The pop princess, the legend, and the Oops! I Did It Again singer has a lot to say!
Dates read: 23/10/2023 to 24/10/2023
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Word to describe: Gripping
Genre: Autobiography
*This review contains spoilers*
Britney Spears is an undisputed icon of pop. Her music has influenced young artists and music lovers since the 1990's. After a very public breakdown and constant media scrutiny Britney Spears we all knew and loved was placed under an involuntary conservatorship that lasted thirteen long years. She broke free in 2020 and she has a lot to say about her family, her experiences, and the reality of being music's sweetheart.
The book begins with a young Britney dreaming of escaping her small town, and her difficult family. She reminisces about her father's drinking problem, her parents' screaming arguments, and her brother's hospitalization following an injury. She talks lovingly about her great-grandmother and reveals family secrets in regard to her grandad and his controlling and abusive nature towards his wives. It is clear that the Spears family has a long history of neglect and cruelty where mental health is concerned. Revealing the past, Britney talks about her paternal grandmother who was involuntarily sectioned and forced to take lithium (a medication Britney will come to know herself), and later, sadly, committed suicide. Britney brings to light the harshness of growing up with a strict father and it forebodingly foreshadows the horrific abuse she withstood during her conservatorship.
As a young girl, Britney talks about how she loved life, music, and performing. She talks about her fondness for sports and her experience on stage in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's clear that Britney was a young girl with a large and passionate heart. Despite everything, there is no level of contempt held toward the people in her past and she speaks proudly about her accomplishments as a child. Despite the perturbing undertones, the picture created by Britney's writing is one of wholesomeness. As a reader, you imagine a wide-eyed, blonde-haired girl, with a microphone in hand parading in her living room in a sparkling dress. There is so much love and appreciation for her younger self that is clear to the reader in her writing.
As the story of Britney's life continues the reader is shown snippets of the star's rise to fame and the tumultuous love life she has had. From Justin Timberlake and the public humiliation that followed to her ex-husband, the birth of her two sons, and her inevitable public breakdown. Becoming famous at only sixteen years old, the topic of Britney's Spears love life and sex life was a topic of vast speculation in the media. This was encouraged following the break up with Justin Timberlake who from Britney's perspective thrived on the media attention and on numerous occasions shamed her for being a sexual being. The topic of her virginity was discussed at large and Justin encouraged the conversation by creating innuendos about their sex life. (As someone who is an advocate for female sexual autonomy this is disgusting. The public has no place in discussing or craving information about a celebrity sex life, no less a teenager!).
Britney's love life was a spectacle that the media thrived upon. A young woman who was clearly suffering post giving birth to her sons was stalked and regularly ambushed by starving paparazzi desperate for that money shot. Even if that meant endangering Britney and her infant children. Britney recalls the shaved head and umbrella attack as a moment of desperation and has come to realize the behavior the media labeled as crazy was a symptom of severe post-natal depression combined with stress and isolation. I remember the stories as a child, crazy drug addict Britney shaves her head to avoid drug testing, and attacks paparazzi because she's high. The reality spoken by Britney mirrors a society that was ignorant of mental health and privacy.
The most shocking part of this book is the reality of the star's time in her conservatorship. Limited privacy was clearly an infringement on her human rights (she couldn't go to the bathroom with the door shut!) and was described as a constant over the thirteen years. Set meals that barely met the needs of such an active woman and left her losing weight continuously, her father shamed her for wanting a takeaway and sent her to rehab for taking vitamins. Any sense of hope and outspokenness was torn from her soul with the threats of sending her back to rehab and limiting her contact with her children. As a reader, you're left wondering why she stayed but Britney answers that question in defeat, she stayed because it was her only option to see her sons. Defeated and forced into isolation, her money spent in thousands on medication and lawyers she could not trust, and her family living gloriously whilst forcing Britney to perform to fund their lifestyles.
The reality of Britney's life from a hopeful child to media-whored young adult, to a woman forced into modern slavery by her parents, is depressing and heart-wrenching. At the end of the book, Britney thanks her fans and welcomes a new life as a free woman. Her social media is filled with smiling faces and carefree dancing. As a singer, Britney has always been inspirational. As a woman, Britney is a survivor and her fans could not be more proud of all of her successes.
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