OPINION: What happens when you combine years of being stalked by the paparazzi, misogynistic treatment by media and unending public judgement?
Well, in the cases of Princess Diana, Caroline Flack, Peaches Geldof, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe and Paula Yates, it ends in the cruellest of tragedies.
After watching the Framing Britney Spears documentary, it appears we should be thanking our lucky stars each day that the singer does not share the fates of those women, who died much too young.
By nothing short of a miracle, she survived being exploited by the people around her and the media in a way that others did not.
In the New York Times documentary now available to New Zealand audiences, viewers are taken through a timeline that includes Spears' rise to fame as a child star before exploring pivotal moments throughout her life as a public figure.
The recently released film showcases a range of viewpoints of Spears' most publicised times, offering up facts and truth from behind the scenes - a refreshing stance when previously, so much of her life had been looked at with judgemental eyes and scrutiny.
Through simple but powerful interviews with those who know Spears personally and others who were a part of her life in some way, we are taught what the ramifications of heartless reporting and a society that thrives on scandal can have on the person at the centre of it.
The insightful look into the pop star's very public undoing expose the grim details around Spears' public persona and the conservatorship fueling the #FreeBritney movement.
There are uncomfortable moments a number of times throughout Framing Britney Spears, and the first comes within the opening minutes.
Seen on US TV show Star Search in 1992, an 11-year-old Britney Spears is asked by host Ed McMahon - then 70 - if she has a boyfriend, moments after complimenting her "pretty eyes".
"No sir," she says. "Why not?" he asks. "Because all men are mean," she says.
It is the first, but by a far cry not the last, look at the kind of flat-out bullshit Spears would go on to endure for the rest of her working career.
In many other snippets of interviews that are shown, there's a distinct callousness and lack of care by those responsible for asking her questions - but her often tearful reactions are genuinely heartbreaking.
"What did you do?" Diane Sawyer asks Spears, over her break-up with Justin Timberlake, before she starts to sob and asks to stop the interview.
As the documentary goes on we see a difference in demeanour - as if piece by piece, little bits of her are stolen away from the church-going choir girl from Mississippi who just wanted to sing and entertain.
Journalists sensationalising her every public breakdown during a messy divorce and custody battle are not the only ones now part of a group being called out in the wake of the movie's release. A spotlight is also being shone on the paparazzi, who continually disregarded her despite the obvious toll their pursuits took on her wellbeing.
Seeing Spears contemplate her options when asked in an interview what it would take for the paparazzi to leave her alone is a tough watch.
As a global audience tuned in to coverage of every perceived misstep, a young woman was dealing with emotional turmoil that only now is becoming glaringly obvious.
But can it really be all that surprising? Did we really not know or did we choose to believe the narrative that was being presented to us?
It's not entirely the media's fault - their content was being sold to an audience who bought into and demanded more peeks at her private life.
As stated in the documentary, magazine sales soared with the 'unposed' photos of Spears on nights out, making the readers of these outlets a part of the rotation perpetuating the feeding frenzy on her every move.
The documentary breaks down what could be called cancel culture in reverse.
Instead of a person acting ignorant or callous out of their own consciousness and being shamed for it, in reverse a person is intentionally pushed over the edge in front of a society that encourages and enjoys watching their downfall.
It was a vicious cycle, with Spears in the eye of the storm.
And what did we learn? Not too much, it would seem.
Amanda Bynes, Meghan Markle and Amber Heard are more recent victims of the addiction to gossip that seems to be just a click away - characters in stories that pull big numbers. The journalists who fuel public interest in their private lives are not hard to be found.
As reporters, we have a vital role to inform, yet some take an easy road at the expense of others to criticise, slam and entice outrage. It is work like Framing Britney Spears that will hopefully heighten calls to end news outlets making bank off the pain and suffering of celebrities.
Once cracks began to show in Spears' mental health, she was then robbed of basic rights an everyday person has through a conservatorship with her father, which acts as a barrier to personal, financial and professional freedom.
Today, we recognise that the public treatment of Spears was wrong and many are joining an army of #FreeBritney stans eager to help her regain a livelihood she was robbed of.
I'm yet to come across a single person who comes away from watching the Framing Britney documentary and doesn't feel an element of shock, guilt, remorse or anger.
Oh, Britney - how were we supposed to know?
Well, come to think of it… a simple check of our moral compass might have been a good start.
Fiona Connor is Newshub's Features Editor.
Framing Britney Spears is available to stream on Three Now.
