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Eminentoes
Sympathy for the Revel
Will we ever stop sentimentalizing self-destructive boozers?
The headline from the morning paper read: “Amy Winehouse Dead: Why Did No One Help Her?”
I never heard Amy Winehouse perform, but I had certainly heard of Amy Winehouse. Her name was part of the incessant pop cultural din that makes up the raucous soundtrack of our daily lives. She was, for a time, ubiquitous on the Web, on the television tabloid shows, and in the celebrity magazines one idly thumbs through while waiting to get a tooth pulled — often a considerably less painful experience than reading the magazine.
Unlike her countless fans, I found it impossible to get worked up over the self-inflicted demise of someone I knew of only from tabloid photographs — snapshots that featured a gaunt, sluttishly attired, heroin-chic young woman festooned with piercings and tattoos and usually falling down drunk. Nor did I long to place roses at the obligatory improvised shrine outside her London home, even though the Cult of Sentimentality demands we cloak her death as a terrible tragedy, instead of what it so obviously was — the consequence of a reckless and foolish existence.
For some years, “Wino” as she was often called in the media, was the responsible parent’s nightmare, celebrated more for her degenerate lifestyle than for her questionable musical talent. (Following her death, a TMZ poll asked if Ms. Winehouse would be remembered as a great singer or as a junkie. Seventy percent responded: junkie.) How to tell one’s daughters not to emulate the beehived diva when she was a rich and famous pop icon beloved by millions? To many girls, the message must have seemed clear: behave like a complete degenerate and you could be a beloved superstar. Her death, apparently from overdose at 27 (according to the Daily Mirror, friends claimed she died from a cocktail of alcohol and ecstasy), seemed to restore for a brief moment the natural order of things. Parents were now able to hold the late pop singer up as a cautionary tale to copy at one’s own peril.
BUT GETTING BACK to the headline, which reads like an indictment of her family, her friends, even her fans. Indeed, of every one but the person responsible for her death: Amy Winehouse. Why did no one help her? This is a bit like asking why no one “helped” daredevil and Jackass movie star Ryan Dunn. Dunn was reportedly drunk and speeding at 3 a.m. when he crashed his Porsche killing himself and a passenger. Winehouse expired following a weeks-long bender. Like Dunn, she died doing what she loved.
That’s not to say that no one tried to help. That is, when they weren’t making excuses for her, granting her victim status, or attributing her misbehavior to supernatural elements, like “her demons,” as though she were blameless as Linda Blair in The Exorcist. One “critic” decided it was the death of her beloved grandmother that sent Winehouse off on her last pills and booze binge. Winehouse’s father, for one, tried repeatedly to enroll his daughter into a rehabilitation center. But she was not interested. Apparently, she even wrote a hit song mocking his futile efforts:
They tried to make me go to rehab but I said ‘no, no, no’
Yes I’ve been black but when I come back you’ll know know know
I ain’t got the time and if my daddy thinks I’m fine
He’s tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go go go
Her opposition to rehabilitation or living a dull, drug-free existence was so well known it inspired a video game called “Amy Winehouse: Escape from Rehab.” (“Description: With a fistful of drugs and a dangerous beehive at her defense, Amy Winehouse is saying No, No, No to rehab!”)
As far as I can make out, Amy Winehouse had one or two hit songs. The rest of her celebrity derived from her outlandish and degenerate behavior. That decadent lifestyle was her golden goose. It kept her in the news and in the gossip magazines.
Should we bewail the fact that a gifted young woman squandered her life away? At the risk of being attacked for speaking ill of the dead, I think not. If Amy Winehouse had suffered from some chronic mental disorder and had chosen to cut her life short à la David Foster Wallace, it would be only natural to feel genuine sorrow and pity. But by all accounts Ms. Winehouse’s only affliction was hating boredom and enjoying drugs and booze too much.
Amy Winehouse had it all, but chose to live her life like a crack-addict from the ghetto. As my liberal friends say, we must respect her choice.
About the Author
Christopher Orlet writes from St. Louis.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (70) | Leave a comment
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Negro X| 8.4.11 @ 6:35AM
Why? Because Americans have learned to shun, personal resposibility and ethical behavior.
" Better to blame a thousand others , than to look at yourself in the mirror once"- Barrack Obama
LaneyB| 8.4.11 @ 6:59AM
When the spectacle becomes the attraction, the talent is superfluous.
Andrew B| 8.4.11 @ 7:31AM
Anyone who finds Amy Winehouse's lfe and death anything but a squalid mess has never dealt with addicts. There is nothing romantic about throwing one's life away on drugs and booze.
I lost two family members to addiction and all it adds up to is an unnecessary waste of life. I am sorry that Amy Winehouse chose to dig her own grave, but that's what addicts do.
Jennifer| 8.4.11 @ 1:10PM
A waste of life? Wow. You are really testing the hands of fate here, thinking you can determine which lives matter and which don't. Quite self-important of you to say such a thing.
