estelle81 said:

The key is what is around her, and at a certain time about 6-8 months ago or more, things changed, certain people were gone, and her father came back into the picture. You can never tell what a person is going through, unless your around them, its easy for us to say our perceptions, but do we really know what is going on, we dont. I think the album and a tour are a good thing for her, for alot of people, they are at peace when they are at their job or performing etc. rather than sitting home where they have to think about things too much, analyzing things sometimes, many times is worse.

estelle81 said:

The key is what is around her, and at a certain time about 6-8 months ago or more, things changed, certain people were gone, and her father came back into the picture. You can never tell what a person is going through, unless your around them, its easy for us to say our perceptions, but do we really know what is going on, we dont. I think the album and a tour are a good thing for her, for alot of people, they are at peace when they are at their job or performing etc. rather than sitting home where they have to think about things too much, analyzing things sometimes, many times is worse.

lastdecember said:

I agree with you. She even said that she liked getting in her car and just driving because she felt like she was going somewhere. There are people who are adventurers and thrill seekers and there are people who are homebodies and like simplicity. She's a thrill seeker, so I think she'll be a little more happy once she's out of the house and on the road again.

lascantas said:

I agree with you. This is one thing that has always bothered me about her. I believe that the bulk of her career has been mapped out for her by smart PR people and other label heads/handlers; and this documentary just made me see how things haven't really changed. Personally, I don't think she's ever really had to make any hardcore decisions for herself, because other people were always doing it for her and she never really bothered to learn to do it on her own, so I can't really feel sorry for her in that aspect. All people, celebrity or not, should take the initiative to learn how to stand on their own two feet at some point regardless of how many assistants they have employed, because that's what I believe is a large part of what life is all about...learning how to become an independent individual.

I don't see her trying to better herself very much either. The major thing I noticed in the docu is that she doesn't really make-up any of her own choreography, and her dancing is usually what people praise her for. Maybe she has in the past, but she doesn't in this special. For someone who loves dancing as much as she says she does, why isn't she making up her own dance routines or at least coming into rehearsals and offering up some dance steps that she's been working on while being 'trapped' in her house? Maybe she is and they just didn't document that part, so

She also hasn't seemed to learn how to do any real producing or songwriting while in her 'controlled and boring' environment. She's like many artists nowadays, more than happy to pay others to do the bulk of the hard work for them while they garner all the credit. It's something that I find extremely disappointing, lazy, and sad. She's saying that her life is boring, so why not take up learning something new or bettering your craft? One day, I got soo bored that I taught myself the sign language alphabet...only took an hour and I learned something that I can always use. Britney has had lots of people doing things for her for the majority of her career and life, which is why I've never been able to see her as a strong and independent woman. Maybe someday, she will understand (no pun intended) and become that liberated woman she soo hopes to be.



I've read that Madonna pursued Guy in many biographies written about her and that the main reason he asked her to marry him was because she was pregnant with their son. It's not a bad reason to marry someone, but not really a good reason either. I think that if Britney does get remarried, finding a good father figure for her sons should be the most important thing on her list of things to look for. You divorce your husband; you don't divorce your kids. Personally, I think Britney and Madonna are different when it comes to love. I think Madonna likes to be in control and, like you said, 'make' things happen; but I think Britney is willing to relinquish all control to her man and fall blindly, and oft times, foolishly in love. She was raised the way most southern girls are raised; to believe that a man should be a gentleman and take care of his lady. I was raised like that too, but that fairy tale lie faded along time ago for me thanks to many boys pretending to be men. I think she still believes that such a love exists in this day and age and that's nice and all, but a tad bit unrealistic IMO, especially considering who she is. I believe her celebrity kinda hinders her a little in the finding true love department, because she'll have to find a guy just as or more successful than her, because I don't know too many guys (not users) who would be thrilled to be labled, "Mr. Britney Spears" on a constant basis.



Regardless of what anyone says, Britney did have a childhood away from the bright lights of Hollywood...it was just broken up alot by different career ventures she pursued throughout her younger years; but she had many years being a normal kid, so I never understood that 'she never had a childhood' crap. She didn't do the MMC until she was like 10 years old and after it ended about 2 years later, she went back to Louisiana and was a normal teenager for a few years; hell there are pictures of her attending a high school prom and that's not something that a overworked child star usually gets the priviledge of doing. She wasn't like Janet, Drew Barrymore, or the Olsen twins who actually did spend their childhoods in the spotlights working non-stop and these ladies all seem very grounded and independent to me. If she hated soo much, she should have stopped doing it. Lauryn Hill was at the pinnacle of her career after her first solo album dropped; and she just quit and became a mom, so if she can do it, any celebrity can...man, I wish she would put out another album because she truly was the total package.

