CHENNAI: It may sound absurd that, in this day and age, a 39-year-old woman is being kept financially enslaved by her father, but what is even more unthinkable is that she happens to be a huge celebrity.
Yes, we are talking about Britney Spears, who has been kept by father Jamie under a conservatorship since 2008, when the singer had to be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.
A drawn-out court battle between them has not gone in favor of Britney and, in a recent hearing, Judge Brenda Penny of the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that Jamie and a newly appointed financial trust firm must work toward developing an investment plan that will help her.
The conservatorship was extended until this September, following which a New York Times-produced documentary “Framing Britney Spears” was released on FX and Hulu.
The film, directed by Samantha Stark, offers new details about the former teen phenomenon’s misfortunes that led to an outcry against her fate. Fans have flooded social media with hashtags #We’reSorryBritney and #FreeBritney.
The documentary takes a balanced view of Britney’s life since she was a child, charting a rise to fame hampered by misogyny, vicious press reporting and personal mishaps.
An elderly television host once asked 10-year-old Britney just after she had performed if she had a boyfriend, before adding a rather disgusting “How about me?”
It’s just one example of the shocking way in which the star has been treated throughout her time in the spotlight, and the documentary does not shy away from shining a harsh spotlight on the treatment of female stars — many of whom have had to face deeply intrusive and at times offensive, remarks and questions about their personal life.
What really stands out, however, is Stark’s assertion that Spears sometimes gave as good as she got, with footage showing her subtly standing her ground with journalists and pushing back against efforts to control her appearance.
The documentary is frank, alternating between all the good that happened to her and the maliciously unsavory. Her style was sometimes overrated and thought of as unsuited, and her troubles with the paparazzi have been underlined in a nuanced manner.
Stark’s insightful work may not appear to come to any conclusion, but she makes it clear that, despite fame and fortune, Britney has not garnered the basic right to freedom.
