The Trouble With Britney

Did anyone else watch the Britney Spears ‘For the Record’ documentary the other night? It was supposed to be about her stunning return to form, but it ended up being a depressing story about a woman who has lost control of her own life.

She can’t choose what she eats, drive her car or leave home alone. If she wants to go on a date she has to have two chaperones.

All of this is supposedly for her safety following her very public breakdown two years ago that resulted in her shaving her head in public and being admitted to a psychiatric ward for her bi-polar disorder.

The three men who now control her life are her father, Jamie (who has power of attorney over her affairs), and her lawyer Andrew Wallet and manager Larry Rudolph. And rather than keeping the vulnerable star out of the spotlight, the trio have thrust her back into a hectic recording and touring schedule. Last week she performed to more than 50 million television viewers during a whistle-stop tour of France, Germany, Britain and her native U.S.

Yes, she is a grown woman and perhaps she herself is the guiding force behind her incredible comeback. But to the bystander, it just seems like too much too soon. Others may argue that it is ridiculous to spend time pondering the emotional state of a somewhat-dim millionaire from Louisiana, who has made her fortune in bubblegum pop.

But there is something compelling about The Britney Story. Rolling Stone writer Jenny Eliscu, who met Britney recently, says: “She has about as many legal rights as when she was in the Mickey Mouse Club as a little girl.”

A mother who has lost custody of her children, a woman who doesn’t have the dignity of being able to leave the house alone, a songstress in a gilded gage. Quite the Hollywood story.

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