We were all given the sad news this past weekend about the passing of Whitney Houston. She was an extremely talented, beautiful but troubled lady. It is tragic that she has died at such a relatively young age, as the result of what, appears to be so far, prescription drug abuse/misuse. It’s too bad, it really is. But I gotta say that I am so sick and tired of hearing about it. If I have to hear one more Whitney tribute on what seems like every GD radio station in HRM, or see one more video hommage, I’m going to fucking snap!
Look, I’m not trying to downplay how sad it is that she died. I agree. But I mean, honestly… no one should be shocked by this. The lady spent damn near 20 years strung out on hard drugs and alcohol, so really, was it that much of a surprise?
I get it, though. It just happened. It’s still fresh in our minds and there are a lot of unanswered questions. What I DON’T get is the almost immediate 180 degree, about-face that people have adopted. Prior to this past weekend, she was just another washed up has-been celebrity, a victim of her lifestyle, strung out with a monkey on her back and a psycho wife-beating, has-been celebrity ex-husband. But NOW… now she was the best thing since sliced bread. An icon. A goddess. A role model! Complete and utter bullshit. I have never been a fan, but I couldn’t help but notice that it was the exact same with Michael Jackson, Chris Farley, Curt Cobain, etc, etc. They are the scum of the earth until they up and die and then they are all of a sudden being canonized into sainthood. I don’t get it.
But I think what sickens me the most is here we have all this media coverage, all this air time, all this hooplah and fanfare being dedicated to the death of a once famous person who died as a result of their own poor choices in life. ONE (1) person who really, didn’t do much for the world aside from record a few albums and star in a forgettable movie, and yet for the hundreds of men, women and children who are being systematically exterminated by THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT every day, (Syria), all they get is a 2 minute sound bite on the late night news. Does that seem balanced or right to you? Something to think about. —Contrary to What the Media Says, She Was NOT Every Woman!
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2012.
OB… I agree.
Luckily I don’t have TV & unless in my truck I don’t listen to radio.
So I’ve missed all the hoopla you’ve described ~:)
Seeing as I never heard that someone forced her to suck on that crack pipe or drink her face off, I see no reason to promote her to sainthood either.
I agree OP. The western world seems to idolize anyone who walks on the stage of the grammy’s or shakes hands with the rich and famous . What concerns me is what is going on in the world while everyone is watching this stuff. I did enjoy Whitney and feel bad for her early passing but our society is very caught up in stars lives. It is like people need to live vicariously though some stars. What people need to realize is that they have problems just like everyone else. Money didn’t bring them any long term happiness. Time to stop idolizing them to the point where nothing else is important in the world. OP is right that a lot of people died this weekend that we should be far more concerned about.
She isn’t being considered for sainthood. She is just being remembered for what she was. The greatest female singer of her era. She touched a lot of us with her music and a lot of people take it personally when their idols perish. Her talent was appreciated before she passed as well. It is not surprising she died due to the trauma she put her body through. But all those dead legends you mentioned were not thought of as scum by many people now, or when they were alive. They had addictions, which are diseases and they died because of them.
Oh ya, that news channel, that you mention, where you want to see people being executed in Syria all the time, rather than just two minutes a day? You can have that channel if you create the station to play it. Because no one wants to watch that crap. It is depressing as hell. We are aware of Syria’s issues. Showing it constantly isn’t going to help.
OB, it’s typical for any famous (or not) person, not just Whitney. How many times have you heard I didn’t like this person or that person (whether their talent, team, political party, etc) and the moment they die the same people who said they didn’t like the person who died, all of a sudden say how great they were. A perfect Canadian example is Saint Jack.
the only thing I ever liked of hers was ‘the bodyguard’…
and it wasn’t for her either.
damn good movie.
jackson, meh, cobain, meh, but Farley was excellent through and through.
a real man’s funnyman.
up there with john candy if you ask me.
it’s the stupid media though… what do you expect?
with shit like katy perry and gaga being pushed all the time, there’s no room for actual fucking NEWS.
It’s called paying respect for the good things they did with their lives, not a big deal. It happens for everyone famous or not. It’s nothing new. Get used to it already. Also, I watch tv and such and I’ve not seen much of anything to do with Whitney except for a short news coverage and The Bodyguard on a movie channel. Hell, people on FB covered it more than anything. Maybe you’re just watching too much media PERIOD.
@ if not for you….. maybe she was the greatest singer Blah , blah, blah as far as your concerned. I don’t own 1 song done by her. Only time I’ve ever heard her sing has been on the radio & if you really want to hear someone sing…listen to her Mother .
She preformed here a few years back , I was a lamp op on the show.
Unfuckingbelievable set of pipes !
This has been going on since Elvis took his last shit on his golden toilet and has been accelerating ever since. The celebrity money buzzards don’t care what shape the corpse is in – if they can repackage said tragedy into millions of buckaroonies, they’ll do it in a heartbeat. It’s all about money, folks. and the media are their chanting whores.
I agree TTFN.
yeah, she did have a troubled life, as many of these performers do. but that is the price they chose to pay, for fame and fortune. yeah, she was a great singer, i’ll be the first to admit that, and also, that she never sang one sone, that i didn’t like. which is very rare for me to actually like something that much.
but she did have a lot of class, and bobby brown helped a great deal, in putting her where she is today. fuck , i wish i could have been the guy she met, and got to know. things would have been a whole lot different. and bonnie tyler is another heartthrob of mine. fuck, i could listen to her all night.
