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    View: Britney Spears was ‘imprisoned’ by her control freak father for the last 13 years

    Synopsis

    It's not just about the money. It's to do with the control exercised by the 'conservatorship' - a harsh legal form of guardianship - over Britney's mind and body. She was forced to install an IUD so that she wouldn't get pregnant. She was put on psychiatric medication over which she had no control. If she wanted to gift books to her children, she had to apply for permission and wait for days.

    Reuters
    Palash Krishna Mehrotra

    Palash Krishna Mehrotra

    The writer is author of The Butterfly Generation

    As it turns out, one of the world's biggest pop stars has been imprisoned in full public view for the last 13 years. It's a classic case of the goose being made to lay golden eggs in an airtight jar of celebrity. Britney Spears - kids, she's a huge singer-performer from the 1990s-2000s -- is now free, well almost.

    On Wednesday, a judge ruled to suspend her father from her conservatorship. James Spears, the madaari who turned his daughter into a dancing monkey, could now face grave charges, including an FBI investigation.

    This has been the year of the Britney Spears documentary: one produced by the BBC, two by the New York Times and another from Netflix, which released a day before the latest hearing. A fifth documentary, produced by Britney herself, will release later this year, and promises to be the final word.

    It's not just about the money. It's to do with the control exercised by the 'conservatorship' - a harsh legal form of guardianship - over Britney's mind and body. She was forced to install an IUD so that she wouldn't get pregnant. She was put on psychiatric medication over which she had no control. If she wanted to gift books to her children, she had to apply for permission and wait for days.

    If she wanted to drive around on a golf cart in a gated community, she needed clearance. If she wanted to drive out to get a hamburger, ditto. A security firm hired by her father monitored her calls and texts, even recording conversations with her children. For the longest time, she could not even hire her own lawyer.

    As the latest film, Britney vs Spears, tells us, 'a conservatorship means civil death'. All this, because Britney was deemed mentally unstable and incapable of being the director of her own life. Despite the claustrophobia, Britney managed to release new albums, went on live tours, designed her choreography, held down a residency in a Vegas club. Her earnings for 2018 stood at $59 million. How could someone so dysfunctional be so productive?

    The conservatorship had a devious chicken and egg argument: it was the conservatorship that enabled her to be at her productive peak.

    What was it that led to Britney being classified as officially nuts? In 2008, Britney was photographed driving with her baby in her lap. Under American law, all Indian mothers should be in jail by now for holding their babies while riding pillion on a scooter. Then she shaved her head. Good lord! There was an instance of her attacking a paparazzo's car... with an umbrella.

    She was institutionalised and her father took over the wheel. At times, Britney was chased by paps in up to a hundred cars, with some choppers thrown in for good measure. Even if she had a meltdown years ago, it doesn't mean that she has to live in a cage for the rest of her life.

    Britney comes from Kentwood, Louisiana, a small town of some 2,000 people. Inspired by Whitney Houston, she started performing at 9. At 17, she was No 1 around the globe and hailed as Madonna's heir. Madonna officially passed on the baton when she and Britney exchanged a full-blooded kiss at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, arguably the most famous kiss in pop history.

    Her father once said, in his usual brusque fashion, 'I like to fish; she likes to perform.' But as Britney pointed out, her incarceration by conservatorship had a lot to do with his power fetish, that he finds it 'fun,' the idea of controlling her. To diddle Madonna's lyrics, 'Daddy, daddy, can't you see, just how bad you've been treating me.'

    Britney celebrated the judgement by sharing a photograph of her flying a plane. It was the perfect picture. This was Britney wresting back control of her life. Her legions of fans, led by FreeBritney.net, have been doggedly fighting for Britney all these years. They celebrated like the Berlin Wall had fallen. It had.

    The writer is author of The Butterfly Generation
    (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
    The Economic Times

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