Ok, so why does everyone hate Britney Spears so much?

[Shell Beau]

I am not a fan of hers by any means. I guess she could make a good entertainer. Her singing is ok at best, but she is a performer. She has definitely made some mistakes with her life (and her children), but she has been in the entertainment industry for so long, who knows what that does to people her age (Lindsay Lohan for example). I don't have any sympathy for her, but why do people hate her so much and call her white trash? Just a legitimate question. Any time her name is brought up on here, she gets trashed. I am guessing she is a republican. Is that why? :shrug: I guess I feel the need to defend her some because she is sorta from around here. She went to school south of here even though she is from Louisiana.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

1. I dunno. I guess I have no patience for no-talent hacks.

I get angry when I think about all the nonsense that passes for "music." If there's one thing I'm conservative in, it's music--once you get past 1980 or so, I don't really listen to it. My favorite music is from the '20s-'70s--jazz and rock and roll.

[Shell Beau]

3. Her music isn't really good that is true, but that

can be said about pretty much all the popstars out there today. Not all, there are some really talented singers out there, but many of them just plain stink.

[LostinVA]

55. What she said

[SacredCow]

2. I can't speak for everyone...

But I can't stand her on general principle. She is the consummate product of the music industry, and was forcibly rammed down our collective throats. As you said, she could make a "good" entertainer which I agree with. I just have a problem with the music industry hand picking who gets to be a "star."

[LostinVA]

57. What you said, with an addition:

She was created and put on the airwaves, and they quit playing women like Sarah Maclachlan, Paula Cole, etc. I don't mind Christina Aguileira (sic), because she is very tal;ented, but the CReation of Britney led to a lot of no-talent hacks ruining radio. Kelly Clarkson, Vanessa Carlton, and Michele Branch were a few acceptations.

It's finally getting better again, though.

Yay!

[SacredCow]

96. Accurate addition....

It's a multi-faceted thing. The creation of the "Britney-Bots" pretty well eliminated airtime for talented female musicians. To add some of MY faves- Liz Phair, Tracy Bonham, Melissa Etheridge...

[joneschick]

4. Perhaps her comments in Fahrenheit 9/11

to the effect that she thinks we should all just support our president. Not a big thinker here.

[Shell Beau]

6. I do remember that. Stupid for sure. But that

doesn't seem to qualify as a reason to just blast her all of the time. At least not to me.

[idgiehkt]

63. yes, that was ludicrous

I am not a 'hater' or anything, but saying you should just have trust and faith in an elected official is stupid as hell. I think she is retrogressive in her views and with the influence she has that's kind of a bummer. Of course what she's been through kind of invalidates them.

[xmas74]

101. I'm not a fan

but let's step back and see if that view changes over time. She's still quite young-she might just change her mind a few dozen times over.

Like I said, not a fan of hers but I do sometimes feel a bit sorry for her. She's never been allowed to really live and to think for herself. It seems that every comment she makes are probably things she's overheard others say.

Let's give it a couple of years. She's still young, a mother now and soon to be divorced. Life experiences might just change her thoughts and views.

[querelle]

5. I Don't Hate Britney

It's kind of difficult to hate somebody you don't know. Besides, the word "hate" is a very strong one that I try not to use too often. As for Ms. Spears, I feel more indifferent to her than anything else. I just don't care about her.

Q

[Maddy McCall]

7. She's actually a native Mississippian.

She was born in Mississippi. Very near to where I live.

Her family lives in Kentwood, Louisiana, now, about three miles from the Miss/La. state line.

I know her family, and her extended family. She attended a "Christian Academy" that was founded when desegregation finally occurred in Mississippi in 1969. Her little sister attends that same school now. She never had a chance to be anything but white trash. I doubt her little sister will be any different.

[Shell Beau]

9. So her lil sis still goes to Park Lane Academy?

I went to a private Christian school as well. I went to public school up until the ninth grade though. The academics were better and it was closer to home.

[Maddy McCall]

12. Yep...

Did you go to Jackson Prep?

See, the difference in Prep and Parklane is that Prep has the finances to hire good teachers away from public schools. So Prep does have some good teachers.

Parklane pays its teachers $11,000 a year. Indeed, I know one elementary school teacher who started out at $7,000/yr about six years ago. Yeah, coaches make more.

Most of the teachers, though, teach at Parklane because their kids go there and they agree wholeheartedly with the school's mission, so they bite it about their paychecks. It's not a "wealthy" school by any means...most of the people who send their kids to Parklane do so because they don't want their kids to be around "those little black children."

