You would have to be living in a hole not to be aware of the antics of Britney Spears or of the public scrutiny surrounding her sister Jamie Lynn's pregnancy. But behind these two girls is a mother, a mother who you may not know much about. Now Lynne Spears sounds off in her new book, "Through the Storm"
A lot of controversy surrounded this book even before it was released. Many billed this book as a parenting book and didn't understand why a Christian imprint, Thomas Nelson, would want to publish it. This book isn't what you may think it is. It isn't a book where either Lynne Spears defends or dishes dirt on her daughters. If you are looking for a tabloid, tell-all book, than you will be disappointed.
Through the Storm is a book by a woman who is a daughter, sister, wife and mother who simply tells her own story. As Lynne states in her introduction,
"It's really the story of one simple, Southern woman whose family got caught in a tornado called fame and who is still trying to sort through the debris scattered all over her life in the aftermath. It's who I am, warts and all, with some true confessions that took a long time to get up the nerve to discuss."
Lynne discusses her childhood and speaks with great detail about her relationship with her now ex-husband Jamie.
According to Lynne, there was no master-plan to get Britney into Hollywood and the music industry. Just like Lynne, we often make small decisions that lead to another and combined with some unexpected opportunities and events we find ourselves at a place we could have never expected or imagined. That is the story for the Spears family.
They were thrust into fame, and were ill prepared to handle it. This coupled with the strained and fractured marriage between Jamie and Lynne, their family didn't have the emotional and spiritual buoyancy to handle all the pressures and influences that fame brought.
Through the Storm is a candid account of a wife and mother's many regrets and yet through it all Lynne Spears is tenacious to persevere throughout it all and fight for her family.
Through the Storm takes all the sensationalism of Britney and Jamie Lynn and boils it down to an undeniable fact - our shared humanity. Jamie, Britney and Jamie Lynn are part of a family that has made a lot of mistakes, faced a lot of scrutiny and pressures. They need our prayers, not our disdain.
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I'm sorry, but I am tired of people trying to live the "passive voice":
"It's really the story of one simple, Southern woman whose family got caught in a tornado called fame and who is still trying to sort through the debris scattered all over her life in the aftermath. It's who I am, warts and all, with some true confessions that took a long time to get up the nerve to discuss."
Why do I say that? Because the family did not "get caught up". They marched straight in. There are no victims here, just volunteers.
The debris wasn't "scattered" by some great tragedy. It was scattered by parents whose choices allowed their child to march down the road to making even worse choices of her own.
It's all great that people recognize that they have warts. But writing in a passive voice should not EVER be considered taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions.
I may be cynical, but it seems to be this book is just another venue for exploiting that tragedy to greater "wealth".
oh Tim you are sooo cynical! :-)
I know there is a money motive with writing a book, but what I got out it is a reminder that no matter what we see of people in the public eye, they are real people. I think celebrity and the manic nature of the press obscures the fact that these people are real...they screw up, just like us...they have fears, insecurities, make stupid decisions and have desires and dreams...the only difference is that they have to live all of that under the scrutiny and magnification of the press.
If you read the book you discover that Britney and Jamie Lynn and their screw ups are a reflection of a broken and dysfunctional marriage between Jamie and Lynne.
I just think we need to have more compassion than what the media cultivates, which is to tear down and destroy people. It reminds me of that South Park episode in which the people of the town build up Britney Spears in order to tear her down as a sacrifice to their perverse desires.
We need to be careful not to join in on that.
Bill,
My point is that they CHOSE to live under that magnification and scrutiny of the press. That was a an affirmative DECISION that they made. We didn't force it up on them.
Compassion is important -- but I would like to see some serious, real-life contrition on their part before we spool up the orchestra of miniature violins playing "My Heart Bleeds For You".
Whatever happened to the notion of personal responsibility in our culture? You can still have compassion for a person while demanding a certain level of personal responsibility. Compassion isn't "cheap grace", after all. It should have a much higher value placed on it.
The Spears family is a walking, talking laboratory example of the ultimate degradation of marriage and the role of parenting in our society. It's an example of why marriage must be viewed more as a privilege and a covenant than a right and a contract.
We didn't need the guilty to write a book to tell us this, just like I don't need OJ Simpson writing a book to tell me about the evils of murdering your ex-wife.
I don't believe anyone would argue that the Spears family is not a model of marriage and parenting, and in a way, yes they choose this path, feeding the celebrity mania and made themselves vulnerable.
I don't think Lynne Spears is saying that it's not her fault. In fact, I think she owns a lot of her stuff with her marriage and her parenting. She has tons of regrets and made a ton of mistakes.
The book, in my mind, was a reminder to not believe what you see on Access Hollywood or TMZ but to remember that these are real people - often times full of addictions, pain and anger.
Don't excuse their behavior, as you suggest - but develop Biblical compassion for them.
Good discussion Tim!
Okay, let's switch the tracks then:
Does anyone who actually reads this book from an honest approach (as you suggest) believe what they see on Access Hollywood or TMZ?
This is why I go back to my point about "following the benjamins". The folks most likely to watch and believe AH/ET/TMZ/etc. are the ones least likely to comprehend the message. Those who see AH/ET/TMZ/etc. as just some modern gladiatorial voyeurism are least likely to need the message in the book...
So what's the point of the book, then, beyond making more money off the tragedy of this family?
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