She's Just Like Us

With the passing of Etta James, music sites and entertainment sites have put up remembrances to honor her. All mention her hit songs like "At Last," "Tell Mama" and "All I Could Do Was Cry." They also mention the problem she had with drugs. It's that problem that helped to humanize her, to show people that she wasn't just some singing robot but a person with flaws.
Now that she's dead, people are tweeting non-stop about their memories of her and their favorite songs.
Before James died, though, another artist was blowing up Twitter: Britney Spears. In the last couple of days she's had 18 worldwide TTs. Britney's not dead, so why are people talking about her all of a sudden? It would seem that people just love her.
Like Etta James, Britney's had her share of problems. But, like the late singer, Britney's problems have shown her to be a human being: flawed, mistake-prone,and  foolish. People can relate to Britney. Whether it's drunken nights out, fighting, bad hookups, or feuding with the family, almost everyone has experienced their share of misery.
We can look back on our own mistakes and empathize with Britney. We know we've been there or, maybe, are still there. We know mistakes are just that, because we've had them. We know life is hard, that the right thing to do isn't always the most enjoyable, and that bad decisions can sometimes escalate.
Maybe we never attacked a paparazzi's car or shaved our head or used a tabloid website to send out cryptic messages, and we've certainly never done those things with the whole world watching, but what we have done is not so different. We've fought, made foolish spur-of-the-moment decisions with our physical appearance (late-night tattoos anyone), and definitely said or texted some really stupid things (seriously, who hasn't drunk texted someone).
This is why someone like Britney can have that "fall from grace" and still rebound and get back to that superstar level. We know what it's like to fall. It would be hypocritical of us to shun someone for behavior we've exhibited in our own lives. And for those who live the "Christian" life, you empathize with Britney because God says to love your fellow man and because you know we're all sinners and all sins are equal.
Britney asked today what she did to deserve all this love. I think the answer is simple: she showed herself to be human, to be like us. We like us and we like Britney, too.