with L.A.P.D.  helicopter support and a parade of leachy paparazzi. 

I feel bad because this isn’t her fault exactly, it’s not like she was prepared for this life, it just sort of snowballed on her between 15 – 25, who can blame someone for losing it with that much pressure, fame and wealth coming in during your most boneheaded years?  And now she’s crazy, well, I think we all saw that coming. 

Advertisement

I’d like to say it’s her parents fault for pimping their daughters out for any entertainment job they could and forgetting they may have needed some boundaries and some discpline, even now.  But that’s another story.  What I find so bizarre is that Portfolio Magazine estimates the media circus around Britney Spears contributes an average $110 million dollars to the U.S. Economy..….say what?  Here’s a break down of their factors to get to this number:

Total Albums sold sind 1999 (that’s 8 years people, 8) – 83 million

Advertisement

Value of those albums to JIVE Records – $400 million (one artist)

Touring Revenue – $150 Million, avg. $583,138 per show.

Advertisement

Britney Perfumes total sales: $100 million

“Estimated annual take for recrod company, promoters, licensers, and others: $30 – $40 Million”

Advertisement

Sweet Lord, that’s insanity, I mean that one little woman, who is not an especially good singer, dancer, or anything.  But she’s been package, re-packaged, primped and molded into a machine that literally makes money.

Apparently when you say, “why don’t the paparazzi leave her alone?”, it’s because she is estimated to make up 15-20% of the entire paparazzi industry.  Really?  Who the hell is buying all this crap? And that’s just the tip of it, from magazine sales to internet ad revenue, Spears rules the celebrity news game for all the wrong reasons.

Advertisement

So do we feel sorry for her or dismiss her as reaping what she’s sown.  I don’t know, I have to think it’s sad to see a young mother of two with her resources squander them on trying to relive some missed youth of midnight field keggers and backseat liasions.  I think the parents are definitely getting what they sowed, they forgot about being parents to be managers instead and let go of their children in the process.  One’s crazy, the other is pregnant at 16, neither has a bit of sense about how to be a responsible adult and they continue to throw money at their problems and wish them away.

I guess we’re to blame too, the people searching for her on Yahoo! and Google, reading all the crappy celeblogs and buying up the gossip rags while we wait to buy our rocky road and Pepcid.  And while I would like you to stop so we can set her free and let her live in relative normalcy, ala Michael Jackson, who had to move out of the country to get it; I cannot, because we’re on the verge of a recession and Britney, literally, is responsible for thousands of jobs, directly and indirectly.  So I guess she’ll either have to become boring and let someone else take her place or die for us to let her alone.  Sad, sad, sad, this is where our country is. 

Advertisement

Going to google her right now, Mr. Rickey.

Arkansas Times: Your voice in the fight

Are you tired of watered-down news and biased reporting? The Arkansas Times has been fighting for truth and justice for 50 years. As an alternative newspaper in Little Rock, we are tough, determined, and unafraid to take on powerful forces. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, we are making a difference. But we can't do it without you. Join the 3,400 paid subscribers who support our great journalism and help us hire more writers. Sign up for a subscription today or make a donation of as little as $1 and help keep the Arkansas Times feisty for years to come.

Previous article Huck calls home UPDATE Next article Bob Woodruff at Clinton School