While I have never watched the MTV Video Music Awards, I do keep an eye on pop culture. (It is one of the hazards related to my calling.) And it's been pretty hard for me to avoid the whole Britney Spears episode that has been unwinding over the last week or so.
In case you are fortunate enough to have missed out on it, here is the synopsis: Britney (if you don't know who Britney Spears is, than you really avoid pop culture) has spent the last couple of years in a career and personal nose-dive. Poor parenting, partying, self-destruction, and more.
This VMA performance was going to be the thing that revived Britney's career. However, it instead, brought embarrassment. (On a side note, it does have her back in the news, albeit not in a very positive sense.) I didn't see the performance (except for clips in the news), but I have read about it.
I honestly don't care whether Britney's career ever comes back or not. However, I am disgusted with our culture and the way they treat people like Britney.
I am not saying she is innocent. There is a huge amount of personal accountability Britney must answer for. But, she was sucked into the machine that is American pop culture.
This is a culture that values you for what you do, not who you are. It is a culture that craves you one minute and throws you away the next. It builds up these young stars, making them think they are more than they really are. Then it tosses them aside like an empty food wrapper.
What is this teaching us? Is it teaching us that someone is only valuable if they are a talented athlete, entertainer, or celebrity? Do you disagree?
Why do parents spend so much time running their children to practice for sports and a host of other activities that mostly center around entertainment?
As a parent I understand that we want our children to succeed and do well. I acknowledge the desire to see our children do something positive with their lives. But does that mean we pour a huge portion of family time into all of these things? Does it mean we sacrifice our child's childhood so they can have the edge over someone else?
I am not anti-sports or against other extracurricular activities. But are we trying to feel a sense of celebrity through the performance of our kids? Do we value them more for their talents than for who they really are?
What concerns me is that we are creating an entire generation who wants to be famous and be liked for their talent. It seems like we are setting them up for disappointment.
What happens when they don't make it to the next level? What do they do when they get out of college and have to begin real life?
And even more importantly, how does this all fit into a life of following Jesus where the first is last and the last is first? How can the celebrity culture and a call for humility and self-sacrifice co-exist?
It may not happen on a stage and on a television in front of millions, but I am afraid that we are preparing an entire generation to suffer Britney-like moments in their own lives.
A comedian stood on the same stage right after Britney exited and made comments like, “She's 25 years old and she’s
already accomplished everything she’s going to accomplish in her life“
and “Have you seen Britney’s kids? Oh my G--, they are the most
adorable mistakes you will ever see!"
I really hope my son never looks at his life at 25 and he or someone else says the same of him. But we live in a culture that values youth. I feel like the message that is being portrayed is to live while you're young and as you get older, try to keep looking young.
Americans invest millions, if not billions, in efforts to look young. I am not against taking care of ourselves, but have we become so vain that aging is looked down on?
Is Britney headed down the same path as Anna Nicole Smith? Has she been used up by society? Are her best days behind her? Will we hear on the news someday in the next couple of years that she has been found dead from a drug overdose?
Thousands of year ago, God told Samuel, "Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) Samuel was looking for a leader of Israel based on appearance.
Does God need to speak this message to us today as we continue to determine people's worth based on their looks and performance?
shine!
Jason
1 comment:
[...] Before this begins to sounds like a Britney-bashing session, I want to be clear that I feel sorry for her. While she has made many of the decisions that have basically destroyed her life, Britney is also a victim of a culture that uses celebrities and throws them away when they are done with them. (See my other entry about Britney) [...]
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