Fan Fare

The Spears blame game; where does the fault really lie?

Lynne Spears has taken much of the blame for the recent woes of daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn, both in her memoir “Through the Storm” and in a television interview.

“As a mother, don’t we always blame ourselves?” she said. “I took a lot of the blame. I took all the blame. The personality I have, it’s always my fault.”

Lynne has been heavily criticized lately for everything from being a pushy stage mom, profiting from her daughters’ fame, bad parenting when Jamie Lynn got pregnant at 16, and appearing to sit on the sidelines while Britney was shaving her head, attacking paparazzi with umbrellas and making a hash of raising her two young boys.

But is she being too hard on herself?  It wasn’t Lynne who had unprotected sex with her teen boyfriend. Nor did Lynne decide to have two babies within 12 months and then find she had taken on more than she could cope with.

When should kids start taking responsibility for themselves? And what about their fathers? Little has been said about recovering alcoholic Jamie Spears and his role in the phenomenal rise and fall of two daughters.  Jamie Spears, now divorced from Lynne, has stepped up his role this year, taking control of Britney’s business affairs and winning much of the credit for her stunning return to something more like the pop star she was five years ago.

But why do moms always get the blame?

Britney: Is she back “In the zone”?

When a California court granted Britney Spears’ father control of her business and personal affairs on Feb. 1, the troubled 26 year-old pop star had just been released from a Los Angeles hospital after being held for psychiatric evaluation.

It was the second time in one month that her mental state had been questioned by doctors, so there was little question at the time as to whether the court was acting in her best interests. That control — legally known as a conservatorship — has been extended until July 31, and a host of attorneys have been brought in to make decisions for her and audit her business deals.

Yet, this week news has surfaced that Britney is back at work. She released a new video, and is rehearsing and taping an episode of U.S. television comedy “How I Met Your Mother.” Less than 45 days since she was first considered legally unable to make her own decisions, she’s evidently okay to take a job and function on a TV set. One has to wonder just how sick she really is. Put another way, is she back “In the Zone,” which was the name of her 2003 record.

New details may emerge about her mental state at a hearing set for this coming Monday, March 17. It deals with a temporary restraining order against her former self-styled manager Sam Lutfi , who was the man controlling her life until her January hospitalizations. Some people think he is to blame for her problems, but others source her problems to her current handlers including her father. 

What will be said at those hearings is anybody’s guess. But for now, Britney says in a statement she is “having a blast” on the set of “How I Met Your Mother.” And to be sure, it has been weeks since the Louisiana native has been photographed outside her home in Los Angeles wearing those pink wigs and talking in a British accent.