Groad| 8.4.11 @ 9:10PM
In the end Winehouse's life did not matter to her drug sodden self. That's the point.
Rich D| 8.5.11 @ 12:47AM
Uh, that's not he said. Read it again. It is clear that she wasted her own life unnecessarily.
FlaJim| 8.6.11 @ 3:39PM
Reminds me of that stupid kid, Curt Cobain, who committed suicide in his late 20s about 20 years ago. I'd never heard of him either until then but the teenaged angst was pathetic.
Fortunately, I taught my last kid to enjoy Country music. All those guys do is get drunk and drive their Caddies into trees but live quite a while.
Clint| 8.4.11 @ 7:41AM
Yeah, & we lost Billy Beertrailer.
rendite| 8.4.11 @ 7:46AM
Yes, ultimately it is personal responsibility. She has no one else to blame. Particularly since she somehow made it to the age of 27.
But she had a lot of people assisting along the road to Hell.
How about those providing the first booze in her life? And the drugs? All the freeloaders at her parties? Maybe event publicists who told her "You gotta do this stuff to stay in the headlines, sell CDs." I'm sure she was into stuff we wouldn't find printed here. Will we ever go after her cocaine providers?
Some of her "assistants" include those who bought concert tickets just waiting to see her fumble on stage, forget lines, mess up, and even collapse. I was in London during one of these concerts. In the tabloids the next day people were openly letting themselves be quoted as being present at the concert and laughing hard, lampooning her as she collapsed during her stage performance. And, yes, they admitted buying the tickets, knowing this might occur, going in fact to see this very thing.
Strange, sad, depraved world we live in.
Occam's Tool| 8.5.11 @ 9:47PM
It is possible to involuntarily send someone to rehab in Britain. But there are a limited number of inpatient rehab centers in a Berwick designed NHS. In addition, here are some points against:
1) She was high functioning as an international celebrity.
2) Private Centers don't take involuntary patients (why should they---they best have lines and waiting lists).
3) Her parents probably didn't go for the Guardianship maneuver, because that would have been defeated by point 1. Keep in mind Amy didn't try to commit suicide a la Britney Spears.
4) Who really gives a flip?
bennyhavens| 8.4.11 @ 7:51AM
The celebration of freaks. This is what our society has turned into.
David W| 8.4.11 @ 8:31AM
I really could care less. After all, why should we care what she does in the privacy of her bedroom, or bathroom, or living room, or a bathroom stall someplace, or in an alley, or back stage or ......
Dee| 8.4.11 @ 9:05AM
Amy Winehouse had more than just two hits; both "Frank" and "Back to Black" contained a collection of great songs, and behind all of the drama, she had such a beautiful voice. Furthermore, with regards to her life ending so suddenly, someone from her inner circle should have stopped saying "yes, yes" to her and instead started saying "no, no" to her. They should have given her ultimatums to force her to stay in Rehab much longer. It ddn't have to go down the way that it did....so sad..."Gone to Soon."
dc| 8.4.11 @ 9:20AM
I dimly recall hearing some garbage music playing at a party a few years ago, which both I and my brother (15 years younger) were attending, and asking him, "what is this crap?" He responded, "I think it's Amy Winehouse." I said, "Who?" He responded: "Some English drug addicted whore who everyone thinks is hip and edgy." Enough said, I never asked again, nor did I ever (as far as I know) hear another song of hers again. My life has not been impoverished by this lack of exposure to what was, empirically (and well said by Orlet) a pathetic, wasteful, stupid, indulgent life, the sort sustainable only in the modern Western world, within and feeding off of a "culture" that is rotten to the core. And destined to be conquered--whether by its own suicide or by external forces that it is powerless to resist.
I shed no tears and care less than zero (which, by the way, is a pretty good movie reference for this dumb addict's sorry life) for this bedazzled slut's existence, life's "work," or death. It's a symptom of a much larger and more corrosive disease eating out the viscerals of what used to be Western culture. That's all.
jim| 8.6.11 @ 7:27PM
....eating out the viscera (it's a plural noun) of what used to be Western culture.
Nina| 8.4.11 @ 10:40AM
Because drug addicts don't care, care, care. I've had to deal with a few in my time and I've offered help multiple times and still have the door open but they refuse and deny they have a problem, saying they can do it themselves. I've had to shut the door so to speak by staying out of it (pretending there is no problem, giving money, etc) and hoping that it doesn't escalate to a point of no return. They know I'm here for them, but they think that a life without drugs is boring and can't imagine what it would be like. I see their friends who are obviously addicts themselves (you can tell), scruffy, not very clean, rotten teeth, etc), lost old friends who are not addicts, somehow have lowered themselves to the "ghetto" type language and thoughts (cool and hip?). When I suggested a 15 yo son be drug tested, she/he was insulted and refused to have such a thing done...so where do they get it from? I know one particular person who had a normal life, grew up in a good home, had plenty of opportunities to excel but fell into this drug addict life and refuses to deal with it. Refuses to deal with the real reasons why she/he does what she/he does, perhaps some past trauma that I have/had no idea about. At some point, you just have to back off and let them deal with it on their own, or not deal as the case may be. Unfortunately, it may result in their death. Believe me, I've tried very hard. And unless they decide they've had enough, decide to get away from ALL triggers ie streets, friends, any trigger points, they will not do it, or even a drug dealer boyfriend...it will not happen. I feel more for Winehouses' parents who lost their daughter than the loss of a "great singer and entertainer". She made her choices....
