As part of the generation that Britney Spears belongs to, most ‘geriatric millennials’ – yep, that’s a real term and not comedy – watched her rise to fame in utter awe. Back in 1998, there were young music acts on television, but none like Britney.

She was super fit, ‘Baby One More Time’ was a legit anthem, and even in Pakistan, even in the ‘90s, she inspired fashion and style choices. We wanted to be Britney – not just because she was hot and on TV, but because she was successful and rich at that young age.

This was the turn of the century, and the new millennium was full of hope and promise, and, we supposed, so was Britney Spears’ future.

Of course, once she started making terrible choices that ended in her being the subject of Justin Timberlake’s revenge track ‘Cry Me A River’, and doing things like marrying KFed, we were all a little appalled. A little appalled, and never above making fun of her when she started going down.

In 2008, Britney Spears publicly broke down several times. Her marriage ended, she lost her kids, and she parted with that ultimate symbol of feminine beauty: her hair.

What we don’t need to tell you is that she ended up being in conservatorship, which basically is court-ordained guardianship for individuals not deemed fit enough to make their own financial and personal choices. While her family and lawyers say this is the only way to go, many fans – who started the #FreeBritney movement on her behalf, don’t think so.

BAFTA-winning journalist Mobeen Azhar ventures into understanding whether #FreeBritney is indeed needed, and what it means in The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash, And A Conservatorship, an hour-long documentary for the BBC.

What Azhar describes as a “philosophical” take on the movement, and puzzles out by speaking to those who have known her best over the course of her life or before her stardom is simple. Britney Spears was a talented young woman who wanted to be a star, yet wanted life to remain the same: small, uncomplicated, and anonymous to a reasonable degree.

What she got instead was acclaim so huge, it took over her life.

As we watch various people describing why Britney Spears should or should not be under conservatorship, it is hard not to draw a parallel between her life and, well, any other woman’s. As a debutante singer, Britney Spears was presented to the world as a hyper-sexualized figure. Her hair in bunches and checked schoolgirl’s skirt were somehow perceived as desirable. The world followed her relationship with Justin Timberlake with interest, wondering if they had done ‘it’: was Britney still a virgin, or was she now up for grabs because she made the choice to have sexual intercourse?

In Pakistan’s largely conservative society, we tend to begin policing women from a young age.
Past a certain age, bare arms, legs, or an uncovered chest are considered an invitation for ogling by grown men. How they sit, the tone and volume of their speech, the professions they choose to enter, and whom they socialize with and how, are all closely monitored.

For a lot of women, still, finances are controlled by husbands, fathers, or brothers. Yes, there are progressive families who allow their women to thrive, but every Pakistani family has a line they will not or cannot cross.

In the U.S.A., schools may follow a dress code that may or may not impact the length of a student’s skirt or the width of her sleeves. This is not a Pakistan-centric issue: women are told how to conduct their lives the world over in order to organize society’s behavior.

When someone like Britney Spears, bound to have every action noticed by her fans and detractors alike, burns out and melts down, it unfortunately happens on a very public and accessible stage. What that can do to anyone’s mental health, or impact it further, is not really a question mark.

The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash, And A Conservatorship takes a balanced view of the matter, and tries to understand where the law has failed Britney Spears too. It’s not a fun, starry, piece, but rather a thoughtful, comprehensive take on the case overall.

What it does, quite well, is gently question why and how concern or protection can cross the thin line into absolute control and disempowerment, and as women, or certainly men, living where we do, can make us question whether the law is always indeed fair to the vulnerable or actually deterrent to their wellbeing.

–The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash, And A Conservatorship is available on BBC iPlayer.

Check out Mobeen Azhar’s other work on mobeenazhar.co.uk