I cried when Amy died and felt heartbroken when Whitney did. Those people sing the soundtracks of other’s lives. Why shouldn’t we love them? I agree some of the media circus is disgusting but … it’s people trying to cash in … her greatest hits album is back in the top ten … is not a mystery when press coverage etc gives her music “legs” again.
With that said, my sadness, love and hurt feelings are not limited to the rich and wealthy only. I also feel sad about other things in the news. We are allowed to feel multiple ways about multiple things … I’ve realized it takes way too much time and energy to selectively love/hate certain things … I understand many other people died and should be given respect, granted. However the sheer number of people who knew Whitney turns the post death scene into what seems like a huge deal when you amalgamate all that. Her drugs and alcohol … well how different is that to the struggles of many regular people …
I loved Whitney because of her voice and her lovely spirit (watch her acceptance speeches for awards, there’s a youtube vid floating around where they sewed all her acceptance clips together)… and when ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ comes on I’ll be the first to shake my bootay.
There’s no doubt she was a major talent with amazing vocals – seems her association with Bobby Brown crumpled her up and spit her out. Her poor kid – I just hope she can cope with the cruel spotlight that is celebrity.
She had a hard life, and was very talented. I hope she finds peace, at long last.
Whitney Houston has legions of fans OP, the coverage of her death and life reflects that. For those who grew up in the eighties, she was a superstar and a beacon of their generation. Yes, I agree the media does go overboard but that’s the way it works with celebrity deaths, it attracts viewership and competing news stations trip over each other to get the latest.
As tragic as Whitney’s death is, for my generation the news of the assassination of John Lennon was like a punch to the stomach. I was deeply saddened by that event.
Very well said Donk.
To me, when an artist that I’m a fan of passes on, it’s just a reminder of my own mortality and of the fact that I’m not getting any younger. I think that’s a big part of it.
LIFE AS A PERFORMANCE
“What I DON’T get is the almost 180 degree about-face that people have adopted.”
A good question since the intensity of the media outpouring is not about Whitney herself – although that is the occasion of the outpouring – but rather about our contemporary (and unacknowledged) philosophy of life which, as a consequence of the decline of the traditional structures, boils down to life as a performance. But what is a performance?
The defining quality of a performance is that is, um, performed. That is all. It is an activity – often a highly skilled one – but a performance nevertheless. Unlike the truly creative arts, it lacks a deeply transformative vision of life itself. Its nearest cousin in the arts is acting which it closely resembles. As the Romans used to say, the actor is like the onion – peel off all the layers and there is no core. The same is true of the performance pop idol. Whether physical as in sport or vocal as in pop culture, performance is by its nature transient, evanescent and ephemeral, a creaure of the moment.
However, unlike the truly creative arts, popular culture and the performance arts it embodies is driven by an enormous fan base which is in a synergistic relation with the mass media. The performance pop idol, in effect, is a creation of the two – the rabid fan base and the manipulative media – both of which must interact in order to drive the popularity of the idol (and the attendant shrill lamentations of grief over her loss) into the stratosphere.
In a way, we each have assumed our own performance roles in the dance since, at the present time, there is nothing else. Life has become a performance.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Notice the kid has a Gap like her dad? I loved “How will I know” video… small breasts but still pretty hot. Pretty sexy in “The Bodyguard”. And still not too shabby looking lately… in some photos… except looking a little paunchy round the middle.
Still…an unfortunate circumstance. She had a very good voice and the way they would zoom into her mouth with cameras when she sang… I can just imagine slipping my… anyways…. she had a great voice, tragic ending (as many people do) and will be remembered as a great singer with troubles.
Yeah I guess there ARE hipocrites that bash celebs one minute then honor them the next. Just as there are opportunists who wait for one to croak so they can write a bitch about it. How dare you tarnish the name of the late & great Whitney. Have some respect for the deceased, shithead.
RSVPs
: no_fool (Feb. 15, 3:13PM)
My bitch wasn’t about Whitney herself but about our culture of celebrity. Have some intelligence, shithead.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
RSVPs
: no_fool (Feb. 15, 3:13P)
: My comment wasn’t about Witney herself but about our culture of celebrity. Have some intelligence, shithead.
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: My comment wasn’t about Witney herself but about our culture of celebrity. Have some intelligence, shithead.
——-
And a standing ovulation for MoMan.
Bravo!
Wp
I think no fool was responding to POS1 that posted just above her posts.
Don’t get your panties in a bunch.
Sorry, that was harsh.
RSVPs
: Wheeliep (Feb. 16, 9:55AM)
Thank you Wheelie. Someone calles me a “shithead” then they can expect the same back. No_fool shouldn’t criticize something she obviously doesn’t understand. Why doesn’t she understand it? See the next post.
Xenophilia (10:55AM & 10:57AM)
The “Shithead” was replying to POS1(?) above her posts? Can’t see any.
Well, dear, I won’t get my panties tied in a knot but it gets pretty close when you encounter someone as stupid as “Shithead.”
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Xeno – Sméagol thinks everything is about him, it’s all part and parcel of his NPD.
hard life???
she made a fortune doing something as menial as singing… (albeit, very well)
DECIDED to snort coke like steve-o on a bender…
flew all over the world and lived in luxury…
hard life indeed.
Where’s my mirror and a platinum american express… I’ll take a hit of that hard life any day…
Just say no to drugs, zed.
*shooting star*
The More You Know
I dunno know about you but the ‘this is your brain on drugs’ commercials got me pretty hungry for breakfast. That egg looked delicious.
I’m just glad they didn’t do the ‘this is your penis on drugs’ with breakfast sausage or I would have been very ‘confused’ in my teens.