Once dismissed as a mere conspiracy theory, the Free Britney movement has gained momentum in recent years — and is spurred further by the release of a new Britney Spears documentary by The New York Times.
Framing Britney Spears was released in the US last week, and since then there have been more than 1 million tweets about the megastar and the documentary.
The 75-minute film looks at Spears' quick ascent to pop stardom, the deterioration of her mental health, and the legal arrangement that has catalysed a movement among fans to "free Britney".
Whether you grew up on hits like Baby One More Time and Toxic or only tuned in later, perhaps during her much-publicised 2007 "breakdown", this is a film that will complicate your understanding of Britney Spears.
Where can I watch it in Australia?
Bad news: there's no news yet about when and where it will be available in Australia. But here's what you need to know to get up to speed.
Who is in Framing Britney Spears?
Framing Britney Spears is directed by Times director/producer Samantha Stark and anchored by Felicia Culotta, a close friend of the pop star who also served — at various times — as Spears's chaperone, assistant and backstage tour guide.
The documentary also includes interviews with music industry executives and pop culture commentators.
When the film turns to Spears's legal woes, lawyers close to the situation step in to explain complex legalese.
LoadingThe Free Britney movement also gets plenty of airtime in Framing Britney Spears.
Stop Everything! co-presenter Beverley Wang points out that these fans have "for a long time been regarded as existing on the fringes, and now we have a major media organisation giving them legitimacy.
"So it is, in a way, a story of fan redemption and listening to fans' voices."
What about Britney?
Notably, no.
Despite repeated requests to Spears and the major players in her story (including her parents), the documentary has to make do without their interviews.
Stark told ET: "There's a big ethical conflict for me in making a film where the central person in it isn't participating ... I guess I would want to say to her, 'Call me. I want to hear your side.'"
She also said that the conservatorship (a legal guardianship arrangement) has prevented Spears granting free and open interviews to journalists.
Find out more: The conservatorship and Free Britney Spears movement explained.
We do hear Spears in the documentary, including telling recordings from a MTV documentary which was filmed a year after her conservatorship began.
Spears said: "If I wasn't under the restraints I'm under right now, with all the lawyers and doctors and people analysing me every day — if that wasn't there, I'd feel so liberated."
What do we learn from Framing Britney Spears?
To put it mildly: the media comes off badly.
The documentary highlights just how much misogyny and sexism Spears has faced — beginning at age 10, when she is asked by TV host Ed McMahon whether she has a boyfriend, and continuing with the media's prolonged fixation on her virginity.
Loading"My big takeaway from the documentary, viewing it in the light of 2021, was the bullying and hyper-sexualisation of this young woman," says screenwriter, playwright and Spears fan Kodie Bedford (Mystery Road; Cursed).
We also see how the paparazzi harassed her (one memorable scene involves a celebrity photographer boasting how he hounded Spears until she snapped) and how her mental health issues and personal life became fodder for talk show hosts (Jay Leno comes off particularly badly here).
No wonder Spears was reticent to speak to the documentary makers.
A key focal point, unsurprisingly, is the conservatorship, which dates back to 2008 and was spearheaded by her father Jamie Spears (who is cast here as a greedy villain).
In one of the film's most shocking moments, the conservatorship, ostensibly enacted for Spears's safety and to protect her from financial exploitation, is described by attorney Andrew Wallet (a former co-conservator) as a "hybrid business model".
LoadingThere are some positive takeaways, too.
Bedford, who identifies as a member of the Free Britney movement, says: "Lots of people diss Britney Spears, but the documentary reminds people that Britney is not just a pop star, she's actually a talented musician and her music is amazing."
LoadingWhat's missing from Framing Britney Spears?
Besides missing interviews with key players, there are other gaps.
Bedford says: "I would've loved if the documentary delved deeper into the hyper-sexualisation of Britney and the way her male counterparts weren't treated like that, and hold them accountable — I would've loved to see more comments from the boy bands of the time."
While Justin Timberlake — who Spears dated from 1999 to 2002 — comes off badly in the documentary, pop culture critic Brodie Lancaster would have liked to see some examination of how his reputation emerged unscathed from their breakup (Timberlake would avoid repercussions again after the 2004 Superbowl 'nipplegate' controversy).
Australian singer-songwriter and self-confessed "Britney stan" Jack Colwell says the documentary "gives people who might only have a surface level idea of her career, a clear overview of it, and of what she endured as an artist".
"[But] it would've been interesting if the documentary looked at other people from that time — like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes — as case studies of that environment."
How does Britney feel about the documentary?
We don't really know.
But a post on Spears's Instagram, which is heavily scrutinised by fans and media, is being seized on as a comment on the documentary, as it reads (in part): "Each person has their story and their take on other people's stories !!!!"
LoadingWith this in mind, Bedford says the documentary should be seen as a "conversation starter, not the end of the conversation".
So what's next for Britney?
The 39-year-old singer is in an ongoing legal fight to change the terms of her conservatorship and remove her father from his controlling role.
While Spears continued performing and releasing albums for many years of her conservatorship, including a highly lucrative four-year Las Vegas residency, she's been on an indefinite hiatus since 2019.
In November, her lawyer told a court that "she will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career".
And: have we learnt our lesson?
Law describes the documentary as "a really interesting reframing of an early 2000 story that we thought we were familiar with, but need to re-examine now."
The documentary aired in the same week as allegations of abusive behaviour directed at young women, in the same era, by Marilyn Manson and Joss Whedon.
LoadingWhile many injustices, imbalances and abuses of power are still to be reckoned with, there is some evidence that as a culture we've learnt to approach mental health differently now; while we almost looked on in glee at Spears's breakdown in 2007, Demi Lovato's suspected overdose in 2018 was generally treated more kindly by the media and fans.
But Lancaster cautions: "The fact that Britney is still under intense scrutiny, even now, shows we are not free of that behaviour.
"We're still creating these public narratives of people we deem either good or bad, and then punishing them if they don't live up to that."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAyLTEzL2JyaXRuZXktc3BlYXJzLWRvY3VtZW50YXJ5LWZyZWUtYnJpdG5leS1sZWdhbC1pc3N1ZXMtbWVkaWEvMTMxNDg4OTTSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTMxNDg4OTQ?oc=5
2021-02-12 20:17:00Z
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