Updated 2 December 2012
With the release of her seventh album, “Femme Fatale,” in
2011 and her successful stint as an “X Factor” judge, Britney Spears has once again
proven her worth to any dissenters. Many wrote the pop princess off as another
failed teen star, as her personal struggles from 2004-2007 made her the subject
of tabloid news. But Britney’s journey -- no matter how many children, shaved
heads and marriages it has taken – has picked back up again (for the record, I
think that count is 2-1-2, with a third marriage planned).
She celebrated her 31st birthday today, and I
honestly think she’s just going to keep getting stronger and stronger. And Britney’s
triumphs and failures parallel that of another young superstar -- the United
States. Yes, the land of the free itself: once a young upstart, now the most
powerful country in the world. The past 13 years have been instrumental for
Spears and for the US, and it’s a bit strange how closely the two stories are
connected.
The 90s were when Brit-Brit burst into the scene. “...Baby
One More Time” was released in 1999. It was a sexual album, something unique.
And the American people love getting sexual...after all, it was in 1998 when
Bill Clinton was charged with the Lewinsky scandal. 2000 brought some more
controversy. Bush v. Gore, of course, and the question of how the Florida
voting system got so badly screwed up. But also that sneaky Britney wearing
lewd clothing, grinding around and corrupting the minds of our young children.
For shame!
Of course, 2004 was when all the shit hit the fan. The
American people started to think the war in Iraq was an unnecessary campaign
started by a war-hungry president. Popular sentiment about the war and the
government began to take a turn for the worse. And in Britney’s world, things
weren’t going well. 2004 was the year she married her childhood friend Jason
Alexander in Las Vegas, annulled the marriage 55 hours later and got engaged to
Kevin Federline three months after that. Yikes.
Those following years weren’t very good, either. Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. The
economy went into a decline as the housing bubble collapsed, and the Great Recession
began in 2007. Britney had kids, checked into rehab and shaved her head. In
this time of tumult, economic uncertainty and attacks on the paparazzi, how would
America and its pop princess pull themselves out of a deep rut? Change was
needed.
And change came.
Barack Obama won the 2008 election on a campaign of hope
and, yes, change. He seemed like just
the right person to steer America out of the recession and get troops home
.
Also in 2008, Britney Spears released “Circus,” one of the
fastest-selling albums that year, to much critical acclaim. It seemed as if
everything on both sides of the spectrum would be all right. The next few years
were indeed a circus for all parties involved. A media circus took place around
the Obama family and everything they did, from Barack’s controversial
healthcare bill to what school Sasha and Malia picked to Michelle’s clothes and
right down to what they would name that cute little dog.
Britney’s circus was on her 2009 “Circus Starring Britney
Spears” tour. With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest-grossing
tour of the year. She was also a part of the hit television show “Glee.” An
entire episode was focused on her music and her influences in the American pop
scene (they attributed another one to her in 2012).
Through 2010 and 2011, the circus was still in full swing,
but it shifted a bit. Obama wasn’t the most popular guy on campus anymore, and
new Republican senators and congressmen began to make some changes of their
own. The media is still as aggressive as ever.
And Britney? She released “Femme Fatale,” an album with a
different sound than her past projects. “Hold it Against Me” gave Spears her fourth
number-one single on the chart, and made her only the second artist in history
to have two consecutive singles debut at number one (Mariah Carey was the
first).
There were also plenty of changes this year. Brit has been
in the spotlight most recently for her work on “X Factor” with Simon Cowell,
Demi Lovato and LA Reid. And she is very happily engaged to her former manager,
Jason Trawick, whom she seems to have a very happy and healthy relationship
with.
The US, of course, wrapped up a presidential election – no matter
who wins the presidency, there are always some big changes nationwide. But we
decided to continue our own relationship with Barack Obama – that, or he is our
own personal “X Factor” winner. You can pick how you want the extended metaphor
to go for that one.
There are a lot of things in the works for B. Spears. She
still has some trouble shaking off her past, of course. Critics won’t let her
forget those marriages or her paparazzi attack, and there are a few lingering
court cases or custody battles that we seem to hear about every now and then.
But she seems to be on the up-and-up lately and getting her career back in the
swing of things.
A lot is in store for the US, too, as we head into Obama’s
second term. The economy is still struggling a bit, and the government has a
lot on its big ol’ plate. But jobs are returning, slowly but surely, and I
think there is still some hope for this country to get back on its feet.
It sure has been a wild time for Britney, and for the country
she calls home. And to be honest, who really knows what the next few years will
bring? A new president? A new marriage? Some more racy clothes? We can only
wonder. And, of course, we can only hope...hope that two of the biggest young
celebrities in the world will keep entertaining us for years to come.
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