‘Framing Britney Spears’ Reviewed

Britney Spears has come a long way since 2008, a number of successful residencies in Las Vegas and the success of raising her family. All of which paint a happy, strong woman who is in control of her life. Or is everything as it appears?

Framing Britney Spears is a new documentary on Hulu and YouTube that chronicles the life of Britney from childhood and her first television appearance to her worldwide fame and success and the public breakdown and her recovery. 

Directed by Samantha Stark, Framing Britney Spears is a documentary that presents the human side of the pop icon known as Britney Spears. We all know of her music and the persona that is presented by the media. But who is the real person, the person who was hounded by the media, sexualized by talk show hosts and ridiculed at every point in her life, because everyone seemed to have an opinion on everything that she was doing.

All of this led to her father taking conservatorship of Britney Spears estate 12 years ago following a stint in rehab because she simply just needed a break from it all.

But Britney Spears has since had a comeback. Had a successful residency in Las Vegas, released an album or two and has taken to Instagram where we get a glimpse into her world as a successful mom who has raised two healthy kids. Britney Spears appears to be happy and healthy, but why does she still have her father managing and controlling every aspect of her estate?

What is remarkable about this documentary is that it puts everything into context, in particular her breakdown that was ridiculed by the media, but the reality is this was a woman hurting because her family was breaking up. 

Her husband left her and the courts removed her kids because she happened to drive with one on her lap, which is something that many people do who grow up on small rural towns, as Britney Spears did. 

Context is important and especially now that her estate is being controlled by her father who had very little to do with his daughter as she grew up and especially as she was establishing herself as the pop royalty. 

A lot of what is presented in this documentary does also focus on the #FreeBritney movement that started in 2019. The moment started to gain notoriety from the weekly podcast Britney’s Gram. 

In 2019 it is rumored that Britney Spears was put in a facility against her will by her father and her Instagram account fell silent resulting in her fans taking notice and speculating her whereabouts and discovering that she had been institutionalized against her will by her father. 

The #FreeBritney movement started as a way for fans to support the beloved pop star but also work toward ensuring she received the correct and proper support she deserves.

Whether you’re a fan of Britney Spears or not Framing Britney Spears is a fascinating documentary on human behavior. It illustrates how fragile people are at stressful points of their life and they need love and support from people who genuinely care for them and don’t want to exploit them at the point where they are most venerable. 

At the end of the day no matter how famous people are we are all human and deserve to be treated with some dignity and respect.

Framing Britney Spears is currently available on Hulu and YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71a5IN3QRvo