Britney Spears. The true "tragedy".

"An American Tragedy" screamed the headline on the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Meanwhile a black and white photo showed the subject of that headline as if she was one of the victims in an Errol Morris documentary. Who's the subject? Britney Spears of course.

Yes folks, according to the actual cover story, it's time for Britney (Ms. Spears if you want to try to be funny) to be thrown out with the bath water. She may still make and release records. But her career as a pop icon is over. Outside of the tabloid press that is.

I could easily take exception to the RS use of the word tragedy to describe Britney's downfall. A pop icon biting the commercial dust does not call to mind a tragedy the same way 9/11 or Katrina does. A plastic pop icon falling from their throne does not call to mind the word tragedy the way the recent death of Heath Ledger and the 1982 demise of John Belushi do. The record industry's loss of a cash cow does not equal tragedy the way the death of a young bride at the first dance of her wedding does.

In another way however, the tale of Ms. Spears is a tragedy. Not a tragedy for the record industry however, as they'll just a move on and find another icon to hold up. But a personal tragedy for Britney and her family.

Recall the following scene from 2006's superb movie version of the Broadway smash "Dreamgirls". Manager Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) is watching his creation (the singing group the Dreams) perform on stage. He's sitting by the mother of lead singer Deena Jones (Beyonce). At one point we witness the following exchange,

Deena's Mom: I'm amazed, Mr., Taylor. As much as I love my daughter, I never thought she had much of a voice
Curtis: Oh, Deena has something better. She has a...quality.
Deena's Mom: You make her sound like a product.
Curtis: A product." I like that!

That folks is exactly what Britney was from the beginning. What happened to Britney isn't like what happened to Michael Jackson or to the late former Supreme Florence Ballard because both Jackson and Ballard were talented singers and performers. Britney was a young girl who was selected and molded to fit a certain style and then sold as part of that style.

In the actual RS article, we learn how Britney's parents pretty much had their eyes set on their daughter being a superstar from the moment she came into the world. At age 2, we learn, she was already signed up for dance lessons. Hence the Michael Jackson comparisons. Her parents Jamie and Lynne saw little Britney as their ticket out of the working class Louisiana town they lived in, much as Joseph Jackson guided his sons toward music so they would've have an alternative to working in the steel mills of Gary Indiana.

The major difference between MJ and Ms. Spears (aside form the talent level of course) is the soul element in the music. All of MJ's music, from his early singles with his brothers to the masterpiece of Off The Wall to the great pop album that was Dangerous had elements of soul to it. There were times where he could go overboard on the treacle ("Heal the World" most notably). But until the harsh reality of adulthood came truly crashing in on him, Michael never forgot his roots.

Britney on the other hand never had any real roots. Her music wasn't as much music with soul and feeling as much as it was aural cotton candy. It was laffy taffy, designed for mass consumption. In essence, she had product created with her name on it and was sent out to sell that product.

That folks is the main problem I always had with Ms, Spears and most of her ilk. Not that her lyrics were bubble gummy or that her music was commercialized. It's that it had no soul, no depth. Let's take another exchange from Dreamgirls:

CC White: Isn't music supposed to express what people are feeling?
Curtis: Music is supposed to sell!

That's it right there. That's why the music industry had the commodity that was Britney Spears hijack one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever recorded, the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" and remove all the bluesy elements that made it a classic. In the process they turned a timeless number into a run of the mill piece of teen angst in an era of run of the mill pieces of teen angst. That's why Britney was promoted over thousands of more talented rock, soul and pop singers, because her work would "sell more easily in the Midwest". In essence, Britney was created as a junior version of the bubblegum for the over 40 crowd that Celine Dion was launched to sell.

Getting back to the personal tragedy element, the really sad thing in all of this is that a young girl had her life basically taken away from her so she could be turned into a commodity by both parents who saw her as a meal ticket and a ruthless industry who saw her as an easy way to move units. Can't afford to spend the money to promote true talent like India Arie when Britney's face on People Magazine will get thousands more sold.

My point is not that life would've been better off for Britney if she had been left alone to go to college and become an accountant, lawyer or real estate agent (although music listeners would've been better off she had). No, my point is that Britney epitomizes one thing that's always been a problem with American society and always will be: Parents pushing their children into careers that are not necessarily of the children’s choosing. In essence, how many children end up being something someone else envisioned they should be instead of what they truly are? How many ended up as commodities instead of people? That, dear friends, is the true "tragedy" of this whole thing.