Dear Peers:
Get your shit together.
Brad Renfro died of an overdose last week. He was 25. Amy Whinehouse got caught on camera smoking CRACK this week. She's 24. Heath Ledger died today. He was 28.
And we all know what Britney, Lindsay and Paris have been up to.
I hate to lump Heath in with the rest... he seemed to have his shit together, at least until recently. He seemed "normal". He was a gifted actor. He was a dad.
It makes me sad. I don't know these people, and the cynic in me questions why I even give a shit... But I'm 24. These are my peers. I probably won't ever meet them. I know that in every generation there are fuck-ups and idiots and tragedies. James Dean. Janis Joplin. River Phoenix. Kurt Cobain.
We all want to be remembered. I think Britney knows what happens to nice girls like Debbie Gibson: They end up on Broadway. And then we forget about them. Britney is essentially burning out so as not to fade away.
I'm sure people have always gone batshit... but now they're doing it for the cameras. Anna Nicole. Whitney Houston. Amy Whinehouse.
We debate who is "tortured" versus who is "pathetic". If you're tortured you're an artist. If you're pathetic. you're a pop tart.
Do you think Britney was hurt when she found out that the Associated Press had already prepared her obituary? She's 26, by the way. I don't know what to think. I shouldn't even have an opinion. I could give a shit about what Ms. Spears does. Thing is, I'm bombarded with news about her every day.
What's making them all go so crazy? Who do we blame? Is the internet making egos more fragile? Are fat pasty nerds who want pretty people to crash and burn actually being heard?
I do think that all of this is sick, though. I learned about Heath's death. I went to Defamer to figure out if it was a prank. It wasn't. A half hour later, I went back to Defamer. There were SIX posts about Heath. Video of the NYPD removing his body from his apartment building in SoHo.
So, Peers... let's say we take a nice long look at ourselves. Let's get off the drugs, stop being so fame-hungry, and take care of our children. Let's take some fucking responsibility. It may be a cliche to say so, but there are younger kids looking at us thinking the shit we're doing is cool.
I look at Britney and Paris and Lindsay and Amy and I think: Is this how I am supposed to be? Comatose in some club, malnourished with my twat on display? These girls are sick. It isn't funny. We need to stop laughing. We need to stop enabling them.
In fact, about a year ago, Craig Ferguson said it a lot better than I ever could:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Thanks for the clip. I liked when he said we are all accountable for our actions, sick or well.
I'm a bit upset with the media for starting the rumor that Heath's death was a drug overdose. According to the press, sleeping pills were on his bed. OK. Now, we're supposed to jump to the conclusions, and a talented individual with a child and family and friends has now been another tragic loss to drugs and depression.
Umm. I have to take the occasional sleeping pill, and I'm not an addict. We should wait for the autopsy. People confuse medications (I'm lucky today to be alive), or maybe he had a horrible headache and grabbed the bottle of sleeping pills and spilled them. A number of valid medical and non-glamorous reasons exist, and our society should give him and his family and friends the respect to hear what's what.
But, no, we want the truths and lies now, now, now. Our impatience augments the Britney hype, and I feel sad that some people obviously have little enough to do that they buy into this crap...and others are making a fortune from it.
I think your letter could be for every generation.
Personally I think if Heath's death wasn't caused by some sort of medical condition, it was suicide. I agree with you that everyone should leave the whole thing the fuck alone. I don't know how I would have coped had there been media involved in my friend's passing. There was, to an extent... but that was only in the form of tributes (a few friends worked for newspapers).
And yeah, this does happen every generation, but it seems to be happening so much faster. The media makes everything seem so... immidiate.
Well said, Sistah.
Heath had pneumonia. Partnered with a few sleeping pills, that is deadly. I'm still shocked that he's gone from this world. I couldn't give a fuck if Britney or Lindsey kicked it right now. They'd deserve it. Heath.... didn't.
Post a Comment