[Shell Beau]

14. True. Racism is still alive and well.

For some reason I didn't peg Britney's family as rascist though! :shrug: Who knows? I do not see how anyone could survive on such a shitty income though!!!

[SacredCow]

97. There's a common misconception....

That she's from the Abita Springs area of Louisiana (Maybe the Abita vs Kentwood water confusion?). If you really want to draw the wrath from anybody that lives in Abita, just mention this! They take GREAT offense to the notion.

[nini]

8. Tell me why she shouldn't be thought upon lke that?

She's a horrible mother. She's an idiot with her blind loyalty to *. She has minimal talent.

She marketed herself as a clean cut virgin type yet bumped and grinded her way around stage.

She marries a guy who leave a pregnant woman with another child and doesn't seem to feel bad about that.

If she didn't have her fame and money she'd be the classic Jerry Springer guest.

She is what she is.

[Shell Beau]

11. I don't know what kind of mother she is and neither do you.

She made some mistakes that were made public. I think ALL first time mothers make huge mistakes. She didn't market herself a virgin, she simply said she wanted to remain one until marriage. I thought the same way when I was her age at that time. Things happen. We grow, mature, and change. That was shitty on her part about Kevin and his pregnant girlfriend, but I didn't hear people screaming bad things about Angelina Jolie when she was dating a married man, which in my opinion is just as bad. If she didn't have her fame and money, she would most likely have turned out like everyone else I know that grew up around here, which isn't as a JErry Springer guest.

[Maddy McCall]

13. Not to be argumentative...

but I don't know too many women who flew to Vegas, got married, and then divorced the next day.

Not passing judgment on her, but she's really nothing like the people I know around here.

She tries to be. Every time she comes to town, she goes up to the bar in the north part of the county. She sits on her stool while her huge bodyguards surround her, and won't let anyone approach her or talk to her without her permission.

[Shell Beau]

15. But she would have been had she not been raised in the

industry. At least that is what I believe.

[Maddy McCall]

18. Maybe so.

The point is, though, that she is what she is. And I don't think that people are far-off when they see her the way they do.

[Shell Beau]

20. I think she gets a bad rap sometimes.

She is scrutinized so much and that must be hard. I can understand people thinking she has no talent or whatever, but people say some really harsh things about her that I don't understand.

[Zomby Woof]

29. As a rule...

First time mothers do NOT use their infants as air bags.

And SO WHAT if she is where you are from? L.A. produces all kinds of bimbos in the industry and you won't see me defend them just because "they are from around here." What the hell kind of reason is that? No one said YOU are Britney Spears. Do you think this is about where she is from? No, it's about the fact that she is a black hole for brains and talent. White trash can be from ANYWHERE, not just from the south.

Britney Spears is a great target for the wrath of thinking, music-loving people EVERYWHERE because she represents everything that is wrong with the music/entertainment complex today. It is painful just to hear her talk, let alone "sing" or writhe around on stage so that she can help Bob Dole with his Viagra boner.

[Shell Beau]

31. I was just saying maybe that is why I sometimes feel the need

to defend her. A lot of people from Mississippi are referred to as white trash and to be honest, it pisses me off. I think she made a horrible mistake by letting her child ride in her lap. But hopefully she learned from that. But the time she tripped with him in her arms, my word, that doesn't make her a bad mother. She had on heels, so she must be a bad mother? I am not saying she is a saint or anything, but people are really cruel when it comes to her and I just wonder why her? Look at all of the people out there that don't get near the amount of heat she gets!

[Zomby Woof]

34. Because I live in the nexus of the entertainment industry

I can tell you there is PLENTY of heat to go around. She doesn't get any press unless she does something abysmally DUMB like hold her baby on her lap in MALIBU. Hell, what if Mel Gibson had been driving that day? ;-) Of course, her divorce gets press, which is par for the course in Hollywood.

No one thinks of her as "being from the south" - not around here anyway. They think of her as a garden-variety bimbo - something we have plenty of, it's just that her turn in the spotlight has taken longer than others. Well, her and Paris Hilton - the perfect example of someone being famous for NO REASON at all. I would say that I am INDIFFERENT to Britney, rather than hateful. I hate her lack of talent and her idiot political opinions, but I don't hate her, because I am all about LOVE. :loveya:

[Shell Beau]

36. You're the love machine!!

:P

[Zomby Woof]

37. In praise of Mississippi

The state gave us:

Howlin' Wolf
Robert Johnson
Muddy Waters
John Lee Hooker
Elvis Presley
B.B. King

And TONS of other great classic musicians. I surely don't associate the state with the likes of Britney. :-)

[Shell Beau]

39. Oh so many famous people are from here!!

My mom actually had a few guitar lessons from Muddy Waters when she was young. Of course she didn't have a full appreciation for it at that time!!