TotalAlisa said:

here we go again, its called an album deal, a contract ok, just like Mariah has like Janet had, they GOT THEIR CHECK whether the album sold or not, thats the point here. If everyone stops buying then she'll do whatever, i mean there are bands here in NYC that no one knows about, but they play shows and sell their cds at shows and make money that way. If you are an artist, whoever you are, SURE you wanna sell, but YOU ARE NOT AN ARTIST if you cant deal with not selling, sorry but thats what its about. So people like Britney or beyonce or whoever, if they wouldnt do what they do FOR FREE, than they arent artists, same goes for everyone else, its called a gut check.

ehuffnsd said:

I agree, because isn't that "Mmm Papi" song that she wrote supposedly about that paparazzi asshole who was using her? I've told many people that I don't consider her in the clear until after the conservatorship ends and she's on her own for a while. That's when we'll see if she truly has changed for the better, but she definitely is doing well at the moment, so hope she stays on track.

estelle81 said:

i disagree. before gas went over $2.00 a gallon i'd jump in my car and just drive. i'd drive out the 8 come back go up the 15 and than back home on the 5. just spent hours driving.

Regardless of what anyone says, Britney did have a childhood away from the bright lights of Hollywood...it was just broken up alot by different career ventures she pursued throughout her younger years; but she had many years being a normal kid, so I never understood that 'she never had a childhood' crap. She didn't do the MMC until she was like 10 years old and after it ended about 2 years later, she went back to Louisiana and was a normal teenager for a few years; hell there are pictures of her attending a high school prom and that's not something that a overworked child star usually gets the priviledge of doing.

She also hasn't seemed to learn how to do any real producing or songwriting while in her 'controlled and boring' environment. She's like many artists nowadays, more than happy to pay others to do the bulk of the hard work for them while they garner all the credit. It's something that I find extremely disappointing, lazy, and sad. She's saying that her life is boring, so why not take up learning something new or bettering your craft? One day, I got soo bored that I taught myself the sign language alphabet...only took an hour and I learned something that I can always use. Britney has had lots of people doing things for her for the majority of her career and life, which is why I've never been able to see her as a strong and independent woman. Maybe someday, she will understand (no pun intended) and become that liberated woman she soo hopes to be.

not everyone who loves dancing is a good choregrapher. also remember she said decisions you'd think she'd get her way on she doesn't. right now i don't think it matters if she wrote a song, or did a number, or even deseigned her own costumes. Her dad and Larry are making the important decision and there is no legal recourse for her at the moment to do anything different. in all honestly i think right now they maybe adding to the problem because they aren't giving her a reason to think life was better without whatever she was on.
[Edited 12/2/08 18:44pm]

She worked since the age of 3. Going to all sorts of classes, her mother took her to NY to work on Broadway when she was 9. She was winning gymnastics competitions at about 8 or 9 years of age. Going on star search contests. She wasn't prominent but she was certainly working very hard for someone her age. Also her career took off when she was 16, most of the time when people say she missed out on growing up, they mean from that point, which is true. I'm sure we all remember how confusing life is as a teen, can you imagine becoming one of the most visible women in the world at such an age? I can't.

"Childhood" isn't necessarily a literal term. She did miss a good chunk of real life working her way up to where she is now. 2004 til 2007 was really her only true hiatus from her work.

She actually said she wrote a lot for this album but it seems like she has to fight to even get one song on there, which is why I think My Baby is just tacked on the end of the album. On the doco she said she loved the song Trouble and that's not on the album either. I wonder how much control she does have? She really needs to get away from Jive. As her father said, she was just going into the studio for fun then her manager came along with the dollar signs in his eyes

ehuffnsd said:

Wow, you must really love driving. I absolutely love to travel, but absolutely hate driving. If I have to chose between lots of driving and staying at home, Imma be in the house either watching movies or on the internet ....that's how much I can't stand driving. If someone else is doing the driving, than I'd be willing to go anywhere. I especially love the train...I could ride it all day and wish I lived in NYC because you wouldn't be able to keep me off the Subway. I'm an adventurer and a thrill seeker with homebody tendencies . I have to set limits for myself and make sure that I'm aware of who's around me and what's going on; because I refuse to allow myself to believe that the world is a safe place. I've really had to curve my free-spirited attitude because I realized it could get me hurt or in trouble. Self-control and considering the pros and cons are both soo easy to say, but can be soo hard to do sometimes, but they are both very important and necessary things to learn IMO.

purplesweat said:

