You’re not used of me to write about ‘celebrities’, mostly because I don’t care about it too much, but Britney Spears has caught my attention nonetheless. First she shaved her hair off and now, De Volkskrant reports, that she has checked into a rehab center.
Britney Spears has entered a rehabilitation center, her spokesman said on Tuesday, capping a long weekend in which the pop star made international news by shaving her head at a Los Angeles hair salon.
“Britney Spears has voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed rehab facility today,” Spears’ publicist Larry Rudolph said in a written statement. “We ask that the media respect her privacy as well as those (privacy concerns) of her family and friends at this time.”
Rudolph did not say what Spears, 25, would be treated for or where the rehabilitation facility was located. Celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported the center was in the Los Angeles area and that she entered it at the urging of family members.
My good friend Mick LaSalle wrote three days ago (about Britney suddenly being bald):
Many years ago, Ringo Starr shaved his head, and Creme Magazine asked him why. He said something like this — I don’t have the quote in front of me — “Sometimes it’s a choice between shaving your head and killing yourself, and so I decided to shave my head.”
Like a lot of Ringo pronouncements, this had a quality of unexpected homespun truth about it. Which leads us to Britney. She has become a national joke, a borderline national disgrace, and a ready-made punchline. But is it possible that this girl is actually in trouble? Like so much in trouble that it’s not funny?
When a woman whose entire career is based on her appearance — ever hear her sing? — goes out and spontaneously disfigures herself — that’s a cry for help, folks. Her family should get the nets ready, and I don’t mean the Internets. If anybody actually cares about this girl, as a human being, as an actual living, breathing person, it’s time to do something. It was time to do something yesterday.
In the comment section, certain people attacked Mick for drawing conclusions. An example:
to shave one’s head is to disfigure oneself? hello? did i just read that? brittany spears has just disfigured herself??? gosh, i guess i have a lot of disfigured friends. and i’ve seen lots of disfigured people on tv. and there’s disfigured people in my neightborhood. my god, we are a nation full of disfigured people!! and how DARE these people take their own hair! in fact, when you think of it, it’s not their hair, it’s OUR HAIR! we are the ones who are forced to see their gastly bald heads! oh the horror! we must outlaw shavers and sissors! we must prevent people from disfiguring themselves. oh, lord help me, i feel a shave coming on.
(seemingly this person does not know how to write Spears’s first name correctly and seemingly the commenter also has some trouble using capitals but okay)
Another one:
Spears shaved off her hair? Big deal.
No. Let me change that: Big f***ing deal.
What does it mean? I think the answer to that question would be this question:
For who?
Her only problem would be that the lack of hair draws attention to the fact that she’s not pretty.
She can’t pull it off like Annie Lennox, Sinead O’Connor…and most black women I’ve ever seen with very very short hair (like me, for instance) to completely shaved heads.
Disfigured????
Dude, she cut off her hair.
Not her nose. Not her ear. Not a lip.
She didn’t gouge out an eye or split her tongue.
She cut off her hair. It grows back. (Ask any woman who shaves her…whatever.)
And if anyone thinks that someone’s about to end up dead like Anna Nicole Smith just because they cut their hair off???
I think the worst thing Spears did was pick lips to have tattooed on her wrists.
I wish she’d gotten a Mohawk, had it dyed hot pink or blue-black, and had full on photo-realistic tatts of her 2 kids on each arm?
Or maybe had them do a big old full back tatt of Anna Nicole Smith.
Although I don’t care much about Britney’s music, I do care about people… I shared Mick’s worries and decided to wait and see what would happen.
Now, a few days later, there can be no doubt about it anymore: Mick was right. Britney’s family should – obviously – be very, very worried. She became famous, incredibly famous when she was still very young. Believe it or not, fame changes people. It’s not easy to be famous, especially not in America (where celebrities are considered to be some kind of gods) and especially not when one is young.
She needs help, she needs the support of people who are honest, she needs God and… hopefully for her, she’ll pull through it.
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