One of my personal faves from MS is the most talented Morgan Freeman!!! :)

[Zomby Woof]

40. Morgan Freeman is god!

:thumbsup: A great actor with dignity and class!

TOO COOL about your Mom!

[Maddy McCall]

80. I love Morgan Freeman, too!

He owns a bar in the Delta that I just might take a road trip and visit.

:hi:

[Shell Beau]

82. Have you checked out that new book about famous people

from MS in which he did a piece in? Very fascinating!

[Maddy McCall]

84. No! If you think of the title, PM it to me.

I wonder if they have it at Lemuria? (I haven't shopped there in ages, but I really need to get back up there. I love that shop.)

[Shell Beau]

85. It is called

Proud to Call Mississippi Home, Mississippi in Words and Pictures. They should have it there. They have it at a lot of boutiques as well. I got it at Mistletoe Marketplace, but I saw it at the local Borders. I love Lemuria too!!

[Maddy McCall]

87. How was Mistletoe?

I missed it! I was in Williamsburg, Virginia, and I had sooo wanted to go to Mistletoe this year.

I went to Natchez to their Arts Festival yesterday. Bought a really nice handmade walking stick...I collect them. And bought my son a huge handmade duffel bag for his fire department turnouts...and a cypress knee snowman, and some handmade Lone Star earrings.

It was much smaller than Mistletoe, but really nice.

[Shell Beau]

88. It was really nice! Lots of different little boutiques!

I love Mistletoe, but it can get really crowded. That part I hate. I would have rather been in Virginia! I did get some Christmas shopping out of the way though!

[Maddy McCall]

89. Virginia was beautiful, but I was there for a conference.

I only had a couple of hours of free time. So, no, if you had been in my shoes, you would have rather been at Mistletoe.

:D

[Shell Beau]

91. Oh! Very true!

[datasuspect]

68. take comfort in knowing that the average person who uses the perjorative "white trash"

is often a low brow college graduate who shops at Ikea, makes about 45,000 - 95,000/year, has lots of LL Bean and J. Crew catalogs, might have read some classical literature or a freshman overview of philosophy (so they can appear well read, even though they are dilletantes of the lowest form), and use their half-formed concepts, virtuous lifestyle choices, and sensible footwear as cudgels with which they bludgeon those "lesser" people who may or may not be less fortunate or who aren't pretentious enough to incorrectly use a PLETHORA of big words.

they are what nietszche (they pronounce it "neetshee") called "the magazine reading demimonde of half-wits, shallow pates, and boobs."

[petronius]

32. Actually, I think a significant part of it is about where she's from

For example, I have never heard the phrase "white trash" (an epithet I despise) applied as widely or as consistently to any other entertainer - regardless of behavior - as it has been to Spears...

[Shell Beau]

33. I guess that is how I feel too!

And then with people saying who would ever want to live in Mississippi anyway! I just get aggravated by it. But people will say they would call her that no matter where she was from.

[Zomby Woof]

35. I have used the term all my life

To describe white trash from anywhere.

Just look to Fresno as an example. ;-)

[petronius]

43. I'm from Fresno, you jerk!

Ok, just kidding - I'm not from Fresno and it isn't one of my favorite places in the state...

Despite other uses, I think "white trash" is a phrase that is far more commonly applied to rural southerners, so it is to a large extent a regional epithet aimed at the south in particular. I always enjoy a friendly game of 'my-state-is-better-than-yours' (it's easy for us, right? :)), but I'm sensitive to more hurtful forms of regional bigotry.

I dislike the phrase "white trash" for a bunch of reasons, mainly because I consider it to have a racist basis (why stipulate "white" unless to make a distinction from the more common type of trash?) and because I think 'trash' is too harsh and dehumanizing a term to apply to large groups of people.

I want to stipulate that I'm not trying to say that you personally are a regional bigot, racist, or dehumanizer; I'm just trying to clarify my reaction to the phrase. YMMV...

[Shell Beau]

44. I tend to agree with you about the white trash concept.

White trash opposed to what? Black trash? But I have been guilty of using the term. I try not to let it be part of my vocabulary though.