POST American| 8.4.11 @ 9:05AM
----YES, we might, one and all, STOP
sentimentalizing etc., that is if we ever got Stanford
Research, the Rockefeller Foundation and
Tavistsock Institute prosecuted,
behind bars,and on death row for relentlessly and
deliberately engineering 'EUGENICS friendly'
cultural subversion and degradation
--since their kickoff in the 1920's.
Tina B| 8.4.11 @ 9:25AM
Wow, P A, that was a short one. Congratulations.
About Amy. There but for the grace of God go I.
I have seasons in my life that I cannot fathom participating in. Involving alcohol, drugs, promiscuity, just not the same ones, or to the same extent that AW did.
I believe I survived due to the constant prayer of my parents. Mom and Dad were true believers who got onto their knees every night and lifted me up to the Lord. I know this because I saw this.
If it were left strictly up to me, I'd have gone the way of Amy. I certainly took some terrible chances. My heros, in SoCal in the 60s, were Marilyn Monroe and Janis Joplin, and their ilk. My desires to be beautiful, popular and sexy led to me skirting the edges of decency for more than half my life.
My parents prayed for me until they died. And I thank God for that daily. I made it! Satan lost this woman, and my family is now reaping the benefits of this as I pray for them constantly too.
Pelligrino| 8.5.11 @ 1:50AM
"Therefore acknowledge to one another your sins, and pray for each other, that you be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man is worth much." The book of James, chapter 5, verse 16.
Thanks, Tina. You've shared your testimony here before, and I think that it is powerful. I, too, am very glad that you had praying parents who never gave up.
Did Amy W.? Who was in prayer for her?
Maybe each of us should think about who we know -- in the acquaintances and friends or neighbors God places in our path -- for whom should we be praying? Encouraging? Trying to steer away from Hell?
It is, of course, utopian to think that Amy Winehouse will be the last to be lost this way to Satan.
But we need to fight so Satan loses.
Who is God laying on our/your heart? Who can/should you talk to?
Bob Grant| 8.4.11 @ 9:29AM
I knew nothing about her. I'm guessing her family is grieving.
Her death, in my opinion, should be discussed and dissected by the people around her and no one else.
R.I.P. It's in God's hands now.
Skylar| 8.4.11 @ 10:31AM
It's one thing to question the wisdom of Amy Winehouse's choices, to criticize her squalid lifestyle and deplore her degenerate public image. That is all perfectly legitimate. But having done so, don't be so smug as to think you've done away with the significance of her life and her "questionable talent" as you so condescendingly put it.
Her breakthrough record "Back to Black" is one of the top 20 selling albums of all time, and the number 1 purchased cd on Amazon.com. Both of these feats were achieved on the strength of the music alone, and occured before her sad, drug-induced decline was so sensationalized by the media.
No less a dignified and respectable authority than Tony Bennett--who worked with Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington, among others-- declared her an excellent jazz singer. After working with a slew of modern performers recently on a duets album-- including Celine Dion-- he called Winehouse the best singer of the bunch.
So a majority in a poll concluded that she would be remembered more as an addict than a singer. So what? Is that her fault? Yes and no. She chose to begin taking drugs and drinking excessively, and played up to the defiant image put forward in her song "Rehab".
But at the same time, she was hounded by photographers who turned every trip to the corner grocery store into a worldwide media event. And they were there to gleefully document every second as she overdosed on drugs or stood crying in the street after a fight with her abusive husband, and the public hungrily ate it up.
In the end, your curt and almost bitter dismissal of the life of Amy Winehouse reads like a retread of Andy Rooney's comments on the suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994. He also admitted to being unfamiliar with Cobain's music, as you do about Winehouse, yet still somehow felt equal to the task of evaluating his significance and setting straight a grieving public.
After all, how could millions of young people feel any pity for a wealthy junkie who gave in to despair when he wasn't facing REAL suffering like a Great War or Great Depression?
The death of Amy Winehouse seems to split people evenly into two camps: Those who deify her as an innocent angel destroyed by the pressures of fame and the ravages of her "demons", and those who sneer and seem almost pleased with her death. "You flaunted your wild lifestyle", they seem to say, "and look where it got you. Another spoiled drug addict who threw everything away. I know I certainly wouldn't be so ungrateful in your position".
