Cue the celebrities on Twitter saying what a loss it was. Cue the people on Facebook crawling out of the woodwork and say that she's a great loss and how talented she was. God damn it, it even took all the focus from the horrific series of events in Norway yesterday so we could get showbiz reporters talk about her "heart of gold" and her "kindness".
I'm sorry, as 'talented' as she is, she doesn't deserve to be celebrated, especially not after what happened yesterday in Norway, where 92 innocent people died, 85 of which where innocent kids who had their lives ahead of them. Innocent kids who maybe could have changed the world. Innocent kids who could not have prevented their deaths. Amy Winehouse could have prevented her death, but she ignored the help that her family tried to give her so she could pursuit her drug habit. Look at the picture at the top of this post, is that a picture of a role model? Is that a picture of someone who deserves to be celebrated because she died?
At the start of this post, and when the news first broke of her 'untimely' death, the police said that her death is unexplained and her flat/house is now being treated as crime scene. Since then, according to Sky Sources, she died of a drug overdose. She contributed to her own death, whilst those 85 people in Norway couldn't stop their deaths from happening, and yet Winehouse will be the headlines of the Sunday tabloids? Is this the society we live in? Dead celebrities who pretty much killed themselves being celebrated whilst a country that lost 92 people are grieving?
Ladies and gentlemen, are living in a celebrity culture. RIP to those who lost their lives in Norway yesterday.
Sorry, Mitch but I must take issue with this piece. It reads like a bad Daily Mail column.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, do you not find it ironic that you've illustrated a piece condemning your perceived over-reaction to Amy Winehouse's death with a picture of, erm, Any Winehouse?
Secondly, and perhaps most disappointingly, you show a complete lack of understanding for the battle with addiction which we presume led to Amy Winehouse's premature death and therefore the nature of addiction itself. Bear in mind that this was a 27 year-old woman (she would've been in my year at school) who fought drug and alcohol addiction and, sadly, lost. When people are full-blown alcoholics, it's not a question of whether they do or don't want to drink, they HAVE to drink, they physically grow to depend on beer - if they stop drinking 'cold turkey', there's a good chance they'll die.
The fact that terrible atrocities happened elsewhere doesn't make this any less of a tragedy for her family and any real friends she may have had. If anyone who's lost someone through addiction reads this, how d'you think they'd feel?
The idea that she simply 'ignored' advice and help to pursue a drug addiction like one might ignore advice, say, not to watch a film is misguided and naive to the point of ignorance. So too is the idea that because she contributed to her own death, her life shouldn't be celebrated. Do by that logic we not celebrate the lives of Kurt Cobain, Marvin Gaye, Ernest Hemingway, Donny Hathaway, Elvis Presley, Tony Hancock, Keith Moon or anyone else who either fought substance addiction and/or depression? Do people who smoked and died of lung cancer not deserve celebrating for what they did in life? What about non-celebrity alcoholics or drug addicts or manic dperessives? Have you ever lived, worked with, or even met anyone who's actually addicted to something, be it a substance or a destructive habit?
You imply that because she's off her face in that picture you specifically chose that she's not a role model. I seem to remember a very Sid Vicious-esque pic of you. But I take it you don't celebrate his life either, being the talentless smackhead who contributed to his own death that he was? Sid, was genuinely amusical - he just looked cool (if you like that sort of thing). Whatever your musical taste (and I wasn't a big fan) Amy Winehouse was a very talented singer and writer. Yet sadly, like a lot of people whether in the media spotlight or not, she fell into the destructive spiral of drink and drug abuse for whatever reasons. Who knows what demons she fought?
Finally, I looked at the front of the papers today and I thought they were fairly even-handed, with most giving priority to the awful events in Norway, the BBC website has certainly had Miss Winehouse's death as its second story. I also noted that most of the comments on my Facebook yesterday were half-and-half Norway/Winehouse. As for celebrities on Twitter - did it not occur to you that they may have known Amy personally and so her death will have a more personal effect on them? If (God forbid) a friend or acquaintance of yours had died yesterday, you wouldn't have said 'But Norway's more important' would you?
The reason Amy Winehouse is/was a celebrity is that was initially famous for making good records. Remember she wrote her own material, and got off her arse and did something with her life (at the start anyway). The tragedy is that she was either too fragile or too naive to cope with the attention and wealth it bought (and the dark side of fame and fortune - the vultures, leeches and drugs) and went the way of so many talented young people before her.
Thank you for your response.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, after re-reading the blog myself, I have to agree with you regarding the bad Daily Mail comment. To be honest, I can't even give you an argument about the post, other than I did it due to a rash decision and it wasn't the first nor the last rash decision that I'll make.
However, with the addiction comment, I have known people, family friends, and family, some battled it and some haven't, but still it doesn't soften the fact that I wrote a shit, two-faced post in the first place.
She was talented, and due to my ignorance, I did miss the fact out that she will be missed by those close to her. She did get off her arse and do something, I'm guessing that she fell in to the wrong crowd, but that could have been as you said, due to being in the public eye.
But yet again, thank you for your response. It has made me realise how stupid of a post it was, and how ignorant that I was whilst throughout the post, it definitely wasn't my smartest moment. I would like for you to stick around on the blog, because criticism, opinions and responses are helpful to me.