[petronius]

47. That's how I interpret it...

Analogously, why do we need to specify 'white chocolate,' unless it's because everyone knows that regular chocolate is the brown kind?

I don't think it's as clear cut as some of the other insults out there, and I certainly don't believe that everyone who says "white trash" is tapping into a reservoir of racist feelings, but upon examination I find the term to be unacceptable...

[Zomby Woof]

95. I am a native Californian

But I grew up in the south, and my Dad's roots in Tennessee go back over 200 years. I know a thing or two about regional prejudice, and there are plenty of white trash people in MY family tree. Or at least just the ones who voted for Bush - although most of us, including my Dad, are Democrats. :-)

[huskerlaw]

49. Bakersfield

Oxnard, parts of Sacramento...and that's just what I've learned after living here for a year.

I've also applied it to many, many people I knew in Nebraska and that's not in the South either.

:shrug:

[Oeditpus Rex]

92. I dunno why Fresno gets such a bad rap

Or Bakersfield, for that matter. Both are red, yeah, but they're not red like, say, Texas or someplace. :shrug:

I've been in some of the uglier areas of both. I've also been in areas of both that are really nice. Bakersfield did a hell of a job on downtown revitalization some years ago.

I read something yesterday about Bakersfield I find hard to believe, though: The county has reportedly issued more than 4,000 concealed-carry permits.

:wtf:

[huskerlaw]

48. That's because

if you looked up "white trash" in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of her.

I think the phrase is used so often because she's proof that being "white trash" has absolutely NOTHING to do with where you live or how much money you have. She's a multi-millionare with a mansion in Malibu, for fuck's sake.

Perhaps her upbringing taught her how to be "white trash," but Los Angeles and a couple ten million dollars haven't helped her any.

[petronius]

50. Well, I think I covered my reasons for disliking "white trash" in another post,

so I won't repeat it. As for "white trash" not being related to where you're from, it seems to me that there are plenty of other Malibu mansion-dwellers who behave as stupidly as Spears, but they're rarely if ever called "white trash." Why not?

[huskerlaw]

51. Because their stupidity

doesn't fit the definition of "white trash"

Mel Gibson, for example, isn't white trash. He's a racist, alcoholic asshole.

The guy who crashed the Ferarri? Not white trash. Rather, Euro-trash. Which he has been labeled.

As for other stupid residents of Malibu...I guess you'd have to tell me who you're thinking of.

[Shell Beau]

52. All of that just seems harsh and pointless, IMO.

Why even take the time to muster up such hate or disdain.

[huskerlaw]

53. Who's taking time

to muster up hate?

I was asked about why other people in Malibu weren't given the "white trash" label. In order to properly answer the question, I'd have to know who was being referenced, specifically.

I don't "hate" any celebrities. But regardless of whether or not we care, we hear about their exploits (particularly living here in Los Angeles), and we develop opinions based on what we hear.

As for wasting time with hatred, or being concerned with the lives of celebrities...I believe this is *your* thread.

[Shell Beau]

56. Right, but I am not calling people such ugly names.

My point is I just don't get it.

[huskerlaw]

60. Well, let's see...

You asked why people hate Britney. I answered. I don't think "white trash" is an ugly name, so much as a description.

I called a guy who crashed a multi-million dollar Ferrari that he stole, Euro-trash. Again, I wouldn't really call that an "ugly name". And that was only as a reply to why he wouldn't be considered "white trash".

The only person I really called a name at all was Mel Gibson. And I guess I don't have much sympathy for anti-Semetic individuals. I don't HATE him, but I think blaming all the world's problems on Jewish people does probably qualify him as an asshole.

So...I'm not getting where you get off saying that I've been "calling people such ugly names"...

[petronius]

59. I'm thinking of anyone/everyone who:

• marries a loser
• lacks talent
• makes stupid socio-political pronouncements
• demonstrates a lack of parenting skills
• wears ugly and unflattering clothes
• and any other of the standard slams against Spears

My point in this sub-thread is that I find "white trash" to be an unacceptable phrase because it (in order of importance) has a racist underpinning, uses an inappropriately harsh metaphor to dehumanize people, and conjures up a specific regional image. The phrase may be spreading to other areas, but I think it clearly has a southern history and retains that implication for many people (including myself) I think that part of the reason it is so easily applied to Spears is precisely because of her origin, and not because she fits some specific, non-regional definition.

[huskerlaw]

61. Then the problem is

that I don't agree with your definition of "white trash".

