“Framing Britney Spears” Documentary Review

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The New York Times Presents series dropped their sixth episode “Framing Britney Spears” on FX and Hulu over the weekend. The documentary aligns the disparate details of Britney Spears’s conservatorship to provide a contextual perspective to the ominous state of her personal and professional life. It’s been a topic of conversation for the last couple of years but has been a point of contention in the star’s life for over a decade. Legal experts, former staff, old friends, and even paparazzi are among the talking heads you’ll see give their outlook on the singer’s troubles and what they believe to be the reasons for the conservatorship. Most people under conservatorships are elderly people who require assistance in either one of two areas. Firstly, there’s the daily comings and goings of life, ranging from what they’ll eat to what kind of medical treatment they require. There’s also a conservatorship that focuses on the supervision of financial affairs, which is more than just managing a checkbook, as its aim is to prevent the “conservatee” from being duped into giving away all their money. Since January 2008, Britney’s conservatorship covers all of the above, which has led her to be unable to make independent financial choices, business endeavors or legal decisions that have affected her family dynamic, specifically with her kids. Though it’s shocking to hear that the underlying details of her situation haven’t been further scrutinized until very recently, it makes sense that recent hot button topics like the #MeToo movement and the discourse of abuse in the entertainment industry has challenged societal norms and changed the overarching narrative to one that champions the survivor. This documentary seeks to aid Britney has she transitions to survivor status from her current state of victimhood.

The first half of “Framing Britney Spears” lives up to its namesake in a way that’s almost never done for the star as it effectively portrays her to have been a female artist who was as much in control of her business and creative pursuits as Madonna, Mariah Carey or even Beyoncé, and just as much a force to be reckoned with. Felicia Culotta was Britney’s assistant from around 1998 until around 2009 and is probably best known by fans as the dowdy teacher in the “…Baby One More Time” music video. Because she’s a kind and familiar face, and probably had the longest relationship with Britney than anyone else in the documentary, she seems to be the most credible of the bunch and was wisely used from beginning to end to help shape the narrative. Culotta claims her aim was to “remind people why the fell in love with [Britney] in the first place,” and the documentary as a whole does that successfully. Originally hired to chaperone Britney in place of her mom at the start of her career, Culotta’s role encompassed many things, one could argue even that of a surrogate mother. She was abruptly fired in 2009 shortly after Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, became Britney’s permanent conservator.

None of Britney’s former staff featured in the documentary seemed to have had anything positive to say about Jamie (at least not in the final edit). Britney’s dad is said to have not been a big presence in her early life and career, and struggled with alcohol to the point of needing to go to rehab. His financial pursuits were all failed ventures: he tried his hand at being a cook, worked in construction for a time and even started a gym business that eventually failed. He ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Somehow, this is the man deemed fit enough to control the personal and professional life of one of the top superstars of our generation. The question the documentary fails to directly pose or answer is why?

The documentary does, however, successfully give us a snapshot in time to help us understand the collective psyche and climate of things in the 2000s. Wesley Morrison, a writer for the New York Times, aptly noted that Britney’s debut in 1998 came in the midst of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, which provoked a period in time where people were talking about sex a lot more than they had in a very long time. When Britney came onto the scene, at the tender age of 16, her body, her virginity and her sexuality were things nobody deemed inappropriate or off limits. He also wonderfully explains the phenomenon that was Britney Spears, the pop sensation, for many of us. “It isn’t the sexy part that seems cool,” he says. “It’s the control and command of herself and her space that seems cool.” Former Senior Director of Marketing at Jive Records, Kim Kaiman also analyzed the dichotomy of Britney’s teenage female fanbase: “They want to be adult women so bad, but they’re also kids.”

The over-sexualization that happens to all women in the spotlight was happening to Britney, who was only a kid at the time, but they weren’t any less harsh. In fact, it seemed like the media was even more viscous towards her because she wasn’t as aptly able to defend the sexual image in her branding. Once her romance with Justin Timberlake ended this criticism was exacerbated even more, as he took control of the narrative of the relationship and weaponized his music to do so. (Something that seems to be a pattern with him, as he handled the Super Bowl Nipple-Gate scandal similarly by not taking any responsibility and leaving Janet Jackson to the wolves, but I digress.) Ultimately, his account of the demise of their relationship was deemed sacred compared to hers and she was demonized. Probably the most shocking part of the documentary is a clip of Britney’s interview with Diane Sawyer where we hear a soundbite of the wife of the Governor of Maryland at the time stating acutely: “If I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would.” To add insult to injury, Diane Sawyer begins to sympathize with this critic, leaving Britney with no choice but to cry. Another gross moment is a clip of a Family Feud episode at the time. The question for the contestants: “What has Britney lost in the last year?” Answers like “her husband/marriage” go for 14 points, “her hair” for 39 points and “her mind” goes for a whopping 15 points. The audience erupts into cheers and laughter. Moments like these showcase the building blocks of misogyny that created the “vulturous society” that has allowed Britney to be in the state of victimhood she’s in today.

