Discuss: Is Britney Spears Really the "Most Important Cultural Figure in America?"
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand
So, over on Vanity Fair, they have this piece up on the relative importance of Britney Spears and why even respectable magazines such as VF have dipped their toes into covering, first Paris Hilton, and now Britney. Matt Pressman ponders in the piece:
In fact, this recent spate of "serious" coverage, combined with the uncomfortable fact that no dinner conversation can proceed for more than 15 minutes without the name Britney being invoked, raises a sinister question: is Britney Spears-along with, perhaps, President Bush-the most important cultural figure in America?
Maybe in Pressman's house, Britney is a frequent topic of dinner conversation, but she's certainly not in mine. If we're not talking to the kids about their current obsessions (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, My Little Pony and Twilight), we're talking about how to best get our fledging organic garden going or mulling over the latest in the ongoing Clinton-Obama debacle. But Britney? Not so much.
Not that I don't understand the Britney obsession; the girl had everything for her (on the surface, anyhow), and then her breakup with Justin Timberlake, marriage to K-Fed, back-to-back babies she seemed vastly ill-equipped to deal with, divorce, and then subsequent total mental meltdowns are certainly dramatic and bizarre to observe, in a train-wreck kind of way. Personally, I just hope she pulls herself together -- I could totally see her coming out of what Pressman amusingly refers to as "... Christina-Ricci-in-Black-Snake-Moan treatment by her father, in early February-that is, being chained to a radiator and forbidden to leave the house until she changes her sinful ways ..." and making a hellacious comeback.
I kind of envision her staging a born-again-Christian comeback, myself: Britney emerges from all this trauma and turmoil to confess that she's found Jesus and is turning her life around, after which she remakes herself with '80s mall hair (as we used to say back in the day, the higher the hair, the closer to God), dresses like she's going to Bible Study, records a best-selling album of Christian music, and then makes a massive movie comeback by relaunching the dreadful Left Behind video movies into a series of stellar theatrical masterpieces directed by Mel Gibson. Hey, it could happen.
Meantime, back in reality, I'm left to ponder a world in which Vanity Fair touts Britney Spears as a "cultural figure." If she's really representative of who we, as a culture, have become, heaven help us. Who -- besides Britney, if you please -- do you see as the most influential cultural figures in America today? Okay, okay ... if you agree with Vanity Fair that Britney really is that important, weigh in with why you think so.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-17-2008 @ 9:46PM
Jordan said...
to me, there's a difference between "important" and "ridiculously over-exposed"....but that's just me. vanity fair, after all, is a very well-regarded publication and would know better.
plus everybody knows that paris hilton is totally so much more important.
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4-17-2008 @ 10:46PM
DAVID F said...
Hmmm....I thought this is a place to discuss films.
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4-18-2008 @ 7:23AM
Batzarro(A.K.A Rap-Rock Cameo) said...
If Bush and Britney Spears are the most important cultural figures, wonder not why America is going downhill.
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4-18-2008 @ 10:02AM
Kevin said...
I agree with the over-exposure factor, but thats only reflective of a moral judgement lobbed at the attention given to her. The fact remains that "news" outlets publish, print, and broadcast the information that the greatest number of people will watch/buy. So the fact that Britney has so much "over-exposure" is indicative of the fact that people want to hear about her. Furthermore, Kim Voynar espouses not to pay any attention to the media coverage of Britney, or at least not to care or discuss her. I do the same. However, both Mrs. Voynar and I know everything thats going on in her life (I'll bet she didn't even have to look up any news stories about Britney to list that she broke up with justin, married K-Fed, kids, etc.), which means that whether we like it or not Britney does influence our cultural perceptions. Whether or not thats a good thing is where the discussion really lies.
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4-18-2008 @ 10:34AM
Ulfast said...
the importance the "cultural figure" of Britney Spears plays in my life or conversations ranks around the same level as what i had for dinner three weeks ago, or bringing up a troubling bowel movement in conversation over said dinner. really.
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4-18-2008 @ 11:01AM
Kevin said...
Also, aren't we kind of changing the definition of "important" here in order to satisfy our own thought processes? If something that we agree warrants exposure gets printed in vanity fair than wouldn't we then describe it as "culturally important"? Just because we happen to disagree with the magnitude of an issue doesn't mean that its existence as relevant is negated. I don't think we should devote such a huge amount of our times driving gas guzzling automobiles, but I'm not going to then try and argue that gasoline doesn't play a vital role in my life.
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4-18-2008 @ 7:50PM
rex said...
Culturally important would imply a larger significance beyond pop-culture or simple gossip. Let's be honest here, Britney (although a huge star that has tons of exposure) has done little to nothing to push or challenge the boundaries of media or culture. Besides being a star what sort of impact has Britney had on music, tv, or film?
None.
To equate exposure with importance is stupid. That's not to say that a pop music star isn't capable of having an impact, just look at Madonna or Michael Jackson or Elvis. All three have influenced music and culture on a grander scale and will be remembered much better down the road. I guess the pool must be getting pretty shallow if Britney is the most culturally important figure in America, but maybe that's the point. Maybe it's just satirical and they are pointing out how dumbed-down and lowest common denominator we have become? probably not.
Also, women are allowed to be funny now according to Vanity Fair. It's a good thing they have VF's permission.
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4-20-2008 @ 7:49AM
Jason said...
Well said rex.
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