:shrug:

[petronius]

62. Well, like I said in another post, YMMV

You are free to use whatever definition you like for "white trash" - and I'll continue to reject the phrase as unacceptable for the reasons I've expressed...

[crim son]

10. I feel sorry for her.

She has little real talent and was propped up while doomed to fail eventually. She was never clever enough to realize this which has turned her into a joke. The joke extends to her personal life, her pregnancies, her body shape/size and her intellect. I'd hate to be in her position... a divorced has-been by age thirty.

[Maddy McCall]

16. Twiced divorced.

Not that there's any problem with it.

She fucked up by marrying that no-talent rapper-leach and then attempting to keep him away from his own kids and kids' mother. Doomed to fail is right.

I think that she had two kids only so she'd have as many as his first kids' mother, as if that would somehow make her more important than the other mother.

[crim son]

25. Really? I don't know too much about her.

I honestly feel sorry for stupid people. When the smart ones fuck up, you can be pretty sure the mistake could have been avoided. It isn't necessarily so for idiots. They're gonna screw up no matter how they opt to play the game.

[NaturalHigh]

17. I don't hate her.

Frankly, I just don't care about her one way or the other. I do feel sorry for celebrities having every aspect of their personal lives examined by the public and the press, but I also think some of them actually crave the attention.

[Shell Beau]

19. So are trying to say people like Paris Hilton actually crave attention?

:rofl:


:P

[NaturalHigh]

21. Umm...maybe.

To be honest, I really thought her fifteen minutes of fame would be over by now.

[Shell Beau]

22. She's hanging on to them pretty hard.

[NaturalHigh]

28. Yeah, I wonder how long it will be...

before another sex tape is "leaked".

[idgiehkt]

67. I don't think she had a thing to do with that.

I think that she was legitimately traumatized by that, and her appearance on Saturday Night Live right after it happened was a pretty brave deal. There are several different pieces of footage of her facing the press right after it happened and she looked to me almost like a sexual assault victim the way she carried herself in those first few days, just a scared kid who got majorly fucked over by a man who was old enough to know better. What a complete slime, I mean, he was 30 and he exploited a 19 year old girl.

Media fasicnation with children of the rich in this country is no new thing, it just faded out of fashion during the 60's through the 90's and now apparently it is back. But back in the day there was whole debutante culture of young women whose every move was followed by the media just because of who they were. One thing that makes this crop of 'celebutantes' different from the old school rich girls is that some of them work their asses off, the Hilton sisters included, even though they don't have to. If I had their money I don't think I would.

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. OMG! Have you NEVER heard of the War on Britney????

It's HUGH!!!1!

[GirlinContempt]

24. A couple of reasons.

Because people like to play the guessing game and morality police when it fits their own agenda, despite disliking it when others do it to them. And, celebrity worship/gossip is big business, it's sort of like all those reality TV shows. It provides a level of drama and self righteousness that most people wont find in their own lives.

[petronius]

30. Good answer - the only thing I might add is that some people

(perhaps even many, but not all) suffer a touch of jealousy when a person they look down on for lacking talent, intelligence, class, grace or whatever becomes wealthy and famous...

[Maddy McCall]

26. Here's a story for you.

Brit-Brit (that's what her family calls her :eyes: ) came home to her parents' (before they divorced) to spend a couple of weeks with her family.

Britney's cousin (a good friend of mine) has a daughter who was then four. This child thought that the sun, moon, and stars hung with Britney. Lisa called down to Lynns (she had visited their home many times, and Lynn's family had visited Lisa's many times--it's not like they are distant relations who never met until Britney became famous) and asked if she could bring the little girl down to say hi to Britney. Lynn said that as soon as Britney arrived and settled in, she would have Britney call so that Lisa could bring her daughter down to say hi to her.

Remember...these are family members--family members who all live within 15 miles of each other--a decently close southern family, if a little bit dysfunctional. These people all know each other well. They have attended the same family reunions, weddings, funerals together.

So Lisa waited a couple of days. No call from Britney. When it got close to the time that Lisa had been told that Britney would leave, Lisa called down to Lynn's, and Lynn told her, "Sorry, but Britney has a headache right now. She can't come to the phone. Maybe the next time she's home, y'all can visit."

It broke Katie's heart. She cried for days about it. She took her Britney CD and broke it in half, and took down her Britney poster in her room.

More than anything about Britney that I've read in the press, this is why I despise her. In southern terminology, she got too big for her britches.