Well I don't belong to either extreme, but if given the choice I'll side with the former any day. Like Cobain, Amy Winehouse probably was all those things: self-indulgent, spoiled, drawn to fame and adulation while being simultaneously by their fruits. But she was also a daughter, a sister and a wife. A beautiful young woman with an incredible talent for singing and songwriting, who was driven and tortured by some deep pain we may never understand.
Ultimately she is responsible for her own demise, and probably no one could have saved her. Her family seems to have done all they could. Yet when a talented 27 year old dies heartbroken and alone, I can't help but shudder at the callous cruelty of people who seem to say "good riddance".
In the end a reckless drug addict died by her own hand, but her story isn't unique. Addiction is epidemic in our society, and any sensible person, conservative or liberal, should be able to see that indifference and contempt is not the solution.
When her death was first announced, everyone jumped at the chance to be the first one to sum things up properly. Some saw it as the sad result of how we treat celebrities, others as the natural outcome of her out of control partying.
One "death pool" website even awarded a contestant a cash prize who correctly predicted the date of her death as far back as 2008. But in a situation like this there are no winners.
In this information age of celebrity, everyone is a critic. Glutted with media overload, we consume tsunamis and school shootings, reality shows, breast implants, suicides and drug overdoses. And we are all poised at the ready to cynically offer a clever quip to wrap the raw, brutal reality in a neat little package and set it aside.
But I think more than anything we need to set aside the need to be right. We need to treat the memory of Amy Winehouse and others like her with something she got so little of in life: compassion. And love.
Seek| 8.4.11 @ 11:23AM
I couldn't have said this any better. Inasmuch as Amy Winehouse was not heroic, she wasn't a villain either. She should be mourned for the possibilities that never will be realized. She was sad, but not bad.
I am stunned at the lack of Christian charity on this webiste.
Pelligrino| 8.5.11 @ 2:27AM
Seek, you and I cannot know her innermost life's details, but Amy is not a victim. Maybe at times. But she was a doer and chooser. Or did she always just "party" by her lonesome?
Are you going to tell me that she didn't personally ever introduce someone (for the very first time) to speed, heroin, coke, crack, or lots of hard, hard liquor? Maybe various assortments of all of the above along with risky/stupid sex?
Are you personally stepping in to find those she introduced to crack and help win them back to life?
Will we ever follow their life stories as they also spiral into death? (No, you don't know even who they are. But Amy knew them. She may very well have been the one inviting them on "her path.")
Like it or not, every athlete and musician that has posters and countless other paraphenelia made on them (that goes up on young peoples' bedroom walls) has not only a following but various levels of responsibility.
What Amy's been doing for the past 4-5 years pretty heavily has definitely directly impacted those (in negative ways) in her inner circle. How about those even a decade younger than she that would label themselves fans?
If her dad really did try to save her, how did she honor her parent(s)? Looks like perhaps she dissed him, right? Maybe the same to others in family or longer term (perhaps childhood) friends?
The Bible is real. It has immutable truths like "Honor thy father and mother..." Finish the rest of that, Seek. There is a really good, positive "up side' of that PROMISE FROM GOD that, if we fulfill it, means good things for us, the children.
Did Amy do this?
Has she aided in the even temporary (hopefully not permanent) descending into full scale addiction for any of her relatives?
No one wished this latest life chapter or any of the last 5 years' chapters on her. Nobody. Certainly no real Christian.
Part of being an adult is calling things just like they are. No whitewashing. Calling it straight. On all topics. The good, bad, stupid, deviant, and downright destructive. You need to be able to do that, Seek.
Love and compassion are often a huge, swift kick in the buttocks. Or a big (figurative or real) slap upside the head.
I need that kind of love from God or a brother in Christ at times. I surely do.
And love is passing on real life stories/lessons where we don't sugarcoat.
People here are saying 1) yes, it's sad, 2) but she, at [b]27 years old[b] was old enough to make these choices and have to live with the consequences, 3) she had people who reached out to her, 4) she voted "no" with her deeds, 5) bad decisions (particularly those repeated over & over) have real consequences. 6) nobody is Superman or Superwoman; injest enough poison, you will die. 7) is such a wasted life then praiseworthy?
So she wasted the life God graced her with. That is not lauditory. All of us have gifts given by God that we are required to use in His service. Yes, required. Amy had gifts. Her sin/ego/pride is what we call "original sin" and it always leads to death -- sooner or later. This has been the story of mankind since Adam and Eve.
So she won't be praised. BUT: Nobody revels in her demise. No Christian is glad that Satan won.
What we should be doing: Shining the light and lights on young women and men in their early 20's who are making terrific life choices, very mature and responsible ones. Ones who make differences and grace the people and communties around them.
The author is asking, "Why do we all wallow in these stories of those on the wrong paths and totally miss/ignore/chide/write-off those who have chosen much more glorious and worthy paths?" Isn't he? I ask this.
