Riaan C wrote
I agree that - dodgy material aside - she was an immensely talented vocalist. Many called her The Voice for that reason.
I'm so ambivalent about the drug angle though. My intuitive response is to agree with Warren and say one has to condemn the stupidity and self-destruction. But I also knew a musician who may well be the most talented musician I have ever seen with my own eyes, and watched him struggle with crack in a desperate way. This guy was at the same time one of the most literate, intelligent and gentle people you could ever meet. So he certainly had the intellect to understand the futility of the situation. So I'm open to what was said in the article that Bob linked - that if you're silly enough to do it a few times it probably does alter your physiology in a way that makes it almost impossible to stop. This relates to crack and meth (these super-dopamine emulators) perhaps in a way other drugs dont. And those who do stop, probably do it through learning skills that can 're-wire' the brain through sheer mental determination - or perhaps just even grace and faith (in whatever roots that person's fundamental will to remain in the world). As this guy I speak of did.
I don't know what made it possible for him to stop - never had the guts to ask. But he was clean when he died of an unrelated cause. But had he lived longer, would he ever have relapsed? I think the only thing I know with any certainty about hard drugs (never having taken it in my life), is that I don't know enough about it to judge those who succumb to it. But then there also is a fine line that distinguishes judgment and a genuine desire to encourage others not to follow a bad example. So I'm not against people using Whitney, Amy etc to make a point as a cautionary tale to influential kids, etc. But I become uncomfortable when its mere condemnation from some moral perspective, etc.
I think my big problem is that often, especially in these high-profile cases, we only see the effects of drug abuse on the abuser in question. But in reality there are massive repercussions for anybody attached to that person; for any family or friends, the effects are often equally devastating. Destroying only yourself is one thing, but how often is it that simple?
I've known more than one drug addict in my life, and on all occasions the consequences were devastating for people other than just the addict. This doesn't mean I don't feel pity or can't empathise with people in such dire situations, because I know it's also not just a case of "giving it up." It's currently believed that predisposition to addiction is heavily genetically determined, so some of us are indeed just luckier than others, and will never really be able to understand why others couldn't cope where we might have.
But we live in a world where drug education is pretty poor (at least when I was growing up). In pop culture, addicts are depicted as "junkies" and "misfits" and "outcasts". Like, if you take drugs, you are going to become
this undesirable thing. It's very difficult to relate to. Whereas the reality is that you might try something when you're out with some mates one night, which becomes something of a habit, which might very well become a fully-blown addiction. And of course, for most people it doesn't. Most people don't become alcoholics after one beer, much less drug abusers after one joint. But you might be a regular dad with a ton of responsibilities, growing expenses, shrinking bank account, expanding waistline, receding hairline etc. So you have a drink whenever you get home from work to take the edge off, and before very long that one beer doesn't help all that much anymore and you start creating a problem. Just by way of example. Does that mean people shouldn't have a drink in the evenings? Of course not.
But it all starts somewhere, and at some point I think it's as important to condemn drug/alcohol abuse as much as advocate positive behaviour. Strong coping mechanisms and good support structures are a great start, and those are things that I'm not sure are always top priority in the entertainment world. All the focus is on making it "big", but not much thought is giving to the life you're going to live
after that happens. It's like all the movies that end with a wedding (or a baby being born): what about all the stuff that you have to get right
afterwards? Those events are a beginning, but we have a culture of treating them as an end.