[Shell Beau]

27. That is a sad story. She should be thankful to all of her fans

especially her family.

[Midlodemocrat]

38. I don't hate her, but I sure would like to give her mother an earful.

She not only allowed her to go in the direction she did, but she encouraged it. She had her playing the sexy little schoolgirl when she was only 17 years old and as a result, the kid now believes she is all that and a bag of chips when in reality, she was being drooled over by middle aged men.

Her mom didn't show her any guidance at all and that's just sad. Now there are two more little children out there who will grow up in yet another dysfunctional family.

[huskerlaw]

41. All of the things people have said

about the parenting, the 55 hour marriage, K-Fed, being a Bushie...

And...I don't feel the slightest bit sorry for her because she WANTS to be in the tabloids. She actively seeks it out. How do I know this? I know this because when she filed for divorce from K-Fed, she did so in Los Angeles Superior Court with a public judge. That is NOT how people who don't want their shit all over the magazines file for divorce in California.

Ever wonder why you never heard the specifics of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's divorce? They used a private judge and none of their filings were ever made public. This is not a difficult concept.

And yet Britney finds it necessary to parade her shit in front of god and everybody. Why would she do that? Well, I'm betting it has something to do with the album she was recording this weekend. A little free press for her first release since 2003.

That's why I can't stand the untalented little attention-whore.

[Shell Beau]

42. Ok then.

[Downtown Hound]

45. I don't hate her, but I don't like her either

I don't fault her for a lot of the mistakes she's made. She achieved fame young, and that's hard on people. Lots of people make mistakes when they're young, only with celebrities it's on display for the whole world to see. I only thank God all of the mistakes I made in my twenties weren't on display for the world to see.

At the same time I don't have much respect for Britney Spears. She has virtually no artistic talent, her songs are cheap, corporate-fed crap. She is a talented dancer, but big deal, so are a lot of girls. She has encouraged an entire generation of young girls to not not question their leaders, which is counter-intuitive to the basic principles of democracy. What it comes down to is when you take away Britney's fame, there doesn't seem to be much there. No social concern, no real passion or intelligence, no real substance. Not my idea of a good role model for young women. I would rather have a sexually active teen singing about issues that mattered and being real than a fake snow-white virgin telling people we should just trust our president while he leads us into a disastrous war.

[Shell Beau]

46. Now that I can understand!

I think, and I may be wrong here, that she has come around a little about Bush. She has made some jokes about him lately. And I am just guessing that with friend's like Madonna, she has probably been given some advice about politics. But then again, I am just guessing there.

[rocktivity]

54. She cancelled a tour because she hurt her knee

and couldn't do her dance moves. When she got criticized for lip-synching her vocals she said that it was unrealistic to expect her to sing and dance with equal vigor. So much for her being a serious musician.

Or as Bill Maher said the other day, she's just "eye candy with an opposable thumb."

:headbang:
rocknation

[Rabrrrrrr]

58. Cuz she's a no-talent. ignorant, corporate-product white trash whore.

She wasn't a singer, she was a pretty face that the Music Industry realized it could present to the world as a "singer" through shitloads of digital manipulation, whorish clothing, and a marketing campaign that must have had Hitler slapping himself in the forehead for not thinking of it.

[Shell Beau]

65. Actually she was a singer. She competed on Star Search

at a young age as a singer. Also she sang on that Disney show. And why call her a whore?

[idgiehkt]

76. her strength is dance.

I've seen some of the early Mickey Mouse club stuff and she trained primarily as a dancer who could sing.

She was a really hard-working, driven child. But now that she's sexually mature she's in that role of the 'trashy slut/whore' society loves to hate. Some one has to be, every culture seems to have to have an icon to vent it's hatred of female sexuality on. That is what always amazes me about Madonna...she willfully, purposely put herself in that roll, knowing it would be lucrative (but probably not just how lucrative) and made what, 7 or 8 hundred million dollars? (I suppose she might be a billionaire by now for all I know).

[Shell Beau]

78. But when Britney started, it was about singing. She is a much better

dancer though. Madonna too. Madonna isn't the best singer out there either. She was much more controversial and downright vulgar at times. She probably is in the billion range by now.

[idgiehkt]

83. I'm talking about her early, early years.

You are right she was marketed as a singer because you aren't going to make a name for yourself as a dancer. But the dancing is what made her stand out from people like Christina and Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, etc.

