Perhaps when Britney’s fame turned sour, Lynne felt the need to set the record straight, no doubt in response to a collective media question that asked: ‘Where are the parents in all this?’ Indeed, her memoir provides many rebuttals to the myths she wished to slay.
One such ‘myth’ is that she was the archetypal stage-mom, who pushed Britney into the spotlight. In this regard, she can rightly feel aggrieved. Britney’s ‘performing’ and talents were self-created. Lynne was simply the mother who decided to trust the direction her daughter wanted to go, and hang onto the magic carpet.
But Lynne was always overly keen to publicly celebrate her special mother-daughter relationship. A showy declaration of a mother’s love and pride is not only contained within the pages of three books, it was the very subtext behind Britney’s childhood; a mother who lit up in the light and attention reflected off her daughter’s talents. And this satisfaction would have filled the hole left by her disintegrating marriage.
What Lynne didn’t feel as a wife, she felt as a mother. By her own admission, she says motherhood kept her sane. Her children were her salvation, reinforcing the burden unwittingly placed on young shoulders, and especially Britney’s.
It’s almost as if Lynne felt it was her purpose to find success for her daughter because she felt she’d failed in her own life. Britney was the hope amid the hopelessness. But the danger is that Lynne may have recognised Britney the performer, not Britney the child—her real self. Lynne, quite rightly, would say that she absolutely adored her daughter, provided all the love In the world and raised her correctly. That Is not In doubt. What we are referring to here Is the unconscious elements found In the undercurrents and the emphasis Lynne placed on Britney as a performer.
If the approval, the applause, and ‘look everybody’ attitude Is what greeted Britney’s talents, then that’s the only value Britney will have associated with—the value of being ‘seen’ as the performer. Britney will have noted the sparkle In Mum’s eyes and that would have been the validation she’d sought. In Britney’s mind, performing provides an Illusion that solves everything: It makes her feel stable and makes people around her happy. In turn, all this brings love, praise and hugs. But that mind-set actually becomes a burden because It turns Britney Into a performing doll, performing to keep peace and happiness, as an antidote to the chaos.
The problem Is this: Jamie and Lynne had no Idea who they were as people and so cannot pass down any sense of self, or what that means, to Britney. One of the big ways we all form a sense of self Is through mirroring our environment. Accordingly, she Is being taught to Identify with being a performer and builds a false sense of self. But what Is home and who Is she when not performing? This will be the source of Britney’s confusion and the cause of great anxiety.
Lynne, too, will have realised that she felt good about herself for the first time in ages.
The unmet needs of an adult relationship can lead to a parent going to the child to receive those needs, and that child then feels responsible for those needs. There was almost an unconscious trade-off between Britney and Lynne. The vibe between both of them was, ‘When I’m with you, I feel better’. Britney had another unconscious agenda placed on her—as the source of pleasure, and this further strengthened the development of a performer’s persona. Mum placed her on a pedestal in her own mind, and within the community. I would simply ask, ‘What other aspect of Britney was developed and encouraged away from the performer and her talents?’
Propelled by so many invisible forces, and the personal dream she held, the young girl with the cheesy smile and bright innocence was destined to push beyond Louisiana’s borders. Something always whispered to Britney that her destiny belonged somewhere other than Kentwood. What no one could know was that Mickey Mouse was soon to extend a hand that would pull her to the next level, away from the disorder and towards ‘stardom’.
‘It’s just my time to express myself.’
–Britney, Stages, 2007
For one gloriously over-the-top but proud minute, it seemed as if Kentwood would declare a national holiday, such was the genuine excitement around town. But the Council Mayor settled for announcing an official ‘Britney Spears Day’ within the locality. Its talented daughter had been chosen as one of the performing ‘mouseketeers’ for the Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club, a more razzamatazz version of Britain’s Why Don’t You?.
She had been selected from 20,000 hopefuls after her talents clearly stood out at an audition and judges issued an immediate instruction to sign her up. Such recognition would catapult Britney from Louisiana to Orlando, Florida, where the recording studios were located at Disney World, and where she’d reside alongside Mickey Minnie, Pluto and Donald Duck, to name but a few.
Few locals could comprehend that one of their own had been chosen to star in the 30-minute television show, broadcast daily into homes throughout America. It created a distinct sense of occasion, and Britney had her first taste of merchandise produced in her name: one local made up T-shirts with a Hollywood movie clipboard emblem declaring ‘Britney Spears Fan Club’. An artist hung an ink-portrait of child Britney in a shop window under a ‘Congratulations Mouseketeer’ banner. And a cardboard cut-out Mickey Mouse was posted in the same window, with a cartoon bubble saying, ‘Presenting Britney Spears!’ All around Kent-wood, shop owners displayed messages on their mobile billboards: ‘Disney or Bust!’, ‘Congratulations Britney-We’re Proud of You!’, ‘Disney-bound!’ and, at Buddy’s Seafood Place, ‘Kentwood’s Mouseketeer’.
There was a distinct carnival feel in the air as local newspapers and television covered Britney’s achievement in a starry reflection on Kentwood itself. A special ceremony was held on the local sports field, where a large crowd gathered. Britney sang the national anthem and then, according to a report in the Kentwood News, ‘…brought tears to the eyes of all those present when she sang, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston. The Rotary Club’s James Allen presented her a bouquet of roses, and the Chamber of Commerce’s Gerald Broussard presented her with a commemorative plaque. Town mayor Bobby Gill went as far as issuing an official proclamation, which read:
WHEREAS the Walt Disney Corporation has, for the past 30 years, searched the United States for talented young people to become part of the organisation.
WHEREAS this year, for the first time, the state of Louisiana has had a participant chosen, and she is one of ours. We have watched her grow and her talents mature…given with such warmth and noticeable enjoyment.
WHEREAS the people of Kentwood and surrounding area wish to give tribute to this well-deserving young lady as she continues her work in Orlando, Florida.
Therefore, I, Bobby Gill, Mayor of the town of Kentwood, do hereby proclaim, Saturday April 24 1993 BRITNEY SPEARS DAY, and invite everyone to applaud her accomplishments and wish her great things as she takes this next exciting step in her promising career.
Britney was just eleven years old, but long before that momentous day, there would be setbacks, tests of character and leaps of faith, together with hour upon hour of repetitive practice. Whatever propelled Britney, however, turned her into an unstoppable force, breaking down Kentwood’s frontiers.
But before Mickey Mouse, there would be Broadway. Before Broadway, there would be a television talent show. Before the TV show there would be training. And before training, there would be rejection. Looking back in rewind to the journey of Britney’s rise to fame, it all makes sense now: a line of stepping stones that would ultimately lead to the bridge from rural Louisiana