I can't ever imagine living in the spotlight because I love privacy too much, and I know that privacy is probably considered a luxury to celebrities. If I was going to get into the entertainment business, I'd prefer being behind the scenes, because they contribute just as much as the person in front of the cameras. I don't disagree that her life experiences haven't been difficult for a child to endure, but it's a choice and she chose to do it; and, she continued to choose to do it up until the conservatorship was implemented and her right to choose was kinda taken away, so I just can't really feel sorry for her for the choices she made. I just refuse to believe that she absolutely didn't want to do any of this stuff as a child; that she was forced into performing; because that would lead me to believe that she's been doing something for the past decade that she hates to do. I know that's not the case, because she said in the documentary that she loves what she does and has always loved what she does and never stopped enjoying it. I think her mother just didn't really encourage her to do other things besides that, which is bad because it could limit a child's total potential. Who's to say that if her parent's had encouraged her to excel at school and go to college as opposed to performing if she'd even be in showbiz today? She loved performing and they encouraged her to do what she loved to do. I believe that when the perks of money and fame came into the picture, that's when things started to change for the worst.





That's something I don't understand about her. Justin Timberlake has the same record label and when he went into the label heads and said he wanted to release "SexyBack" as the lead single, they disagreed with him; but he did it anyway. Same thing goes for P!nk and Christina Aguilera, because their labels wanted them to remain in the bubblegum pop sound and both refused and did different things on their sophomore albums that what their labels wanted them to do. I don't get why they were all able to take control and get what they wanted, but she can't and she was the biggest seller before any of them. Either she wasn't all that insistent and confident in her contributions; or she's a pleaser who does as she's told...both bad things IMO. If she doesn't learn how to have total confidence in herself, I believe she's going to continue to be taken advantage of and treated like a puppet; and the only person who can give her true confidence in the end is herself.

I'm not a big Britney fan, but I am rooting for her personally...
I didn't see the documentary, but I did see a news clip from CNN
tonight, and it really broke my heart.

She was in tears and telling the interviewer that she's bored
with life...there's nothing she said that excites her,
or gives her passion for life anymore and she was crying the whole time.
You could see that she was really hurting.

She's seriously depressed and until doctors find the right medication
to help her, nothing is going to change....no amount of anything can
change that.

Maybe they feel she has to be sedated, but sedation 'does not'
help severe depression...it's a short-term fix to keep her mellow,
but that's about it.

estelle81 said:

i only like driving by myself if someone else is in the car they can drive.

I don't disagree that her life experiences haven't been difficult for a child to endure, but it's a choice and she chose to do it; and, she continued to choose to do it up until the conservatorship was implemented and her right to choose was kinda taken away, so I just can't really feel sorry for her for the choices she made.

I just refuse to believe that she absolutely didn't want to do any of this stuff as a child; that she was forced into performing; because that would lead me to believe that she's been doing something for the past decade that she hates to do.

I know that's not the case, because she said in the documentary that she loves what she does and has always loved what she does and never stopped enjoying it. I think her mother just didn't really encourage her to do other things besides that, which is bad because it could limit a child's total potential.

Who's to say that if her parent's had encouraged her to excel at school and go to college as opposed to performing if she'd even be in showbiz today? She loved performing and they encouraged her to do what she loved to do. I believe that when the perks of money and fame came into the picture, that's when things started to change for the worst.

That's something I don't understand about her. Justin Timberlake has the same record label and when he went into the label heads and said he wanted to release "SexyBack" as the lead single, they disagreed with him; but he did it anyway. Same thing goes for P!nk and Christina Aguilera, because their labels wanted them to remain in the bubblegum pop sound and both refused and did different things on their sophomore albums that what their labels wanted them to do. I don't get why they were all able to take control and get what they wanted, but she can't and she was the biggest seller before any of them. Either she wasn't all that insistent and confident in her contributions; or she's a pleaser who does as she's told...both bad things IMO. If she doesn't learn how to have total confidence in herself, I believe she's going to continue to be taken advantage of and treated like a puppet; and the only person who can give her true confidence in the end is herself.

I agree completely. Neither of her parents are that intelligent. They probably just knew they had something special going for them and went for it (well Lynne anyway, don't know what her father thought). From what I've heard from Lynne, she's just as much an easy push over as her daughter has turned out to be. It's like the pair of them live in the moment and just do what others think is best then look back at the destruction behind them and have no idea what they've done. It's quite frustrating being a fan at the moment. I can't decide whether I like Britney as a person or not. There's something uncomfortable about her, like she's hiding something really bad. Even listening to the album is weird knowing how trapped she is and how the album wasn't even supposed to happen. Oh well, Kevin's tell all is coming tomorrow apparently so maybe that will answer some of my questions.

She made those choices at such a young age, and at a time before tabloids, mainstream internet, gossip. To me, she chose to sing and dance and really had no idea about the fame aspect, which is why it hit her so hard and even now she still doesn't quite know what to do with it.