Also, if you look at alot of her early p.r. stuff it is pretty repulsive in that it is so obviously being marketed to the pedophile element. There is one pic of her when she was around 15 or 16 I saw where she is leaning over an oversized tricycle with the word 'baby' printed on the back of her shorts. Really, really gross, and that was kind of the thrust of those early pics of her I've seen.

I can't remember ever hearing her sing when she was small, but I bet the smoking is what has made her voice not as good as it used to be if that is the case.

[Rabrrrrrr]

79. Um.... oh, well, if she was on Star Search, then she must be

Juliard quality.

:eyes:

And she is a whore - she whored herself to the music industry for money, she whored herself to her fans, she whored herself in everything that her career ever brought her. She deserved none of it based on talent - she was entirely engineered and fictitious, and she was a willing participant in an artistic scam.

Sadly, she's not the only one - every year the Music Industry cranks out another 'singer', based on vast amounts of research, surveys, and fashion trends, then they find a pliable sweet young talent (whether it's a girl solo 'singer' or a boy band) that they can run through the machines of industry and poop out a completed, demographic-satisfying 'artistic commodity product' at the other end.

But, on the other hand, it's the vast tens of millions of clueless idiots who buy her shit (and shit from those like her) and fill the coffers of the music industry to overflowing that allow the record companies to hire real artists and put out actually artistically merit-full albums which have smaller audiences.

So, on the one hand, I should thank the shitiots like Brittney for helping to finance the real artists.

On the other other hand, though, the existence of 'artistic commodities' like her hurts all artists because of the feeding of the basest of artistic standards and the continued dumbing down of America and other countries. Without easily digestible commodities like Brittney, the world would be forced to seek out other, more talented, more gifted, more interesting, more artistically creative and important, artists.

[Shell Beau]

81. I was just saying that she was a singer.

I don't mean that she had to be fantastic because she was on Star Search, but she was a decent singer as a child. She was also on Broadway. Do you think Madonna is an artistic scam? Because she can't sing worth a flip either. And I wouldn't call people clueless idiots because they buy her stuff. Maybe they have a different taste than you. Also she went along with the artistic scam? That was her dream as a child to be an entertainer. Who wouldn't go along with it?

[Rabrrrrrr]

86. No, I don't think Madonna is an artistic scam.

She's not a corporate product - she has always made her own way, making her own music. Sure, she's done it in the field of pop music, and she's no Laurie Anderson or Meredith Monk, but she brought a great sense of creativity and artistry to the rather limited field of pop music. Much like Michael Jackson did starting in the 80s.

It's still not quite my music, but I can respect Madonna and Michael Jackson and a few other pop stars because they are writing their own music, doing their own thing, and making music on their own terms.

And who wouldn't go along with the scam that Brittney went with? Quite a lot of people - many performers have refused to go to the corporate 'musical commodity product' route, and give up vast amounts of money, in order to preserve their integrity and their own artistic vision. Pop star corporate products like Brittney, InStink, New Kids on the Block, Tiffany, Pink, etc., don't have any artistic vision, so they just toss themselves into the molding machine of their corporate owners and do whatever they're told, singing music they didn't write, dancing dances they didn't create, playing with instrumentalists that they didn't choose, doing product placements and otherwise whoring themselves out for a nice house in Malibu.

Frank Zappa is one who comes immediately to mind who refused to go that route. David Bowie is one; David Byrne, Robert Fripp, Laurie Anderson, Pink Floyd, Rush, Peter Gabriel, Robert Wilson, Elvis Costello, Brian Eno, and so, so, so, so many others.

[Shell Beau]

90. But once you get out there, then you can make your own way.

Look at Christina Aguilera! She went the same route that Britney did because it was a way to get your name out there. Now she writes and co-writes most of her own music. Of course she is a much better singer than Britney, but still. Britney now also has a lot more control over her music. She actually writes lots of her songs, not that they are great, but she does have much more say. And some of the greatest actors have taken the same approach. Whatever gets your foot in the door.

[Rabrrrrrr]

93. Much as I hate Brittney and the entire corporate product music commodity

meme she and her ilk represent, she really isn't worth my time arguing any more.

Maybe I'm just an elitist, and expect too much (in your eyes) of those who want to be known as artists.

So be it.

Clearly, you think she's the bees knees, and I affirm that if you love her music, then by all means enjoy the hell out of it! Go for it, and know that whenever you are rushing to the store for whatever new product the industry is telling you is hip and fantastic and the greatest thing ever ("No, this year the best music is all about lead chicks with dreadlocks and only one bracelet; it's a totally different music from last year, when the music was about long black hair and at least four different sized bracelets and tennis shoes!), you won't have to worry about me getting to the CD bin first. Of the tens of millions of CDs they will press, I shall offer you always the one that they made for me. You may have it.

