Name : Arifa Ainaya Azlyani

Student ID : 11200260000073
Class : 2B
Subject : Critical Reading
Lecturer : Abdurrosyid SS., M.EIL

The Summary of Framing Britney Spears Documentation Essay

American television station, FX, has just released a documentary about the legendary singer,
Britney Spears, entitled The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears. The
documentary first aired on FX and TV streaming service, Hulu, on Friday (05/02/2021)
evening local time.

The New York Time Presents: Framing Britney Spears is a 2021 documentary film directed
by Samantha Stark and produced by Jason Stallman, Sam Dolnick, and Stephanie Priess. The
film revolves around the carrier of Britney Spears, an American singer, songwriter, dancer,
and actress. She is credited with her influence in the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s
and 2000s, for which she got the nickname “The Princess of Pop” .

The film takes a point of view of the both sides of the pop superstar’s troubled experience of
fame. It explores Britney’s carrier, begins with her rise, fall, the controversy that has swirled
around the pop star, comeback, withdrawal, and everything in between into a greater context,
with an eye for contemporary manners and celebrity’s culture which shaped not only the
audiences perception of the so-called beautiful pop-star puppet, but also the story of her life.

From the documentary we know that Spear’s father, Jimmie, was not a prominent figure
during her 13 years of life. He had served as her conservator, taking control over her daily
affairs and financial decisions. Later, she petitioned to replace her father for that rule in
August. The next part of the film is Spear’s beginning carrier as a child star and following her
popularity boost as a pop diva, including the pro and contra over the hyper-sexualized way in
which she was presented.

The documentary shows how Britney get a very disrespectful treatment from host and
interviewer in 1992. She was seduced by the late Ed McMahon from Star Search, who was
then 70 years old. He provoked a conversation about girlfriends and boyfriends with Britney,
who was only 10 years old at the time. In another interview, a reporter told Britney that he
was being talked about a lot of people at the time. When Britney asked what people were
talking about her, the reporter replied “your breasts.” It was, by any means, a very vulgar and
unprofessional interview and could be taken as sexual harassment. When the affair scandal
between President Bill Clinton and a teenage White House intern broke out, the name
Britney, who was currently in a relationship with Justin Timberlake, was also caught up in
the ridiculous speculation about how bad her teenage sex life. An interviewer once asked her
publicly if she was still a virgin or not to which she replied with a clear answer, “Yes, I'm still
a virgin and I will try not to have sex until I get married” .
One quietly overwhelming moment in the documentary film is her failed romance with Justin
Timberlake who was playing the victim in his song titled “Cry Me A River”. In its music
video (MV), Justin effortlessly made use of Americans’ underlying sexism to swiftly cast
Spears as the one and only villainess and himself as the pitiful victim of their breakup. The
video features the unmistakable Britney Spears looked alike as his traitorous, villainous ex-
girlfriend.

From the information we can gather in the documentary, Britney and Justin reportedly dated
from 1999 to 2002. Many rumors circulated about their good relationship regarding their sex
life when they were dating, to the matter of Britney being accused of having an affair after
Justin released the Cry Me a River video. Apart from satire through songs, Justin's
disrespectful attitude was also was shown when he responded to one of the hosts asking if she
had had sex with Britney. With enthusiasm he replied "Oh man ... Ok, I did it!”

This documentary also features a video where Britney looks stressed, scared to tears when
surrounded by photographers and videographers who repeatedly turn on flash lights on their
cameras. The paparazzi do not want to stop following the artist, even though Britney
repeatedly said, "I'm afraid, scared, and scared.” The paparazzi madness peaked in 2007,
when Britney had just walked out of a salon in Los Angeles, having shaved her own head.
Irritated by the paparazzi's behavior, Britney, who at that time appeared bald, hit the
paparazzi car with an umbrella.

From all the scenes in the documentary we can conclude Throughout her career she's been
haunted by misogyny and buoyed by the willful misinterpretation of her work, wherein she
has always knowingly danced the line between subject and object, simultaneously in
complete control and totally vulnerable to outside influence but she is able to use her bad
experiences as something that makes her stronger.