Kicking Her When She's Down

I've avoided saying anything about the Britney Spears VMA meltdown because, well, I don't care. The girl had very little talent to begin with, but she was well-packaged. Now she's a train wreck, and America loves a train wreck. But I think it's time to quit kicking her when she's down.

If you didn't see the VMA mess, here it is (don't watch if you're eating):



Aside from simply feeling bad that her messed-up life is so damn public, and that so many people seem willing to take advantage of the situation to make a buck (that's you, MTV), I really hadn't thought too much about the whole thing. But then I read this column from Entertainment Weekly: Are you enjoying Britney's downfall?

Here's a bit that makes sense:

But on the flip side, what exactly has Britney done to deserve the thunderous, rancorous response to her badly lip-synched, lethargically choreographed rendition of "Gimme More"? She didn't maim a newborn kitten. Nor did she dangle her baby off a hotel balcony. She didn't utter a racist or homophobic slur. So how come on Monday morning, she made the front page of dozens of newspapers, got covered by cable news outlets as if she'd just delivered Gen. Petraeus' Iraq report in an ill-fitting sequined bra?

In our current comment-board culture, it's easy to tar-and-feather a fellow human being — especially if that human being is a vocalist/dancer who makes an exceedingly large amount of money but is apparently too lazy or too disinterested to enthusiastically shake her moneymaker and actually, um, sing live, during her big, televised comeback performance.

But I've also got to wonder: Are we enjoying Britney's downfall? And if so, why? Has she somehow become our pop-cultural sacrificial lamb, meant to pay the price for the disposable music that clogs our airwaves, for the collective guilt we feel for the copies of Star and Us and In Touch that sit on our bathroom floors? And how much do we want Britney to pay? What if her story ends with a paparazzi chase that leads to a tragic car accident? Or a drug overdose? Or a suicide attempt?

How fair is it to pile on what is clearly a young woman in serious need of some help? She is a real human being after all, even if she only appears to be a caricature in the media. Rather than tear her to shreds, or enable her on-going self-destructive behavior, it might be nice if someone seriously reached out to her and tried to get her some help.

There comes a point when the media needs to become more self-aware and more humane -- this is one of those times. But I doubt it will happen.

Tags: Britney Spears, VMA, MTV, media, culture