[tinfoil tiaras]

64. Well, I just feel sorry for her

She was taken advantage of by corperations at a young age and now has all the paperazzi snapping pictures of her every move. I'm glad she left KFed. He is just ew.... :puke:

[graywarrior]

66. I can't stand the Britney Spears overkill

You'd think no one else existed except Britney & Paris.

[Shell Beau]

69. But that isn't really her fault. Celebrity gossip sells.

There are numerous weekly magazines dedicated to it. And they sell like hotcakes. I know more about Lindsay Lohan than I really care to.

[graywarrior]

70. I don't hate her. I'm just sick of her face.

[Shell Beau]

71. Well I can't blame you there!

[philosophie_en_rose]

72. I don't know that anyone hates her. But she's in the public eye and is annoying.

I don't really think about Britney Spears that much. She's just a celebrity. But she appears very stupid in everything she says in public.

- driving with an infant on your lap and no seatbelt is just "country"
- people should just blindly support Bush

She is the one that says she's white trash. And her choices - which she goes on national television to discuss and inflict upon everyone - are fair for people to comment upon.

I don't know Britney Spears as a real person. But, as a public person, she is insipid and a poor role model for the kids that are her target audience.

[graywarrior]

73. She's an airhead. I don't have any respect for airheads.

[Cannikin]

74. I dont think she can sing without the aid of a computer...

IMHO

:shrug:

[Shell Beau]

75. I agree. She used to be a better singer as a child.

She is not the greatest singer, that is for sure. I have even heard her admit that she is just ok.

[Blue Gardener]

77. Don't hate her, just think she's trashy

Turning trampy when she had so many young girls looking to her as role model really turned me against her.

[skygazer]

94. I don't hate her - I don't even know her

But I don't have much respect for people who fling themselves into the spotlight and then whine that the media attention is driving them nuts. You can't have it both ways - these people seek the limelight. You don't have to do that - there are plenty of successful artists and actors who are very low key. Then there are the ones who crave attention.

A lot of people give her a pass because she's young. She may be young but she's been out there long enough to know which way the wind blows. I've got a daughter her age who has more sense in her big toe than Brit seems to have in her entire body. So, no, I don't hate her but I find her a gold mine of material for snarkiness.

If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. She chose to chase celebrity - now it's biting back.

[ComerPerro]

98. she can't sing, she embodies all that is wrong with music, and shes a Repig

[SOteric]

99. I neither hate nor love Britney Spears.

She's a member of that vast ocean of 'grey area' that simply don't much matter to me. It's not worth my time to form an opinion about her. It's not like we're acquainted or related in anyway.

However, I will point out that it's fairly uncharacteristic for DUers to do anything other than lash out vehemently about, well..., anything. Or anyone.

DU love-fests are reserved for the admins, the mods, and the rare DU who does something remarkable and/or noteworthy. Other than that, everything and everyone gets trashed on these boards. Religion, literature, television, movies, bands, singers, actors and actresses, politicians, newscasters, recipes, cars, planes, soap brands... ad infinitum, ad nauseum, ad water, stir until well-blended and bake in a 350º oven until brown around the edges.

Don't get me wrong, I love DU. I've been giving them money and coming here for ages and no one forces me. But there are days when I wonder, with all the ranting we're so capable of, isn't there anyone interested in the occassional rave? Is it even possible for DU to leave an unrelenting gush alone long enough to get to the archives without turning into a sniping, sardonic flamefest at some point? It would be an interesting social experiment.

I'll get off my soapbox now and let y'all get back to kicking around Britney.

[idgiehkt]

100. hit me, baby, one more time

that was brilliant.

:toast:

[GoneOffShore]

102. The same reason people hate Rachel Ray

She's a talentless drone with no appreciation of where the music she's singing came from. In the same fashion Rachel Ray doesn't respect food traditions.

She also takes her celebrity for granted.

[NNadir]

103. We are angry because she turned down Tom Cruise.

He was stuck with Katie Holmes as a result.

[Floogeldy]

104. She lip-synchs. She is a phony and a fraud.

A fake entertainer. I resent the hell out of her. Sure, maybe that is her singing on studio recordings. But, when performing live, she is nothing but a fucking dancer who is too out of breath to sing. Ergo, SHE SUCKS.

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