IT'S BRITNEY BITCH!

Since the dawn of pop music, what lone trait is shared by all the great pop stars who’ve lodged themselves in the public’s imagination? Every single one of them ends up, often unwittingly, reflecting a moment in time back to the public at large. Elvis? The rise of rock’n’roll and the advent of the teenager. Dylan? The early days of the protest movement. Madonna? Take your pick. She’s just as much a byword for western meritocracies and the stress they place on individual success as she is a defining symbol of the 80s ‘me’ decade. Britney? Extreme exhibitionism. ...It’s little wonder that even when she attempted to escape the cameras, she also played intentional games of cat and mouse with the rabid media and went so far as to date one of the paparazzi tailing her. Even her much touted recovery and come-back, which has occurred at a hyper speed we’ve only become accustomed to since the internet went from a novel indulgence to being viewed as a human right, has been followed by a documentary film crew for the past few months.

The Quietus
Nov 27 2008