I agree completely. Neither of her parents are that intelligent. They probably just knew they had something special going for them and went for it (well Lynne anyway, don't know what her father thought). From what I've heard from Lynne, she's just as much an easy push over as her daughter has turned out to be. It's like the pair of them live in the moment and just do what others think is best then look back at the destruction behind them and have no idea what they've done. It's quite frustrating being a fan at the moment. I can't decide whether I like Britney as a person or not. There's something uncomfortable about her, like she's hiding something really bad. Even listening to the album is weird knowing how trapped she is and how the album wasn't even supposed to happen. Oh well, Kevin's tell all is coming tomorrow apparently so maybe that will answer some of my questions.

She did try to branch out when she leaked her Mona Lisa demo in 2005. But Jive apparently went nuts at her and the album she had almost completed was entirely scrapped and Mona Lisa's lyrics were completely changed. The original lyrics basically showed that Britney knew exactly what her image represented and was ready to kill it off once and for all. After Jive managed to scrap the album, that was actually the true start to all her rebellious behaviour, amongst other things. Remember she used to put up all these "I'm free now!" type poems on her website? With a picture of her flipping the bird. She tried but it seems like she's just given up now. All too sad.

purplesweat said:

At the height of Britney's madness if you may, E! had a speical called Britney's secert childhood. It had someone that worked at Jive on there saying it would be uncommon to see if Britney was asking too many questions about what was going on or demanding to do things different it wouldn't be an uncommon sight to see someone from Team Britney hand her off some cocaine or something to give her something to do so they could focus on their next move. Cracks started to show at the end of the Dream Within Tour when she started smoking and flipping people off. Than In The Zone was up and she started partying and rebelling more. They said it was like Lynne and Jamie just were like almost as long as she is alive and the money keeps coming it's ok.


now these people are the people that once again have control over everything she's doing and it all most appears that they are back to focusing on the Team Britney and forgetting to look out for Britney.

Kevin's tell all?!?! For real?!?! What's he going to talk about? How he left his pregnant girlfriend to mooch off of his pop star ex-wife only to have to man up and become a father after her mental health issues took over? Yep, that'll be about the length of a Dr. Seuss book.

Man, I don't know what type of contract they have her under, but wow, do they have some major power over her. I think she has the potential to write nice songs. I liked "Someday (I Will Understand)"; thought it was a very sweet and geniune song that she wrote and played piano on I believe. I think her record label is afraid that if they don't put big songwriters and producers behind her than her albums won't sale. I don't think they see her as anything more than a product because she had other people making her music for her for soo long. That may be why Justin, P!nk, and Christina were able to gain more control, because after their first albums and on Justin's first album, they were all ready take control of their music and maybe Britney wasn't. It's really sad when a record label is the one who seems to be hindering their artist's growth. I think if she had just ignored them and disappeared after that incident instead of acting out publicly, things may have turned out totally different. Sometimes the silent treatment really can work in one's favor.

lastdecember said:

having first hand experience on addiction recovery relepase and renewed recovery in meth...

you aren't done until you have decided it's not worth it anymore. no one can make that decision for you.

i'm not convinced she's finished.

She's putting up a front. She's trying her best to get back on track but I can still tell she is in a lot of pain or still recovering from what she's been through. I still don't like her and think she's overrated, but I wouldn't wish depression on my worst enemy. I've been there and done that myself and sometimes I still have low moments but do things to pick myself up, and driving around is one of them sometimes, though I always end up going somewhere when I do so.

Britney Spears recently moaned to a judge that her life was being controlled by her father, though the judge pointed out that though she wasn't running around shaving her head and chattering like a rabid monkey anymore, perhaps the controlling influence of her father might still be a good thing.



Her father Jamie is taking no risks, ensuring that she gets more parental attention than her own toddlers. So she isn't allowed to choose her own food in case she overdoses on Haribo, isn't allowed to leave the house without permission (in case she runs off with another photographer) and has constant attention from bodyguards whom her father employs and then pays for with Britney's money. Brilliant!



Recently Jamie discovered that Britney had made an unauthorised call and traced it back to the phone of one of these expensive bodyguards. Britney had worked her womanly wiles on the chap and convinced him to lend her his phone while she made a call that had not been expressly authorised by her father, signed off in triplicate and passed through a committee of carers.



Naturally the bodyguard was immediately sacked, which is a shame as he paid for the call - and ten minutes on the line to cloud cuckoo land can't be cheap.

A lot of females can say Britney lost it and is immature this and that, but you dont know how you would react if your deeply in love with someone and had 2 kids with them and they just leave you. Many women have gone mad crazy when there man left them. This stuff all happened after K-Fed left her.