Vin| 8.4.11 @ 11:23AM
You beautifully articulated all of my thoughts. I've been so dumbfounded about all the venomous and ignorant comments from those who don't know her, who are unaware of her immense talent, and are completely clueless about the human condition.
jimmy| 8.4.11 @ 11:27AM
Skylar,
Very well put,
thank you!
Hobbes| 8.4.11 @ 11:41AM
"occured before her sad, drug-induced decline was so sensationalized by the media." Yeah, blame the media. Everyone but AW.
Stoddard| 8.4.11 @ 5:10PM
Well, lots of artists and creative types have their personal demons. We just have a parasitical media to speed things up, that's all.
carnot| 8.4.11 @ 10:22PM
yea...that's my mission in life for the limited time I have: to love every tortured artist who struggles with life's most basic challenge....living. we'll put aside the implicit "it someone else's fault" (she didn't receive enough compassion, love).
what a bunch of morally equivocating bunk. some lives deserve condemnation for the way they are lived. the choices that were made. the outcome of the choices. take your indulgent instincts some place else.
Jocon307 | 8.4.11 @ 10:57PM
Thank you for bringing a little perspective here.
I'm not a huge Amy Winehouse fan, but she did have a unique talent and it is tragic that the world will have no more singing from her.
It is also very sad that she died of her raging addictions at such a young age.
I can not even begin to imagine how her parents feel.
I rather disapprove of these condemnatory articles written after a person's death. Why not condemn Amy Winehouse, or whoever, when they are alive? When (you never know, stranger things have happened) it might do them some good; or at least when they can stick up for themselves; or tell you to buzz off, or whatever.
Articles like these always seem like just piling on.
Skylar| 8.4.11 @ 10:38AM
The incomplete sentence above should read: "drawn to fame and adulation while being simultaneously repelled by their fruits."
Puprle Lips| 8.4.11 @ 10:48AM
Perhaps Amy Winehouse's fellow member of the 27 Club, Kurt Cobain understood the truth more than most:
I'm worst at what I do best
And for this little gift I feel blessed
Our little tribe has always been
And always will until the end....
....With the lights out it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us...
carnot| 8.4.11 @ 10:27PM
stop it! I'm near tears in sympathy for "sensitive" artists who can't carry the pail of their own existence.
kristen| 8.4.11 @ 10:39AM
As I understand that everyone has a different opinion on situations, I have to say that reading some of the comments here were quite sad. Being an addict does not equal being a "junkie whore" in my opinion. I feel it is a sad disease that ruins lives, not a moral question. The lifestyle can and does lead people to do horrible acts, but attacking the person, especially a life that is gone is just too easy. I do hope that no one on here who is so quick to judge has a family memeber whom they love affected by addiction. It can and does happen to anyone...maybe even YOU....!
Puprle Lips| 8.4.11 @ 10:44AM
The intellectual elites and wealthy bourgeosie have always tolerated the excesses of bohemia. That is, as long as they were entertaining. Voltaire was wickedly funny to many (that is, until his followers took to the streets in Paris and discovered the joys of the guillotine). The English upper class knew about Oscar Wilde's homosexuality, but loved his biting wit and flamboyancy. But once his sexual preferences became public, he was imprisoned and later exiled(but, he did have a deathbed conversion. Rome, it turned out was his only friend). And then there was that cynic genius posseur, Bertolt Brecht. He played both sides of the aisle like fools. But he was too shrewd to get hooked on smack or booze. The early jazz and blues scene was nothing but debrauchery. These 2 genres the took social pathologies of the black underclass and gave them respectability. It was no coincidence that during this period, Hemingway created the myth that all authors must be all be drunken wife-beaters. And the elite loved both!! The myth of the Suffering Artist full of "personal demons" became mainstream. We expect our artists to be degenerates. Even that narrow genre known as "Christian Rock" is full of drunks, serial adulterers, and wierdos. Thier Sin is thier "art". They celebrate themselves!
"Oh Great unwashed masses, behold another Freak!" For every Amy Winehouse who dies there are a dozen more - and they're all willing to take up her space in line. Winehouse is a victim. But her victimhood has nothing to do with her inner demons. She is a victim of sub-strata of celebritism that cheers her on with every needle mark, with every swig of Wild Turkey, with every tatoo. To watch a once decent talent decay into official Medicated Slutdom has become a cottage industry.
carnot| 8.4.11 @ 10:33PM
so...once again...it's society's fault? she's a victim? she's too stupid to make her own choices? fame is so alluring she can't shape her own value system? so all the external symbols of her life scream revolt against conventions, but the driving force is conformity to a celebrity meme?
while I enjoy your cynical insights....in the end....she still had a choice. we all do. and many of us....many artists.....assume personal responsibility....make different choices.
Hobbes| 8.4.11 @ 10:45AM
Exactly the kind of sentamental tripe, Kristen, that has led us to the mess we are in. Maybe not a whore, because she was rich (had she not been rich, there's a good chance she would have been a whore.) And junkie, yes. Definitely. We attack the person because it is a matter of personal responsibility.
carnot| 8.4.11 @ 10:34PM
there ya go!!!!
