TOXIC TRUTH

There are many moments in Framing Britney Spears that are difficult to watch. One of the worst comes when The New York Times-led documentary–which details the brutal treatment the pop star received from the misogynistic entertainment industry of the 1990s and 2000s–replays an old episode of Family Feud. “Name something Britney Spears has lost in the last year,” demands the host, prompting sniggering answers from the contestants, including “Her husband!” and “Her hair!”–a reference to the moment a blank-eyed and clearly in pain Spears shaved her head in front of paparazzi in 2007. Then comes the response that garners the loudest howls of mirth and thundering applause: “Her mind!”

When the show aired in 2008, the clip didn’t cause a ripple. By this time, publicly mocking and deriding prominent women–Spears, Jessica Simpson, Whitney Houston, Monica Lewinsky, Anna Nicole Smith, Amy Winehouse and countless others–for everything from their sexuality and their supposed villainousness to their mental illness or addiction had been a central part of the cultural landscape for more than