Britney Vs Spears
Year: 2021
Director: Erin Lee Carr
Starring: Jenny Eliscu, Adnan Ghalib, Erin Lee Carr, Britney Spears & Mark Vincent Kaplan
Runtime: 93 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 13/10/21
Director: Erin Lee Carr
Starring: Jenny Eliscu, Adnan Ghalib, Erin Lee Carr, Britney Spears & Mark Vincent Kaplan
Runtime: 93 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 13/10/21
On the 30th September 2021, thirteen years after it began, popstar Brintey Spears was finally given control of her own life again when her father, Jamie Spears, stepped down as her conservator. This followed two years of intense pressure from Britney’s fans, friends, and even herself where possible, to have her conservatorship handed to someone else. Though this battle had been raging for considerably longer than two years, it took until more recently for the full extent of Britney’s lack of control over her own life to become clear to the public.
Earlier this year Sky released a documentary, Framing Britney Spears, which detailed the popstar’s rise to fame, her mental decline, and details surrounding the conservatorship. I thought it was an excellent documentary that came at just the right time to help tip the scales in the favour of Britney for the first time since this entire ordeal began. But just days before the conservatorship ended, a new Netflix documentary, Britney Vs Spears released. How does this documentary compare to Sky’s, and does it bring anything new to the table?
Where Framing Britney Spears opted to give an overview of Britney’s major life events from her rise to fame in the late 1990’s until sometime in 2020, Britney Vs Spears instead sets its sights squarely on the conservatorship she was placed under between 2008 and 2021. As a result, you get a much more focused dissection of exactly what was going on around this time, the attempts that were frequently being made by friends to get her out of this situation, the people that abused their power over her, and ultimately how the case began to shift into Britney’s favour once public opinion on her began to change in recent years.
Created by filmmaker Erin Lee Carr and journalist Jenny Eliscu, Britney Vs Spears presents viewers with never-before-seen legal documentation and interviews with those associated with the conservatorship in an attempt to convey to the viewer just how helpless Britney Spears was in this situation, and how she had almost all of her basic human rights stripped from her under the pretence of declining mental health conditions.
Earlier this year Sky released a documentary, Framing Britney Spears, which detailed the popstar’s rise to fame, her mental decline, and details surrounding the conservatorship. I thought it was an excellent documentary that came at just the right time to help tip the scales in the favour of Britney for the first time since this entire ordeal began. But just days before the conservatorship ended, a new Netflix documentary, Britney Vs Spears released. How does this documentary compare to Sky’s, and does it bring anything new to the table?
Where Framing Britney Spears opted to give an overview of Britney’s major life events from her rise to fame in the late 1990’s until sometime in 2020, Britney Vs Spears instead sets its sights squarely on the conservatorship she was placed under between 2008 and 2021. As a result, you get a much more focused dissection of exactly what was going on around this time, the attempts that were frequently being made by friends to get her out of this situation, the people that abused their power over her, and ultimately how the case began to shift into Britney’s favour once public opinion on her began to change in recent years.
Created by filmmaker Erin Lee Carr and journalist Jenny Eliscu, Britney Vs Spears presents viewers with never-before-seen legal documentation and interviews with those associated with the conservatorship in an attempt to convey to the viewer just how helpless Britney Spears was in this situation, and how she had almost all of her basic human rights stripped from her under the pretence of declining mental health conditions.
Speaking strictly in terms of how the documentary was constructed and how the information was presented to the viewer, I preferred Sky’s Framing Britney Spears considerably more than Britney Vs Spears.
I often found Britney Vs Spears difficult to follow, often relying on just showing you legal documents rather than talking you through what they actually mean in the context of Britney’s conservatorship. But where Britney Vs Spears does excel is in its interviews with those closest to Britney, and people who were involved in the creation of her conservatorship. Not that this documentary is directly responsible for Jamie Spears stepping down, but I feel like had the information contained in this documentary been given the time to truly circulate in the forum of public opinion I feel that there could have been significant steps made to having Mr. Spears removed from his position of power. I do think it’s a happy coincidence that the release of the documentary and Jamie Spears stepping down from the position coincided so well, but then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the information this documentary has unearthed had him running with his tail between his legs.
In terms of how well the film communicates its point to the audience, and how enjoyable an experience that is (because this is entertainment after all) is the Achilles heel of this whole house of cards. I found myself frequently checking the time and failing to be captivated by the information this film was presenting, despite the information being so ground-breaking at times. A stark contrast to Framing Britney Spears where everything was communicated in such an engaging and viewer friendly way.
So, whilst Britney Vs Spears is a documentary that I recommend people check out, it would be as a complimentary piece to Sky’s documentary and not something that can truly stand on its own. Sky’s documentary gives you all the essential information you need to know in a way that’s easy to understand, whilst Britney Vs Spears then gives you the grand revelations of just how mistreated this woman has been for the past thirteen years.
It’s great information delivered poorly, and any documentary worth watching needs to be able to communicate these ground-breaking discoveries in a way that grabs the viewers’ attention, something Britney Vs Spears, at least for me, failed to do.
I often found Britney Vs Spears difficult to follow, often relying on just showing you legal documents rather than talking you through what they actually mean in the context of Britney’s conservatorship. But where Britney Vs Spears does excel is in its interviews with those closest to Britney, and people who were involved in the creation of her conservatorship. Not that this documentary is directly responsible for Jamie Spears stepping down, but I feel like had the information contained in this documentary been given the time to truly circulate in the forum of public opinion I feel that there could have been significant steps made to having Mr. Spears removed from his position of power. I do think it’s a happy coincidence that the release of the documentary and Jamie Spears stepping down from the position coincided so well, but then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the information this documentary has unearthed had him running with his tail between his legs.
In terms of how well the film communicates its point to the audience, and how enjoyable an experience that is (because this is entertainment after all) is the Achilles heel of this whole house of cards. I found myself frequently checking the time and failing to be captivated by the information this film was presenting, despite the information being so ground-breaking at times. A stark contrast to Framing Britney Spears where everything was communicated in such an engaging and viewer friendly way.
So, whilst Britney Vs Spears is a documentary that I recommend people check out, it would be as a complimentary piece to Sky’s documentary and not something that can truly stand on its own. Sky’s documentary gives you all the essential information you need to know in a way that’s easy to understand, whilst Britney Vs Spears then gives you the grand revelations of just how mistreated this woman has been for the past thirteen years.
It’s great information delivered poorly, and any documentary worth watching needs to be able to communicate these ground-breaking discoveries in a way that grabs the viewers’ attention, something Britney Vs Spears, at least for me, failed to do.