October 2017. Britney Spears posts a video on her Instagram account showing her painting flowers in her Los Angeles residence. Like many of the 42 million subscribers who follow the pop star's almost daily videos, Jeanne Burrel admits to having first laughed then to having been uncomfortable. “I started thinking about the life of this woman, of whom I was a fan when I was a teenager, and about my generation's share of responsibility in her descent into hell,” explains this 36-year-old Parisian. Britney is a Marilyn Monroe of the 2000s. It's a miracle she's still alive. »
Jeanne Burrel, director and author of cultural and historical documentaries (the popular balls, Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day-Lewis, etc.), had before her eyes the subject of her future web series In “Britney without filter”, broadcast from this Wednesday on Arte.tv and on Arte's YouTube channel, it tells in five short episodes (13 minutes) the global success and descent into hell of “this little soldier of pop culture” through social networks, the media and fans. “She is the mirror of our society, the symptom and the victim of the desacralization of stars in celebrity magazines, of the fans' need for familiarity but also of the condition of women in the cultural industry,” analyzes Jeanne Burrel.
The director speaks in the first person about her relationship with this girl from the South of the United States of modest origins, who since the age of 5 has continued to be filmed, photographed, judged. Several witnesses, journalists across the Atlantic and in Germany, psychologist and media analyst, provide a very detailed look at the different chapters of her life: Britney as a child star at Disney, Britney at the top, Britney in a relationship with Justin Timberlake, Britney ( bad) mother, Britney bald, Britney under guardianship for 13 years, Britney released in 2021. “She could have experienced the same fate as Marilyn and the stars who died at 27,” notes Jeanne Burrel.
Since 2021, Britney Spears has apparently not sung again. We only follow her on Instagram, where she most often films herself dancing and showing off her naked body. “In my humble opinion, she has neurological and physiological after-effects of what she went through,” believes the author of this series. But even if we find her weird or vulgar, we can only rejoice that she has taken back power and her image in hand. Her Instagram is like no other. We asked her to be perfect, she comes back without filter, imperfect. At the end of the last episode, I hope we have empathy for her. »
PODCAST. The hell of fame: Britney Spears, story of a pop star under guardianship
Another conclusion from this film is that new global pop stars, like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, have learned the lessons of this “tragic and fascinating destiny” by managing their career, their image and their communication with an iron fist. Has Britney Spears definitively drawn a line under hers, as she announced a year ago? “She’s only 43, it’s crazy,” comments Jeanne Burrel. She seems in another world, a child woman locked in her bubble, but she is so unpredictable, anything is possible. »
