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11/08/2006: "Like We Didn't See That Coming ..."
There was a time when Britney Spears was at the very pinnacle of the pop music world. With her tight tops, short skirts and racy lyrics, she personified the "schoolgirl-gone-bad" fantasy perfectly. Record sales were out of sight, and she could seemingly do no wrong.
Then came 2004. Even faster than she rose, she plummeted. The press had a field day with her series of missteps:
- Vegas wedding to childhood friend; annulled after 55 hours.
- Marries backup dancer Kevin Federline, who has two children with another woman, the last born two months before marrying Spears.
- Gets pregnant; son born.
- Gets fat.
- Gets pregnant again; daughter born days short of son's first birthday.
- Watches Federline's attempt to become rap star fizzle; record called worst ever by many critics.
- Gets fatter while other pop stars thrive.
"She went from being a pop icon to an emblem of white trash in a matter of two years," said veteran publicist Michael Levine.
There is a point in any form of abuse where you've had enough - drunks call it "bottoming out". Apparently, the sight of K-Fed spending her cash and the repeated tabloid headlines served as Britney's bottom. Rumors had floated that she'd hired a trainer to whip her back into shape, and that she was eying a comeback. Then came the twin shocks of her unannounced appearance on Letterman to show off the rehabbed body followed by yesterday's announcement that she was filing for divorce from Federline.
Frankly, I can forgive Britney for doing stupid things. Heck, she's only 24. What worries me more is her position as a poster child for the new trend of children as some kind of fashion accessory. Remember the good old days - when you married for love, then had kids? If it didn't work out, you sucked it up and took one for team, staying together "for the kids"? Now it seems having children is something rich folks do because they're bored or interested in the thought for a moment, without any real regard for the future. Whether spitting out two in a year like Spears, or buying them offshore like Madonna or Jolie, you have to wonder what kind of adults these kids will become. And remember - they'll be running the world when rocking in the old folks home ...
UPDATE: Federline, who goes by his "gangsta" nickname of "K-Fed" is being called "Fed-Ex" in the media now ... hilarious!
