re: Amy Winehouse Documentary

quote:

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t's impossible to know what would have happened without the sudden fame and celebrity, but I find it equally impossible to not think that her discomfort with many aspects of that brought some of those 'demons' to the forefront or at the least greatly increased their influence. When I watched the film it did not appear to me that her issues were nearly as pronounced before she rode the fame rocket. I cannot imagine what that experience must be like. I found myself actually feeling physically shocked by the when they would show her being hounded by paparazzi and all the camera flashes would go off. It was like she was being shot at.

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I agree with this. I think that the rapid onset of fame and money essentially fed her demons and she quickly -- I mean, really quickly -- spiraled past a point of no return. It accelerated her demise without question.

But what struck me was how much of a complete trainwreck she was even before she was famous. Hell, putting aside the fact that she was bulemic -- again, seriously great parenting Mr. and Mrs. Winehouse -- the girl was starting her days off with bottles of liquor in her late teens and early 20s when she was barely even regionally famous. I mean, it's impossible to say what might have come to be. Perhaps if she hadn't gone so far and so fast down the road she did then a 70 day trip to a treatment facility might have turned her life around for the better. But I think it's more likely that, in the absence of her fame, she would have just drank herself to death (slowly) rather than (quickly) killing herself with crack and heroin.

But at least in the proposed alternative she makes more music. And that last sentence may come across selfish or heartless, but I don't mean it that way. Girl had a freaking gift. Better off shared than cut short, right?