Denise| 8.4.11 @ 11:26AM
One or two hit songs?!? The woman was a savant. She won 6 grammys with Back to Black -- which was released when she was only about 23. She wrote her own songs and her style was very original. Her prior album, Frank, was only released in the UK and it went platinum. It was released when she was only about 20.
She was a style icon and infleunced many designers. Many editorial photo spreads in top fashion magazines captured her style and likeness.
She said many times that she never intended to be a star -- she saw herself as a musician. She was a fragile soul who couldn't deal with heartbreak and fame.
Her songs were genuine and autobiographical. She is probably the most honest person the media has seen in a long time.
Brubaker| 8.4.11 @ 6:23PM
"She won 6 grammys with Back to Black -- which was released when she was only about 23."
Right. And at 27 she's dead. She was a drug addicted drunk who paid the altogether predictable price. Don't try to make her sound like someone who should be emulated.
Occam's Tool| 8.5.11 @ 9:56PM
You know, maybe I'm old fashioned and all, but I remember reading about a time when there was an international celebrity who, when he boarded a plane, was instantly upgraded to First Class for free; when he made hotel reservations, he was instantly upgraded to the Penthouse, for Free; who had international adulation and who really had accomplished something other than selling records. His greatest accomplishment he did not patent, but made available as a gift to Mankind.
Like Winehouse, he was Jewish; unlike Winehouse, he lived to be quite old; unlike Winehouse, he did something earthshattering and worthy of eternal acclaim; unlike Winehouse, no one talks about him, and our unlettered young people have forgotten him, although they live in a world he benefitted and continues to benefit, every day.
Can you guess who he was? Answer in a different post.
matthew s harrison| 8.4.11 @ 11:55AM
I just feel sorry for myself, that even outlets like Spectator, talk about these losers who throw it all away on booze and drugs. My heart, as always, pumps piss for retards who destroy themselves with substances. It is too bad God gives talent to these idiots, just so they can piss it away. I am hopeful though, that you all in the media, whichever media you use, forget about Winehouse as soon as possible, as every time I hear her name, I throw up a little in my mouth- and eventually that is going to damage the enamel on my perfect teeth!
Get past the losers Spectator-they mean nothing. They are partially responsible for the degradation of our society.
Bob Grant| 8.4.11 @ 12:00PM
"I am hopeful though, that you all in the media, whichever media you use, forget about Winehouse as soon as possible, as every time I hear her name, I throw up a little in my mouth- and eventually that is going to damage the enamel on my perfect teeth!"
Perfect 10 on the snark meter ...:-)
Julia| 8.4.11 @ 12:14PM
It's true that you reap what you sew, but that doesn't excuse the callous dismissal of another person's death. Amy Winehouse was a troubled woman, and yes, resorting to drugs to cope was a bad decision. But it's unfair to condemn her when none of us here knew her personally; really, only her family has a right to comment on her merit as a person. This article was a prime example of the condescending, self righteous attitude of the media, and reading it honestly appalled me. Especially since Mr. Orlet admitted he wasn't overly familiar with her music, but labeled it second rate crap anyway because of her lifestyle.
Regardless of the fact that Ms. Winehouse's death was "of her own making", that doesn't make it any less traumatic for those close to her or those who admired her music. We shouldn't compound the situation by smearing her character.
A smeared character?| 8.5.11 @ 3:04AM
Julia, using your words: Her character, Amy's character. Her character... was (resulted in) a "death of her own making."
Let's be frank and be honest: This kind of end does not reveal or display good character. Try as one might, when describing Amy and placing a descriptive word in front of "character," the adjectives -- when speaking truthfully -- will not be praiseworthy.
And, if you admired her, her music, or both, just what exactly did you personally do going all the way back to year 2006 (60-66 months ago -- enough time to avert this) to get her back on the right side of life?
In 2006 you had to know.
In early 2007, you knew. You knew way too much.
So...what did you do?
What did those close to her do?
And YOU ALL knew the train wreck was coming. You could see it 10,000 miles away.
The destruction was predicted. Amy's OD end was considered a foregone conclusion.
So what did you do?
Answer: Zip.
So do not talk of "traumatic."
Franco| 8.4.11 @ 12:51PM
I feel almost the same way about AW that I did when it was reported that lead singer Kevin Dubrow of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot was found dead in his apartment of an apparrent overdose. To the latter, I thought, "Aw, crap! Why????"
Now, I've never heard AW's stuff and won't lose any sleep over her willfully chosen self-destruction. I had no connection with her through her music. Best to leave it at that.
Jim G.| 8.4.11 @ 1:05PM
What the dingbat followers of Ms. Winehouse choose to do after her death is their foolishness. And for those who criticize Ms. Winehouse, remember that 26 + years ago, she was a bright, new, beautiful baby, whose parents were thrilled to have. Ms. Winehouse's death, her fault or not, is sad, and while one needn't be a fan, human decency requires that we see this as a tragedy, even if was all Ms. Winehouse's doing. God bless.
