Premiered September 28 on Netflix coinciding with a crucial moment in her life. The ‘conservatorship war’ between Britney and her father was followed after her very public breakdown in 2008, and until now, the nature of her mental health issues were never revealed. Netflix’s Britney vs Spears – directed and narrated by fan and film-maker Erin Lee Carr – feels uncomfortable and a little bit too troubling. The film was quickly revised after Framing Britney Spears and Spears’ explosive testimony at a conservatorship hearing in July.
The film follows a standard chronological storyline, zipping through the successes of the early years before entering in on difficult times. It pores over Spears’ divorce from Kevin Federline in a way that feels tabloid-y, while dramatic instrumental music hums underneath. Using a raft of interviews with former boyfriends, a past assistant, attorneys, an expert on conservatorships and a geriatric psychologist who may have examined Spears, the two walk viewers through the circumstances of how the conservatorship was established in 2008 and why so many have questioned its existence. It almost has the feel of a schlocky true crime biography.
The documentary talks about Britney’s massive success and downfall, and the full control and authority of her father over her when he decided to put her into conservatorship for 13 years, eliminating Britney of her own human rights, from the financials, the people she talks to, the places she goes to, rearranging her schedules, forcing her into strong and lethal medications she doesn’t want to, letting her go through numerous tests and examinations, and basically just taking over her life. Britney emerged unhappy, depressed, unheard, living in threat and fear for life, and filled with abuse and damage she has suffered for the past years. She has expressed her anger and disappointment during a hearing that was livestreamed to the media by the court saying, “I don’t think how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do nothing”. She added “It makes no sense or whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and watch me make a living for so many people and be told I’m not good enough.” In June 2021, she publicly accused his father of guardianship abuse and on September 29, 2021, Jamie Spears was suspended from the conservatorship due to “conservatorship abuse”.All in all, these films present a terrifying view about conservatorship, making a persuasive case that needs to be modified and corrected. This has led to demonstrate nonfiction filmmaking to trigger the public and illuminate questionable situations. Britney vs Spears is available on Netflix now.
