Age 27 seems to have a special meaning for young musicians — some of them don’t survive it. I have heard of the concept, but never the name “27 Club,” as defined by Wikipedia:
“The 27 Club, also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club, is a popular culture name for a group of influential rock and blues musicians who all died at the age of 27, sometimes under mysterious circumstances.”
Here’s a partial list:
* Janis Joplin
* Jimi Hendrix
* Robert Johnson
* Kurt Cobain
* Jim Morrison
* Brian Jones
(Bob Dylan had a motorcycle accident that almost killed him, but didn’t, at age 27.)
The Wikipedia entry lists a number of other famous musicians who died at that age, if you want to go look.
The point? Britney Spears is 26.
Now, it’s safe to say Spears isn’t as talented as many of these musicians, but she is as famous and maybe more so. And, her life is spinning out of control in such a way that it makes one fear for her health and maybe even her life.
The explanations for her behavior (And, just for the record, I have no further insight into her than I do of any of the rest of the people who I have never met on this list. In true post-modern Internet-fueled form, I shall discuss the discussion more than discuss the person.) fall into what I see are four categories:
1. Drug/alcohol abuse
2. Mental illness
3. Bad choices/immaturity
4. Calculated attention seeking behavior
No one knows if she has a mental illness. Until Spears is publicly diagnosed, the subject probably shouldn’t even be brought up.
I’d eliminate the attention-seeking behavior as well. Before her recent run of bizarre behavior (which I’d probably say began when she got married and then annulled the marriage within a few days back in 2003) she was extremely famous. She didn’t need to do any of these things to get people’s attention. She already had it.
However, it could be argued that being photographed getting out of a car while clearly not wearing panties is attention-getting behavior.
While not wearing panties is an intentional decision (I have never, ever gone to the mall and suddenly realized I had forgotten to put on underwear.), it may not have been motivated by what many people assume.
The key question is: Whose attention was she trying to get, the media, or some hunk in one of the night clubs she was patronizing?
The remaining two points could probably be curtailed into one category, because drug and alcohol abuse can be related to bad choices or immaturity.
In this light, take this string of events added with intense public scrutiny:
• A whirlwind wedding and subsequent un-wedding.
• A courtship and marriage to a backup dancer/wannabe rapper.
• Lots of media criticism about this marriage.
• Two children.
• Criticism about the parenting skills of both parents.
• A divorce from the backup dancer/wannabe rapper.
How many young people decide to marry someone of whom their friends and family don’t approve and stick to the decision despite sometimes intense criticism just to prove everyone wrong?
How many young people who do this are reminded constantly of their choice of mate by their relatives?
How many young people, and their burgeoning families, are subjected to this criticism from people who don’t even know them day in day out across a bazillion types of printed and electronic media?
How many respond well after being proven wrong in their choice of mate and subjected to “I-told-you-sos” rubbing their noses in their marriage’s failure day in day out across a bazillion types of printed and electronic media?
How many young people really respond well after getting divorced? How many young people, and older people for that matter, lose their common sense after going through that trauma?
How many do so with a camera constantly following them around?
This line of thinking does not excuse driving with a child who is not in a car seat, failing to attend scheduled court appearances, giving an obviously lackluster performance during an important TV appearance, losing custody of your children, creating something of a hostage situation during a visitation exchange and, for that matter, going without underwear.
It may, however, explain shopping excessively, partying too much and shaving her head.
Many people would argue that she brought the attention and subsequent criticism on herself by becoming famous in the first place.
To some extent this is true. But, fame creates a certain amount adversity and everyone responds differently to adversity. Some people are good at being famous, some aren’t.
Maybe because of that adversity, Britney has made a string of bad choices in a very public forum which have opened her up for a lot of intense public criticism.
To address maybe the worst decision of all, I don’t know if she has been abusing drugs or alcohol. It certainly would not seem to be an unreasonable theory.
If she has, it’s a bad choice made to escape other bad choices.
Many famous young people have turned to mind-altering substances to escape from the stressful reality of living in a fish bowl, including a lot of the people in the “27 Club.”
Let’s hope Britney, whatever you might think of her behavior, doesn’t become a member.
3 comments:
Who would have said 3 years ago that Kevin Federline was the sane one in that relationship. Not saying he has any definable talent but at least in comparison, he is stellar parent.
For years, I've wondered how the whole death of musicians at 27 might correspond with Bill James' research that suggests that major league ball players tend to have their best seasons at age 27.
I never, ever put that together. Maybe that indicates that if rock stars played baseball, everything would work out fine.
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