OLIVER KIMOKEO | sports editor

Britney Spears needs a break from the media to focus on her health and family.

Amidst her personal struggles, Britney Spears is under the microscope of scrutiny for every moment of her life. Whatever Spears does garners media attention whether it is a trip to Starbucks or an attack to a car with an umbrella.

Spears is a washed-up superstar with absolutely no direction in her personal and professional life. But, her popularity is as high as it has ever been. While some of her popularity lies in her past accomplishments, people cannot deny their curiosity for a human meltdown.

It is not debatable that Spears’ life is a mess. She is literally driving herself crazy. Her latest saga involves a custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their two children.

What is debatable is if Spears still has the prerogative to lead the life of a celebrity and performer. It is so apparent that Spears lacks joy in her life and the zeal to raise her professional craft.

Spears’ rise to fame has been well-documented. She came from a rural Louisianan town with ambitions to be a superstar. Her first national appearance was on “Star Search.” Not long after, she became a cast member on “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.” Spears was not a standout on the show by any means. She was featured more as a dancer than an actor or singer, although she has experience in all three.

She had potential as a triple-threat performer but lacked the aura to overshadow the talented cast around her. Believe it or not, her personality was her greatest asset on the show. She had a wide-eyed Southern innocence, which was charming and refreshing, especially in comparison to her lifestyle today.

I did not expect that she would be the one from the show to make the breakthrough in popular music.

“...Baby One More Time” was like a perfect storm in the music industry. Spears hit pop culture with the right marketing at the right time with the right song. It is very plausible that she could have crashed and burned with her ambitions for fame at age 17.

Spears was able to gain popularity through her looks and sex appeal. The foundation of her rise to popularity was based on how she presented her body. To this day, we look at Spears first before we listen to what she says or watch what she does.

Spears is the face of a marketing campaign created by executives, stylists and managers. As a modern-day Barbie doll, she is molded into representing what her overseers believed to be the perfect image of what a young woman should be. Once Spears signed her record contract, she lost her right to be an independent individual.

The age group of 17 to 25 is a vital time for a person’s individual development into adulthood. Spears did not receive the opportunity to develop her adult skills and is now paying the consequences.

Spears had a fast rise to fame and she could do no wrong to herself or the world for the first four years of her career. But, in 2002, when she ended her long-time relationship with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake, Spears’ lifestyle became the focal point of her stardom as opposed to her music.

It is no secret that Spears is an attention seeker whether she instigates it or not. But, attention is the last thing she needs in her life. She desperately needs the freedom of anonymity in order to work on the problems she is facing.

It is clear Spears does not desire the spotlight anymore. Whenever she is photographed or filmed, she is always wearing sunglasses and has a somber look on her face. She is tired of being surrounded by paparazzi, especially while working through personal struggles. I assume there are days when she wants to return to her life before stardom.

Also, her publicity campaign for her new album seems lackluster at best. She is hardly doing any promotion and she seems to have no enthusiasm for her project. It is a ho-hum affair.

These days, Spears is not only responsible for herself but she is also responsible for the welfare of her two children. So far, the courts have decided Federline to be the more fit parent and public opinion generally agrees. It is not that Spears is incapable of taking care of her children, but she is not even taking care of herself.

Ideally, the best medicine for Spears’ recovery is a six-month to a yearlong break away from the celebrity microscope. However, that is not a realistic solution because she is not given the lack of attention needed to make such a change. Whatever action she takes brings her increased attention from the media, the paparazzi and the public at large.

At the very least, she should put her professional life on hold and deal with her personal and legal issues before she completely ruins her ambition to better herself as a person, performer and mother.