“Time Bomb”, “Britney’s Insane” and “Britney’s Mental Illness” are the titles displayed on the covers of my favorite celebrity magazines this week. The legendary Miss Britney Spears is receiving the worst press to date, and yet she is more famous than ever. What is our obsession with watching talented celebrities act truly disturbing and pummel their lives straight into the ground?

Britney Spears is the prime example of a fallen star; where we love to build her up and then relish in her downfall. We focus on her because she mirrors our own fears of failing. You could compare our fixation with watching Britney’s demise to the Ancient Romans' fascination with the gladiators being fed to the lions.

Even respected media outlets are cashing in on Britney’s bizarre and dangerous behavior. “Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal,” Frank Baker, the Los Angeles assistant bureau chief for the Associated Press, wrote one week ago, days after Ms. Spears was released from the hospital where she had been admitted due to her mental breakdown.

There's no such thing as bad publicity. Right? As long as they spell your name right. Providing that you are getting magazine covers, and you're in the public eye it doesn't matter whether your you are showing off your private parts or being carried out of your Hollywood mansion and being placed into an ambulance wearing a straight jacket. Any publicity is good publicity. Right?