Why Are We Fascinated with Britney Spears?

Britney Spears. Brash, and depending on the day, attractive. Depending on the song, a woman with a powerful singing voice. Falling apart at the seams mentally, physically and emotionally, if you believe the press and tabloids, and the reports coming out of the courts. Just what is it that attracts the hordes to follow the exploits of Britney Spears? Is it Ms. Spears' talent, or the seemingly bizarre human trait of wanting to slow down at car wrecks?

It seems that everywhere you turn there goes Britney Spears. Television. Magazines. Radio. Even a movie under her... umm... mini-skirt. Mainstream newspapers cannot ignore the more bizarre exploits of Britney Spears. And the masses seem to howl for more.

Why is there a never-ending public fascination with Britney Spears' self-immolation? Haven't we seen enough of her suffering and personal demons? Are there any true fans left out there, actually waiting for her next album or song? Or are there just teenage males hoping for another slip of the nip, or skirt riding up hips, and the paparazzi ever-vigilantly hounding her to get a shot of what has happened to nearly any woman who has worn a low-cut top or shortish skirt?

Britney is a seemingly independent media empire, akin to Madonna, only with drug and alcohol abuse issues. Ms. Spears reportedly makes close to $800,000 a month. Yes, that's a month. More than the average person in the United States makes in 20 years. The average person will not put their hands on Britney Spears' annual income if they managed to work 2 centuries.

Ms. Spears, despite the money, cannot keep it together enough to hang onto her children. Or stay in rehab long enough to clean up her act. Has she been the subject of attention for so long, that she will do anything to stay in the limelight? Or is she just a young woman who was thrust into the world of the public eye at too-young of an age to cope with the fame, and cannot escape a trap laid for her by her mother's pushing as an adolescent?

Perhaps Britney Spears' continuing fame is derived from her humble beginnings as a small town girl made good in the world of glitter and glitz, and the common person's belief that they can aspire to wealth and fame.

Or, is it more sinister, the people watching with horrified fascination Britney Spears' infamous spiral into self-destruction. Is it the reaction of the howling mob, standing at the gates of Britney's castle with their pitchforks and spears, waiting for the guys with the torches to get there?