An Astounding Career Move and An Obvious S.O.S.

 

Remember that weird incident when a 25-year-old Britney Spears shaved her head completely bald?  Although I’m no Spears fan I must concur that Spears is one of the most over-publicized and media-hounded women in the world. It certainly took guts to shave her head like that. At the time Spears made the bizarre move she was nearly as famous for her blonde mane as her wannabe music (not much competition there really).  Of course Spear’s body image has always been a major focus for both paparazzi and talk show host jests. And if all that wasn’t enough Spear’s mothering has been called into question more than once with controversial photos and video snippets on Insider Edition to back up such claims.

And you think you’re stressed? 

It’s unlikely that Spear’s theatrical move to shave herself bald was about generating yet even more publicity for herself. She’s pulled enough hissy fits trying to escape the paparazzi to prove that the last thing she wants is more attention towards anything other than her “music” (sorry, I just can’t say that with a straight face).  Spears takes enough “hits” about her weight without worsening her physical image with a bald head.  It’s much more likely that her shaven head was (and still is even though her hair seems to have all grown back again) an expression of mental stress, perhaps even mental illness. Wouldn’t surprise me. How many attractive young celebrities, already hounded by the paparazzi deliberately make themselves less attractive to gain more attention? 

We’ve seen Spears go from decidedly chubby to admirably lean in a matter of days, reportedly through injections that cause body fat to dissolve and and then void from the body. Yuck. It doesn’t make sense that she’d shave her head for media and public reaction.

My money’s on mental duress if not illness and not because of the ensuing reports of a possible bipolar affective diagnosis that emerged after the notorious head-shaving. I figured that had to be the case before I ever read that article (honest!). It’s the only thing that  makes sense in this whole mess called Britney Spears.

Yet in a sense her quest for unattractiveness and less media appeal backfired. Spear’s baldness made her even more media worthy and it sent her league of teen minions scratching their (blonde, fluffy) heads for days over that one. The world probably waited for Spears to follow up the new image with an equally newsworthy mental breakdown and incarceration in a mental hospital yet it didn’t happen. It’s quite possible she began treatment with a psychiatrist but privately in her own palace, er home, out of sight of the relentless paparazzi. Personally I think had she not shaved her head that might have been the next step in Spear’s career and personal life. Or worse. A cry for help isn’t that difficult to recognize whether it’s driving a car into a tree, shaving one’s head bald or attempting an overdose.

But in some spheres it makes for a great career move.