“From Whence You Came” Is A Classic Place To Send Back A Foul Beast

Part 1 of Celebrification

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Word Count: 892

Overture [essay]

According to Cameron J Sabet, “Celebrities are not human in the world of popular culture. They are cultural deities,” (Sabet), and with further investigation, it seems this is true. Celebrities influence culture reflecting the methods of the control the Greek Pantheon holds on the human world. The lives of celebrities are constantly publicized via the news, THE VOICE shows, and, some of the most scathing and easily reachable, gossip magazines. The line between public and private is so far blurred that it is considered odd for anyone directly influencing pop culture to shy away from the outside world between jobs and keep their lives out of the way of the tabloids. Perhaps it is for the best that they choose so, as the spotlight seems to be easily corrupting, not only attracting the naïve youth, but also presenting them in a way to society that changes their lives permanently, and not in a way that brings any betterment to their lives.

Britney Spears was one of the most prevalent stars of the 2000s, and it’s safe to say that nobody could predict her downfall. Her music was a mark of its time, hooking itself to an era that many look upon in fondness. She was the quintessential pop queen. But, as it seems, she wasn’t the only star who succumbed to the pressures, and started radically changing their lives, for the worse. It was a growing trend that celebrities would get blinded by the spotlight, and start to derail their lives through substance abuse, another notable example from the same era being Amy Winehouse, an artist who died of alcohol poisoning after a fight with substance abuse in 2011 (Tsioulcas). However, many question if their spiral is truly just an internal problem, a mark of the culture surrounding celebrities, or an issue with the people who follow celebrities and publicize their lives. 

            Britney Spears, in particular, is an example of a child star who crumbled under the intense pressure of not only the public’s opinion of her, but the responsibility of being the breadwinner for her family. According to an article by Karla Rodriguez, child stars tend to suffer under the hands of those closest to them, often weathering greedy parents, who tend to steal away millions “before they were even of age”, and an unstable support system, which increases the likelihood of substance abuse later in life (Rodriguez). Typically, the kind of star that succeeds in their adult life is the one in which their parents do not rely on their success for their livelihood. According to Shauna Springer Ph.D., an interviewee of the same article, “When a legal guardian comes to rely on the money that their child generates, they may be more likely to overlook or conceal struggles like substance abuse, mental health struggles, or eating disorders—for fear that seeking help might negatively impact the income they depend on,” (Rodriguez). In contrast, other child stars with a more protective support system tend to live through their childhood better and avoid more “shady” activity that other child stars may be exposed to, something that Britney Spears did not get to experience (Rodriguez).

            Unfortunately, it seems that as soon as Britney Spears arrived into the spotlight, her light was doomed to flicker out. According to Cameron J Sabet, “The public asked for Britney Spears to be a perfect woman. The masses expected her to represent the competing ideals of virginity and promiscuity throughout her career,” (Sabet) and by holding these impossible expectations upon her, society itself had begun the countdown to her downfall. They celebrated her, “showering her with attention and special treatment,” (Sabet) and she was extremely successful in both music production and performance. However, this favorable treatment stopped the moment that Britney had begun to crack and reveal something else other than exactly what society wanted. Her downfall became exactly what fed the crowd’s desire for drama, with tabloids that began violating her privacy, and the public began to tear her down even farther than what was previously expected. It seemed that society derived a sense of fulfillment from her downfall, which distracted from personal problems and provided an intense sense of entertainment to the public (Sabet).

            This behavior still continues today, with the obsession with the lives of celebrities, There are still many celebrities who have been caught in the allure of the spotlight, only to be let down by society’s perception of them as they grow and change as people, and no longer fit the rigid mold that society had set for them. These celebrities turn to drugs, like alcohol, and often lead long, difficult battles to fight off addiction, likely ruining public perception, and their careers, in the aftermath. According to Attain Behavioral Health. “25% of celebrities have a history of drug addiction,” and, “40% of celebrities who seek treatment have a relapse within the first year,” in 2024, which is quite a high percentage (Attain Behavioral Health). This information suggests that more celebrities are relying on substances to relieve the pressure of society. It is important to note that much of the pressure on celebrities comes from the obsession of the public, and without creating boundaries between ourselves and them, and knowing that they deserve to live private lives, will likely ease off the pressure, as all human beings deserve the space to breathe. 

