Thursday, January 17, 2008

Bipolar Britney

I went back to the gym today, after months of not setting foot in it with all kinds of excuses (back pain, China, jet lag from China, being fat, etc).
And you know what happens when I go to the gym: I watch The Insider on TV and I read trashy magazines, even if there is a cute guy in the treadmill right next to mine, who is probably thinking, look at this trailer trash imported to Manhattan (if he only knew I've read Proust and Dostoevsky, both of which are not unlike People magazine, if you think about it).
In any case, there I am watching The Insider broadcast Danielynn's "first" steps (she seems already much more with it than her mom), while I'm reading at the same time, and this is a first, because I never read People, I only look at the pictures, the article that details Britney's descent into "mental illness".
As People informs us, doctors who have not treated Brits have nevertheless decided that she sounds bipolar. Apparently all this convoluted behavior of hers is symptomatic of bipolarity, or what used to be called manic depression, I believe. It turns out that there is a history of mental illness in the family somewhere. So there you have it, she was nuts from the get go.
I have never felt sympathy for Britney. I can't stand her vulgarity. (So sue me). But today, my friends, I do. I pity her. She has become the national punching bag, as Ayelet Waldman smartly points out here. Because she is a woman and because she is a mother and because she is talented (albeit trashy) and because she is rich, the derision and the criticism are relentless. She is also morbidly fascinating, like watching a car wreck, but it is actually rather sad. With all that money, and all those resources at her disposal to become a better person, a better artist, and she is just lost and bonkers.
Is it not possible that this "bipolarity" being proclaimed with such wild abandon, (as if this is the excuse we have not to think anymore about the nasty side effects of our celebrity culture), may be a result of her extreme circumstances? A young talent, marketed and taken advantage of to no end, too young and too ignorant to lead a more examined life, or at least to be more savvy, have more backbone, be more cabrona, can barely deal with the sinister demands of her fame and fortune. I think it must be incredibly difficult for people with working brains and a solid sense of self to deal with such issues, now imagine this poor girl. A hillbilly who can't cope with the tzuris of fame.
And this is why I'm voting for Hillary. Because women always have it tougher and I've had it with the double standards and the lesser pay and the endless derision. Bring a bitch to the White House for a change. Let her turn into Lady Macbeth for all I care.

No comments:

Post a Comment