1. Name of author, name of
essay/chapter reporting on: Christopher Smit, The Exile of Britney Spears, chapter
8-epilogue
2. Your articulation of their
thesis:
In the last half of this book, Smit finishes discussing exactly
how we consumed Britney and how/why we exiled her. Our consumption of her was
mainly done through material things – all of the stuff that was manufactured to help sell her image – but also
through the portrayal of herself as a sex symbol. Not only did we consume her,
however, but we digested her – we chewed
her up, sucking out everything that we could, and when we were done we spat her
out (or, as Smit’s metaphor goes, we excreted her). When she no longer had any
more to offer, when she was well and truly ruined, we tossed her aside.
This exile, as Smit calls it, is done for a couple of
reasons. We do not cast her off because of personal beliefs or anything nearly
so meaningful – she simply stops being what we expect and desire from her, both
physically and mentally, so we abandon her when she ceases to be the object
that we want to consume. First, she gets pregnant – her flawless body becomes
larger, different, imperfect; then, her inherent humanity is revealed in an
unflattering paparazzi photograph, ruining our idealized vision of her as some
sort of transcendent example of sexuality; finally, she shows signs of mental
illness/instability – she is no longer infallible, and eventually manages to
alienate us so fully through her drastic actions that she is effectively thrown
out of the spotlight – with this, her exile is complete.
3. At least three links or
images that illustrate the ideas of the article:
1. Smit mentions, in his
chapter about material consumption, the Britney dolls that were first made in
1999. He discusses what these dolls meant to little girls and how they teach
these girls lessons about possession – that they
own Britney, in a way – they can control her. Those dolls remind me
very strongly of
these dolls of the band One Direction – the target audience
(teen/preteen girls) is approximately the same age as that of the Britney
dolls, so is the message that they send the same? Are One Direction’s fans
subconsciously learning that they have
control,
in some way, over the band? Personally, I find this worrying and very sad –
fans are a big part of celebrities, yes, but people should always be in control
of their own lives, not others, and I hope One Direction doesn’t feel powerless
in their careers.
2. When Smit talks about
Britney’s exile, he mentions motherhood; not just the actual act of parenting,
but the physical changes that heralded Britney’s impending role as a maternal
figure and how people reacted so negatively to her pregnant body and its connotations.
The way Smit wrote about it, I felt like the public almost didn’t realize that
Britney was
married, and would have
sexual intercourse with her
husband – they seemed completely
unprepared and caught off-guard when Britney was revealed to be pregnant, even
though it really isn’t a surprising situation for a married couple to find
themselves in. It reminded me very strongly of the
virgin Mary and the
immaculate conception – suddenly, Mary’s body just started changing because of
the baby Jesus growing inside her, completely skipping the logical, necessary
steps it would have taken to get there. This seems to reflect the way people
viewed/reacted to Britney’s pregnancy.
3. Finally, we get to the
straw that broke the camel’s back, as it were: Britney’s 2007 mental breakdown,
during which she checked herself in (and then right back out) of a
rehabilitation facility and shaved her head. Smit especially talked about her
head-shaving and the symbolic nature of it – she was taking back power from her
managers by getting rid of a very feminine, sexually-significant part of her
image, but also clearly illustrating her own instability – people who are
emotionally stable and healthy don’t go around shaving their heads, after all.
A very similar situation recently occurred with one of the members of One
Direction (I’m
sorry I write so much
about them! I really am! It just always seems to apply so well), Liam Payne.
The day after he and his girlfriend of two years broke up,
he shaved all of his hair off, instantly sparking heated debates about why – was he devastated over
his breakup? Was he doing it for Breast Cancer Awareness? Did he do it as a
drunk dare? It’s inconceivable, of course, that he could have just wanted to
change his hair, or pick his
own
hairstyle, instead of having one carefully styled for him by a specialist team
from One Direction’s management company. Personally, I wish we could live in a
world where celebrities could cut their hair without sparking enough backlash
that half of the trending topics on Twitter refer to Miley Cyrus’ new hair
color or Justin Bieber’s absent sidesweeping bangs.
4. At least two discussion
questions that will help your reader develop the ideas of the article:
1. Britney was, according to Smit, “enslaved”
by her parents, her fans, her managers, the industry she was in, etc. – she was
trapped by their expectations and in a way, forced to act in certain ways. Do
you think the Church and/or organized religion has the tendency to do this to
people, also – forcing people (in a sense) to act in particular ways out of a
feeling of obligation or guilt? Is this pressure a good or a bad thing (or:
where does the motivation for this pressure come from)?
2. Assuming that God wants us to
use digestion when we consider the issues of religion and beliefs, how does He
want us to relate to the rest of the world – pop culture, media, political
issues, etc.? Are there things that, as Christians, we shouldn’t worry about
just consuming, instead of digesting (like Christian TV programs and music,
sermons in our church, etc.)?
3. Britney was exiled from
popularity and media, but not for her personal beliefs – more for the
(perceived) failings of her body and mind. These things are hardly under her
control, however; our exile was deeply unfair. Do you ever find yourself
exiling someone for a physical or mental failing (or just difference from
yourself/from your perceived norm)? What do you think it is about these
differences that make us so uncomfortable and make us want to distance
ourselves from these people?