Hobbes| 8.4.11 @ 1:12PM
You can say the same about Jesse James. His momma loved him and he was a brand new baby once, one that his momma was thrilled to have. Was his death sad too? Does human decency require we see his death as a tragedy too? Sentimental claptrap.
Seek| 8.4.11 @ 2:06PM
Jesse James killed many people. Amy Winehouse killed only herself, whether intentionally or not. No basis for comparison.
carnot| 8.4.11 @ 10:42PM
not the point being made. the point is that how one lives his/her life...including what is basically the equivalent of suicide....is subject for judgement. actions have moral properties.
Pelligrino| 8.5.11 @ 3:51AM
Yes, thanks for your "putting us back on azimuth" posts in this thread, carnot.
How we live our lives (especially when no one is looking) is the measure of a person. This is the essence of human character.
How we use our talents, time, and money. Who do we help along the way. What we do when at our best -- acts of selflessness.
Does anyone ever add up the amount of money litteraly perhaps? "blown" by these personalities on drugs, booze, pills, treatment centers and then the next cycle just 2-3 months later?
Does a person of good character just triffle this kind of money away on depravities?
Jim G. you wrote: Her death "her fault or not...." Is there really any doubt? She didn't die of some form of cancer. And then you write that "human decency requires that we see this as a tragedy."
Oh? Tragedy?
You're off azimuth. Lessee, deaths and tragedies: That would be like the 8 year old boy in NYC. And the 11 year old girl in New England. And the 29 year old Virginia woman shot dead last weekend while visiting family in New Jersey. Or the two USAF airmen gunned down at the Frankfurt, Germany airport just four months ago (both significantly younger than Ms. Winehouse). Or a person in your hometown dying right now of diseases we just cannot know are coming -- like leukemia.
Jim, surely you recognize the differences?
Jennifer| 8.4.11 @ 1:08PM
There is such an affliction as feeling too deeply. You can refuse it if you want, Mr. Orlet, if you find it sappy or lame - but it's true. Some people feel the "normal" reactions to things but it's magnified a thousand times. You might call them "over-reactors" or "melodramatic" but it's not as though they enjoy being this way. It's just the way they are.
Amy Winehouse had this affliction her whole life, and who knows where it stemmed from? Maybe an attention-seeking phase as a child (during her parent's divorce) grew alongside her and never came to a halt. Although, it didn't for you either, since your opinion is so important it must be seen in writing. Right?
Look more closely. Watch more of her interviews. Listen to a conversation between she & a friend, where the friend says, "I've been in love before," and Amy says, "No you haven't - or you'd be dying because you're not together anymore." This is how Amy felt about love, and she never got enough of it.
You might think of it as selfish - but think of the person you love the most in your life, and imagine really hard (MEDITATE on it, if you need to) that they do not want anything to do with you anymore. No matter what you try. You are nothing to them.
Get it?
This girl took her magnified feelings and wrote them down and sang them in a voice so unique, so on-key, so in-tune. She had a true talent, and a true affliction. Not drugs - love. Drugs she just used to try to mask the pain of not having the love she was searching for.
Jennifer| 8.4.11 @ 1:16PM
ALSO - "Rehab" is not about her father making her go to rehab. It's about the record company and management trying to make her go. If you would listen to the lyrics (as I would think you already did, since you think you're an expert on the subject), you'd hear she says "I ain't got the time, and if my Daddy thinks I'm fine - just try to make me go to rehab, I won't go, go, go."
Also, she spoke about this in many interviews. Ugh. Do your homework.
Puprle Lips| 8.4.11 @ 2:00PM
Jennifer,
Do her fans mourn her passing, or the loss of her talents? If AW was a 27 year old hairdresser instead of an "artist" would anyone really care outside of her immediate family?
Self destructive behavior amongst a good cross-section of our celebdom is now so common that an entertainer sticks out if she does not shoot up smack, bing drink, or go skank.
And are the "personal demons" these entertainers possess really so deep and so all encompassing that once the have "made it" they must then go on a 2 year bender? I've known a few young men and women in my lifetime that expierenced things that would have shocked the likes of a Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, or Amy Winehouse. And yet, none of them turned to blow or the bottle.
Winehouse and Cobain could have turned thier backs on thier stardom, thier fame, and thier money. If thier "art" was really that destructive to them they had the choice of leaving it all behind. But, I think we all know that would have been impossible.
carnot| 8.4.11 @ 10:44PM
here we agree!!!! nice response.
Occam's Tool| 8.5.11 @ 9:58PM
Jennifer,
Rehab is a very catchy song. And if she had gone to rehab, she might not be dead, dead, dead---particularly as alcohol withdrawal is fairly easy to treat, treat, treat.
