Framing Britney is a documentary made by the New York Times on the Free Britney movement, whereby Britney fans are campaigning to end her conservatorship. Under US law, this is when a judge appoints a guardian to oversee the finances and daily life of an individual due to old age or physical/mental limitations.

Britney Spears rose to fame when she was 15. As she got older, the media and her management started losing control of her appearance, her music, and what she said. She claimed her freedom. She refused to be reduced to a sex object, not letting the media and male gaze limit her as a person.

During an interview where various female personalities and mothers said they wanted her to be a better role model for their daughters like Kendall Ehrlich, she said quite rightly: “I am not their babysitter”. Although Britney’s split from singer and actor Justin Timberlake was reported through Justin’s side only, and with his accusations taking the front page, she persevered. Her wish to live freely will ultimately cost her the custody of her children.

Her struggles pictured in the media were reported through a sexist bias which the documentary makes very clear. She was portrayed as crazy and hysterical, with major mental health issues when it had no basis in reality. I was in my early-teens when that happened. Before I saw that film, my memories of what happened to Britney were quite blurry. 

I thought she had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalised. It took that film to make me realise how I was manipulated to think that what she was doing was wrong when she was only claiming her freedom. The big episode of her cutting her hair was her taking back her privacy. Looking back now, her losing it in front of a paparazzo that is pointing his camera a few centimeters away from her car windows is not that surprising. 

Who would react calmly to someone who refuses to leave you alone and keeps asking questions? I noticed that the footage always showed male paparazzi and it was as if they felt they owned her, as if, as a woman, her desires mattered less than theirs.

Her conservatorship is ultimately a man seeing an opportunity to take control of her life and her fortune and being allowed to do so by a male judge, without the right to choose her defence. She wanted attorney Adam Streisand to represent her but the judge denied her the right to counsel on the basis of a medical report no-one has ever seen. As much as we know, it might not exist at all. 

Quite smartly, she knew she could not avoid it. As she was in the hospital, her father Jamie Spears swept in and asked to put her under conservatorship with himself as the conservator of her person and estate. The only thing we heard about Jamie before is Kim Kaiman from Jive Records reporting a conversation where he said he believed his ‘daughter will get so rich that she was going to buy him a boat’.

This is the first alarm bell. A man decides that a woman is not fit and is allowed to decide everything for her. The conservatorship tried to move to a ‘hybrid business model’ in 2020 after Britney had been working since 2012. If she is fit enough to work and perform, there is no need for a conservatorship. It is a sexist act.

It is dangerous for women because she is an adult and no healthy woman should be kept under men’s control without good reason and the possibility of escape. To end this situation, she would need to prove she is fit  but with so little ability to make any choices she cannot really get an independent doctor to make a case for her. Going in circles, right? 

The fact that she cancelled her Vegas residency and that the people in charge of her conservatorship wanted to move to a business model means that the system does not have her health or best interests at heart. She also asked the judge to appoint someone else as conservator instead of her dad which has been denied.

At first, you might wonder: what does it have to do with us? It might sound a bit dystopian and far-fetched but if it can happen to her, it can happen to us. She should have more power than us and a louder voice but she has been silenced and put back in line by the patriarchy. I mean, without Britney, what would have happened to Taylor Swift? 

Whatever anyone thinks of her music, how would you feel if your choices were taken away and instead of getting control back, the men who put you there try to profit from your work? Jamie Spears is stepping down as conservator of her person but remains conservator of her estate. His actions speak louder than words. This is why I encourage all of you to watch Framing Britney Spears and see it for yourself.

Available to watch on demand on NOW TV.

We would encourage anyone identifying with the topics raised in this article to reach out to organisations who can offer support, such as Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). 

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Written by Melanie Toutakova

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