Blinks

blinks back

Celebrification: The Downfall of Britney Spears- Completed 01/18/25

Masterlist | Based on Real People

Summary: The 2000s were a crazy period in history, beginning in the craze of Y2K, when many thought the world was ending due to the turn of a millennium, and punctuated with new emerging genres of music. The 00s also saw a new trend: child-stars turned pop culture gods, especially those that moved from acting to music.

Britney Spears is one such person, with her career starting in the Mickey Mouse club house, and then continuing with her becoming a household name for her addition to the music sphere. However, after a few years in the spotlight, it began to burn her. Her career went down in flames in the mid-2000s, and it seemed like she was never again going to rest upon her pedestal with her fellow stars.

But, the question was, who was to blame? Was it herself, the social sphere she became accustomed to, and the company she kept? Or, was it the public and the media, always starving for any glimpse of her life they got, good or bad.

Warnings: This contains minor mentions of drug abuse, but would otherwise be categorized at a level of PG.

Notes: This is a one-act play, inspired by Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and contains an informative synopsis at the beginning, as well as a work's cited page.

DISCLAIMER: This is not at all meant to drag Ms. Spears down in any way, shape or form. This is merely meant as a social critique on human behavior. It is also intended as satire, but I am probably very terrible at writing satire, so take it at face value.

I have also published this on AO3, if you prefer that format, here.

Enjoy <3

Chapters: 6/6

Total Word Count: 3.2k

Part 1 Overture [essay] 892 words

Overture [content] 465 words

Act 1: Scene 1 618 words

Act 1: Scene 2 588 words

Act 1: Scene 3 663 words

Works Cited

MASTERLIST

Started: Jan. 19th, 2024 Last updated: Jan.19th 2024 Total works: 1

Anime/Manga

Books

Movies

Poetry

Original Works

Original Characters

Based on Real People

(I promise this one isn't weird)

Part 4 of Celebrification

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Word Count: 588

Act 1: Scene 2

The woman of middling age walks in from stage left and takes her seat in the middle chair.

THE VOICE: Hello 27.

27, slowly: Hello?

THE VOICE: Are you ready, 27?

27: Ready… for what? Are you planning on asking me the same questions that you asked 17? 

THE VOICE: Perhaps. It depends on what you have to offer me. Which, I suppose, is likely much more interesting and of greater magnitude than what she gave me, dear.

27, reluctant: I guess so. What is the purpose of me being here anyways? You’ve probably seen my life, just like everyone else. What else do I have to testify if you’ve seen it all?

THE VOICE: Well, you haven’t really had a chance to say anything have you? It’s all been by word of mouth, or rather by vision of pictures. Many, many pictures. 27 appears ashamed. I was just thinking that perhaps you would like a chance to defend yourself for once. To prove that it wasn’t just your own influence, changing your own life, spinning out of control as I’m sure many would describe.

27: I suppose so. Most of these things that have happened are really my own fault though. No one person made me like this. It just seems like these days, this is what all stars turn into.

THE VOICE: I guess so, but what happened? It seems like nobody saw it coming. You were young, successful, the epitome of a starlet. Everybody wanted to be you.

27: Yeah, but look at me now. Everybody’s seen my downfall. I’ve gotten addicted, and couldn’t kick it, and I’m losing a custody battle for my sons. The court wants me to pay 20,000 dollars per month for each of my kids for child support, and as much as I want to make sure my boys get everything they need, will all that money really be going to them?

[note: 20k per kid is 40k per month, in total it’s 480k per year. Yeesh] 

THE VOICE: I see.

27: I even made the stupid decision to shave my head, in the heat of the moment with everything, and now I look even guiltier. So many pictures were taken of me that day, and they were published everywhere, on probably my lowest day ever. Everybody’s hounding me, and I just really want a break.  

THE VOICE: Would you say that it was your own fault all these things happened?

27, looking down at hands: Well, the pictures definitely weren’t something I planned to happen, but I feel like the drugs were something I could have prevented by trying to be kinder to myself, and the atmosphere didn’t really help. Anybody who’s anybody does drugs to keep themselves… entertained? If that’s the right word. It was just hard to stop taking them when everyone around me was taking them too. But I wish people had just left me alone. Everything about me is already mass broadcasted, and I just… I just need a break from all of it. The people consuming all this media about me aren’t really making things worse, just tiring me out about everything. 

THE VOICE: Interesting. Well, we’ll see if your opinion on how far the public has participated in your downfall changes at all. 27 looks up. Goodbye, 27.