The great man above who everyone has forgotten is Jonas Salk, and the disease he eliminated was Polio.
Bill| 8.4.11 @ 3:57PM
I find it somehow fitting and comforting that after only a couple of weeks since Winehouse's death, this commentary seems dated.
Let's move on to the next celebrity whose devotion to excess kills him.
Delta Zelda| 8.4.11 @ 4:47PM
The death of an addict means freedom for the family and friends. They no longer terrified they'll get a phone call the addict is dead. They can get on with the rest of their lives without the millstone around their lives. I've been there.
Pelligrino| 8.5.11 @ 3:26AM
Thanks, DZ. Why is this aspect never illuminated?
The family members who try, try, try, try and show remarkable resilience and courage -- yet get nothing but slaps, setbacks, bottoming out, discord, failed promises, rage, time lost and bills. Sometimes massive bills to pay.
How many people have to try to live like this for even decades while in some strange miraculous way the no good drunkard husband and father's liver or heart hasn't yet failed, while he torments the family and jeopardizes its future?
The addict is not a victim. The addict is the perp.
POST American| 8.4.11 @ 11:14PM
--------------------BOTTOM LINE----------------------
Check this out!
That series of interviews on Youtube with former MI6 John C Coleman about the Tavistock sourced
FRAUD that is 'POP' culture ---was suddenly censored off the server.
---Likewise the Wiki on 19th century Freemason
and original American Arminian heretic tent show operator, Charles Finney.
Sure sign of TRUTH on the move!
Bill| 8.5.11 @ 9:22AM
Those dang Tavistock Institutionaries, they're EVERYWHERE!
Robin Kavanagh| 8.4.11 @ 11:26PM
This person is in no way deserving of any form of reverence, regardless of the fact that they have recently exited this earthly domain. What they represented was a totality of decadence and self-serving neglect that demands, now, only to be forgotten, deliberately. Soft touch after the fact calls for compassion from Gagas and Kelly Osbournes is their attempt to remove any blame from the foot of the Winehouse coffin (exactly where it belongs) and place it at either the media or chillingly at, our feet. They are the worst mourners at any funeral as they with one eye drop a tear while the other stares accusingly at everyone else as possible cause for the event itself.
The Ghost Of Michael O'Donoghu| 8.5.11 @ 8:48AM
Elvis Costello said it best, in a mid 80's interview when he'd finally stopped drinking and using other "substances." "Bleep that Brendan Behan romantizing of Death. Someone in your family will have to bury you."
RealPatriotDave| 8.5.11 @ 11:18AM
And here I thought this was about GW Bush - nevermind...
reads1| 8.5.11 @ 11:28AM
The day the Beatles crossed the Atlantic and showed up on Ed Sullivans show was the day MUSIC in America began to die. Its demise was furthered by SOME of Elvis's more degenerate performances, and others following in his footsteps. Now, all the truly talented singers and musicians are gone and are replaced with juvenile voices, backed by a cacaphony of noise designed to cover up their lack of musical ability! Even the traditional American made Country music field has deteriorated into a string banging, caterwauling noise proceeding from unintelligable gibberish. Music recovered slightly with the sad death of Amy Winehouse.
reads1| 8.5.11 @ 11:32AM
Is LL next?
Ginger| 8.5.11 @ 11:46AM
I feel sorry for Amy's parents & family, but I have no sympathy for this kind of behaviour. Amy had everything her fame & fortune could buy her & still she insisted on throwing her life away. What a LOSER!
Ginger| 8.5.11 @ 11:46AM
I feel sorry for Amy's parents & family, but I have no sympathy for this kind of behaviour. Amy had everything her fame & fortune could buy her & still she insisted on throwing her life away. What a LOSER!
Bill| 8.5.11 @ 1:55PM
Why did no one help Amy Winehouse?
'Cause when they told her to go to rehab, she said no, no, no.
Ghost Of Michael O'Donoghue| 8.5.11 @ 6:39PM
Hearing about the Winehouse death brings another quote to mind, when Norm MacDonald was asked if he was surprised that his Saturday Night co-star Chris Farley had died, Norm paused for a second, and simply said, "No."
POST American| 8.5.11 @ 11:37PM
-----Summer READING & VIEWING LIST-----
ALAN WATT 'The Long History of EUGENICS'
'The Culture Creation Industry'
CBC documentaries 'SIN CITIES' and
'Hollywoodism'
John C. Coleman 'Tavistock Interview'
5 pts
(just censored by Youtube)
Theodor Adorno 'The Culture Industry'
(volume)
Aldous Huxley 'Brave New World revisited'
(volume)
ALEX JONES/ Freeman interviews
(6 pts)
ALEX JONES/ ALAN WATT (interviews)
William Still 'The Money Masters'
(required viewing ---indeed, multiple viewings)
'The Arthushastra' -Ancient Hindu treatise on
management, EUGENICS and social control.
------Bible of the Globalists------
HAVE A NICE SUMMER!