Why Does Britney Cry?
As Ms. Spears' estate was placed under temporary conservatorship and Attorney John Eardley fought with father James Spears over if James Spears should be allowed to continue with taking control of her financial assets and physical custody, it is easy for us to feel distaste for this Hollywood starlet, that was simply once just a young girl from Mississippi.
It is easy to be cynical about Ms. Spears' recent decline, an more than one writer has commented on how many millions of dollars this rich lady may have lost now that her celebrity xrank has dropped from first place, to a mere second to Jennifer Lopez. It begs the question: what has Lopez done recently?
It has become normal to send barbs in Ms. Spears' way; "the entire thing is just a publicity stunt"; "they manufactured her to be able to cry, too?"; "going after the paparazzi is biting the hand that feeds"; "I bet she sure is upset while swimming in her pool of millions of dollars".
Since when did money buy happiness? Is there some sort of life-changing event that occurs which you reach the depths of celebrity that the high priests of celebrity will present the keys to the garden where happiness grows on trees? Certainly not. In fact, economics tells us that there is a decreasing marginal utility of money as someone makes more and more, so if happiness is in fact purchasable, shouldn't the poor be at best position to buy it?
But I digress. To really understand Britney Spears, I think we need to look at another depressed celebrity. This woman was someone who was loved and revered worldwide. Many thought she was the most beautiful person in the world, and she was legendary for having romantic ties with actors and presidents alike. To the surprise of everyone, she was also insanely depressed. I am, of course, talking about Marilyn Monroe.
Most cannot imagine how someone so beloved could feed depressed. Certainly Marilyn had more importance and substance than Britney, so why would she fall prey to negative emotions? The answer to this mystery lies in something psychology calls "external attribution". When someone becomes known for something, when Marilyn becomes known for her beauty and Kurt Cobain is known for his music and Paris Hilton is known for simply being famous, these people become targets of praise. Surrounded by yes-men, adoring fans, letters of praise, billboards and magazine shoots, their celebrity becomes bigger than the person themselves.
Imagine the situation of a stunningly beautiful girl at some trendy New York bar. Gentleman after gentleman, (or sometimes a lady), will approach this beautiful girl and likely start the conversation with some compliment to her, whether refering to her beauty or something else. The act of simply cold approaching this girl is a compliment in and of itself. Eventually, this girl is going to learn that people treat her better because of her beauty, and not that they deeply appreciate her unique qualities or her clever sense of humour. The positive comments that are supposed to bring up our sense of self-esteem, for these people, suddenly get externally attributed. Subconsciously, they learn that people are just saying that them because their beauty. Or celebrity.
The same defenses, however, are not built for negativity. They do not learn how to also externally attribute the negative comments, even though there are likely just as many negative things said rejecting the beauty, fame, celebrity and success. And that is why Britney Spears, like Marilyn Monroe, is deeply depressed right now.
It is easy to be cynical about Ms. Spears' recent decline, an more than one writer has commented on how many millions of dollars this rich lady may have lost now that her celebrity xrank has dropped from first place, to a mere second to Jennifer Lopez. It begs the question: what has Lopez done recently?
It has become normal to send barbs in Ms. Spears' way; "the entire thing is just a publicity stunt"; "they manufactured her to be able to cry, too?"; "going after the paparazzi is biting the hand that feeds"; "I bet she sure is upset while swimming in her pool of millions of dollars".
Since when did money buy happiness? Is there some sort of life-changing event that occurs which you reach the depths of celebrity that the high priests of celebrity will present the keys to the garden where happiness grows on trees? Certainly not. In fact, economics tells us that there is a decreasing marginal utility of money as someone makes more and more, so if happiness is in fact purchasable, shouldn't the poor be at best position to buy it?
But I digress. To really understand Britney Spears, I think we need to look at another depressed celebrity. This woman was someone who was loved and revered worldwide. Many thought she was the most beautiful person in the world, and she was legendary for having romantic ties with actors and presidents alike. To the surprise of everyone, she was also insanely depressed. I am, of course, talking about Marilyn Monroe.
Most cannot imagine how someone so beloved could feed depressed. Certainly Marilyn had more importance and substance than Britney, so why would she fall prey to negative emotions? The answer to this mystery lies in something psychology calls "external attribution". When someone becomes known for something, when Marilyn becomes known for her beauty and Kurt Cobain is known for his music and Paris Hilton is known for simply being famous, these people become targets of praise. Surrounded by yes-men, adoring fans, letters of praise, billboards and magazine shoots, their celebrity becomes bigger than the person themselves.
Imagine the situation of a stunningly beautiful girl at some trendy New York bar. Gentleman after gentleman, (or sometimes a lady), will approach this beautiful girl and likely start the conversation with some compliment to her, whether refering to her beauty or something else. The act of simply cold approaching this girl is a compliment in and of itself. Eventually, this girl is going to learn that people treat her better because of her beauty, and not that they deeply appreciate her unique qualities or her clever sense of humour. The positive comments that are supposed to bring up our sense of self-esteem, for these people, suddenly get externally attributed. Subconsciously, they learn that people are just saying that them because their beauty. Or celebrity.
The same defenses, however, are not built for negativity. They do not learn how to also externally attribute the negative comments, even though there are likely just as many negative things said rejecting the beauty, fame, celebrity and success. And that is why Britney Spears, like Marilyn Monroe, is deeply depressed right now.