“Framing Britney Spears” also gives context to some of the darker moments of Britney’s career. For example, the infamous images of Britney ferociously attacking a paparazzi’s van with an umbrella came moments after Britney, still suffering from postpartum depression, was refused to see her two sons who had just been given over to their dad Kevin Federline with full custody. The feebleminded celebrity videographer, Daniel Ramos, then begins to harass her with questions which result in his money shot that he sold to tabloids. In a jaw dropping moment of either apathy or stupidity, Ramos states, “[Britney] never gave information or a clue to us that, ‘I don’t appreciate you guys. Leave me the eff alone.’” When asked, “What about when she said leave me alone?” He insipidly says, “There were times when she said, ‘Can you leave me alone for the day?’ But it wasn’t like, ‘Leave me alone forever,’ you know what I mean?” Though the doc successfully allows Britney’s least proudest moments to become human, it fails to question why the law and society simply accepted the fact that, as Wesley Morrison stated, “There was too much money to be made off her suffering” to begin discussions on mental health.

This cultural ignorance regarding mental health issues seemed to work in the conservators’ favor, as Britney’s downward spiral was what allowed the courts to deem her unfit to live her life independently. When Britney sought the representation of lawyer Adam Streisand in 2008, he claims that Britney thoroughly understood she would not be able to evade the conservatorship, but her one request was that the conservator in place not be her father, but an independent party instead. Streisand claims this level of cognizance spoke volumes, as this kind of sound judgement was not something someone mentally unstable could reflect on and maturely accept. Despite this, the judge ultimately did not allow Britney to be represented by Streisand and appointed someone else to her case due to a supposed medical report that contained proof of Britney’s inability to make decisions, such as hire a lawyer. Streisand was denied the right to view the medical documents and to this day has no idea what they contain.

Those in the documentary claim that it’s believed that Britney agreed to the permanent conservatorship as a guarantee that she would be able to see her kids. But why is this being leveraged against her and why is no one asking that question? The reason seems to be because she makes too much money for too many people who feed or leech off of her. If she were to squander her money (i.e. use it in a way the conservators disagree with) it would be catastrophic to their pockets. Given her dad’s history, he seems to be someone who has always been less invested in her wellbeing, as implied by most of Britney’s staff and old friends, and seems like he could easily be paid off to be the face of her conservatorship though he wouldn’t really be the one pulling the strings. He might be the actual willing puppet, while Britney is the victim.

Though Britney has reattained great success in the last 10 years, we’ve been given mixed messages by hearing that she’s still in a very precarious mental state, yet we see her work nonstop on more albums, tours, her residency, brand deals, etc. Her conservatorship is never mentioned on her Instagram page which makes people wonder how controlled her social media presence is as well, many going so far as to believe that she may be sending coded messages in her posts. Once this conspiracy sparked the #FreeBritney movement, her family dynamics coincidentally began to unravel in 2019. Kevin Federline filed a restraining order again Jamie Spears after a physical altercation between him and one of Britney’s kids. Also, Britney’s mom stated she “just wants to have a voice in Britney’s life” and was seen liking certain tweets that criticized Britney’s father and the conservatorship. In 2020, court documents showed that Britney finally acknowledged her fan’s concern for her and welcomed their “informed support” via the #FreeBritney movement. She also reiterated that she wanted to remove her father as her conservator.

The fight continues for Britney, who is arguably now one of the most elusive pop stars in the industry, as her persona has grown more and more mystifying as years go by. Then again, maybe she’s not so much mystifying as she is hindered from expression. But Wesley Morrison’s statement is still just as much true: “It’s impossible to know her. We never knew her. We know her even less now. She’s kind of unknowable.” Whatever the case, when you now see a meme with a vintage image or soundbite of Britney unhinged, or crying, or shaving her head, maybe you’ll now think twice before you laugh.