27, nods her head: Goodbye. She heads through the same door that 17 left through, and before she goes through the door, she looks back up at the ceiling, perhaps in curiosity, and then disappears.

one more lonely night in my bedroom, sitting in my underwear with candles as my light source.

the dried glitter under my eyes resembles tears in the moonlight.

it reminds me of youth, being a kid.

face paint, pastel pink & the same cat cake my mother baked me every birthday, with licorice whiskers.

i don't care for birthday cake now, i tell her to buy whatever cheap grocery store one everyone will enjoy.

when i was little, about eight, i wanted to be my older sister so badly.

i liked the thought of freedom you get once you grow up, a boyfriend, makeup and short skirts. it's nothing like i thought.

to be a teenage girl, is simply hell.

dissecting my body until it's nothing, sobbing over every man that leaves, acting older than i am, becoming a whore at fourteen.

hot wax burning my skin, feeling super suicidal, daily prescription pills, counting calories, backstabbing and loving too hard.

i'd trade anything in the world to be young forever, to be back in my mothers arms as she sang "you are my sunshine" to me every night.

i don't know when she stopped.

"please don't take my sunshine away."

sometimes i still wish i left, but i'll stay for her.

i'll start baking her the same cat cake for her birthdays and make homemade cards with colored paper and sparkly stickers.

i'll start dotting my i's with little hearts, and apply eyeshadow with my fingertips once again.

i'll wear ribbons in my hair, and listen to the 60s music my grandma played while she taught little me how to bake a pie.

i'll embrace my sensitivity, and cry when i have to, i won't suppress my rage, i'll be wild and free.

i'll hold onto youth, and miss the old grace in silence.

written by grace isabelle

hmmmm interesting…

Well I hope Gertrude has fun leading humans elsewhere. It’ll be difficult.

Like herding cats, but otherwise a noble venture.

Do you like chickens? Do you believe in the mysterious theory that the chickens are bald and the egg rates are decreasing? Do you believe in Gertrude?

That is a very good question.

I do in fact like chickens. There are many breeds and colors that are interesting, such as the Lavender Orpington. I highly recommend that you check those out, and they are also excellent egg layers (allegedly).

I don't think chickens are bald, if you are referring to the fact that chickens are not covered in hair, which they are not, but feathers are similar enough to hair in makeup (keratin) and use that I do consider them functionally hair. However, it is possible for chickens to not have feathers on all or parts of their body, as there are several breeds that have those traits on purpose.

I am not sure of the egg rates decreasing. I suppose I will have to do further research on the topic.

If this Gertrude will give me something to believe in, then I may believe in her. For now she will remain as she is, a name.

Part 2 of Celebrification

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Word Count: 465

Overture [content]

A long table sits in the middle of a dimly lit room with bare walls. The floor is grey concrete, as are the walls, and the only source of light comes from a single pendant light hanging directly above the table. The door is quite ordinary, and there are no windows. The room is devoid of any information regarding location, or anything that could signal time. It is the very picture of a blank slate, with exception to the three chairs that sit at the table, facing the audience. 

From stage left to stage right, one chair is carved delicately, designed charmingly, and has no blemishes to the naked eye. It has gorgeous designs, perhaps hand painted and carved on, with love. The next to the right has still been carved with the same level of thought, but the designs have begun to fade with use, and it appears as though one of the chair legs are shorter than the others, but only enough to prove a nuisance. The final chair to the right is in an astonishing state of disrepair. It still provides its job, to hold a person, but the designs are so faded and chipped that at first glance, it seems to be marred with scars replicating a human’s. It is important to state that all these chairs contain similarities, and that perhaps, long ago, they were all part of one set.

The light flickers just a bit brighter, and the door opens, with three ladies walking in from upstage right, taking what seems to be their predetermined seats. They are all blonde and of average height, but of different ages. When they reach their seats, they all smile to greet each other silently. The one to take her seat at the newest looking chair is the youngest, with no wrinkles on her skin, and a youthful glow. In the middle chair, sits the lady that is neither young nor old, perhaps closer to young, but her skin has lost its glow, and her smile does not quite reach her eyes. The oldest woman sits in the chair that is most in disrepair, the rightmost. She has smile lines, and yet her eyes are dull, a tell of experiencing a life many would not have the gall to withstand. 

The ladies begin chatting amongst themselves, although the conversation appears to be led mostly by the youngest, with the middle and eldest listening to her, nodding along, placated by the mystery of youth and innocence. Music, reminiscent of some mainstream pop plays faintly in the background, and the lights dim slowly, and the music fades.

Silence.

The curtain closes, and then opens, with only the youngest in the leftmost chair. She looks around and appears shocked that she is the only one left.