One can only ask why talented people are so eager to throw their lives and success away, while the rest of us struggle unsuccessfully for a moment in the sun. Do they really think nothing can happen to them? Are they in some way expiating guilt for their success, which they believe, rightly or wrongly, to be undeserved?
Winehouse's slow and irreversible meltdown has been news for so long that I won't bother repeating it, and I'm not the slightest bit surprised that she's finally been found dead. However, the pity is that she had genuine talent - unlike some "famous" people I could name, people who have to keep getting in the news by any means possible in order to stay famous.
So, what will her legacy be like, after the initial publicity blitz? Will she be called a skank, or a troubled genius? Will her albums now earn more than they ever did while she was alive? And will anyone care?
The irony is, of course, that in future people might say that she would've achieved great things if only she'd lived, like they do about Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix. The truth is that she'd probably have been more like Elvis Presley; a caricature of her former self.
In that sense, she might have done herself a favour by drinking/drugging herself to death.
Winehouse's slow and irreversible meltdown has been news for so long that I won't bother repeating it, and I'm not the slightest bit surprised that she's finally been found dead. However, the pity is that she had genuine talent - unlike some "famous" people I could name, people who have to keep getting in the news by any means possible in order to stay famous.
So, what will her legacy be like, after the initial publicity blitz? Will she be called a skank, or a troubled genius? Will her albums now earn more than they ever did while she was alive? And will anyone care?
The irony is, of course, that in future people might say that she would've achieved great things if only she'd lived, like they do about Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix. The truth is that she'd probably have been more like Elvis Presley; a caricature of her former self.
In that sense, she might have done herself a favour by drinking/drugging herself to death.
When the doctors told her to go to rehab, she should have said, "Yes, yes, yes."
ReplyDeleteBill, you've hit the whole thing on the head - this was 150% predictable - and, had she lived, she would have been as I've also described Elvis - a bloated parody of himself from 1969 onward.
ReplyDeleteNever overstay your welcome.
(On the other hand, it's hard to feel sorry for the gal - she loved two things, at least from her behavior - singing; and drugs. She died doing something she loved. How many of us will be able to say the same?)
I've had a fair share of tortured creative souls in my life... mostly artists. Two, one my husband, died before the age of 30. Another, just recently, before reaching 40. All from substance abuse which plagued them all their lives.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've learned about creative people like these is that they do NOTHING in half measures. Extreme emotion is what fuels their muse... and it's these same extremes which eventually destroy them.
Amy Whinehouse always reminded me of Billy Holiday, and like Holiday, her music reflected the pain and hurt she carried all her life.
Her detractors were fond of ridiculing her. I've never judged her for anything other than the great music she produced... and that's how I'll always remember her.
I so agree with *MaliceinWonderland*.. It is very difficult to get yourself out of that kind of lifestyle, and since, everything of course is more boring after quitting a life of chemically induced happiness, addicts tend to go back.
ReplyDelete