Weekly Analysis II (Assign 2-1)-Britney Spears: A Positive to Negative Icon

How do we stop the negative impacts popular culture icons have on our society and on our own youth? The better question is can we actually stop the negative effects popular culture icons, such as Britney Spears, have on us? The hard truth to accept is that it is impossible for us to turn off every TV, radio, or internet terminal in a futile attempt to shed ourselves from a negative influence an icon may impasse on us.

There are a lot of extenuating circumstances that transforms a positive icon into a negative one in a blink of an eye. Britney Spears is a prime example of this along with other popular icons, such as Michael Jackson. During Britney’s career high she represented a prospering generation with her rapid rise to success in the pop rock music industry. Britney was a real life Barbie that quickly gained world recognition and the following of our youth.

Britney’s situation has been analyzed from a multitude of angles but simply stated Britney’s situation is one of despair and stress. Britney had an image to uphold since she was renowned for setting somewhat and often times borderline examples. When she could not uphold this image any longer despair slowly started to take its toll. She was noted for her popularity and as it started to diminish her level of stress increased. The negative factor in all of this is the fact that our youth have come to condone this as acceptable behavior. Britney’s situation is an example in itself because it highlights the fact that we have numerous icons that have really become false idols due to their rapid popularity. Britney’s image has evolved from popularity to more of an “attention getter” with an encompassing myth of “What’s going to happen next?”.

It is our responsibility as parents and concerned citizens to control the affects of popular culture whether they are positive or negative on our youth. Often times it means that we must take extremes, such as turning off the TV, and not affording false idols the popularity and attention that originally made them icons.