I am sure we all heard the news about Whitney Houston Saturday night. Nobody deserves to die that young. It is also tragic that celebrities get that short of a shelf life in this world. I am not a fan of Houston's music, I never was into R&B tinged pop-- in fact, I am not a big pop music fan either. I have more of a punk/metal/alternative/classic rock background. Thus, I'm more into 3 to 4 chords on the guitar and that's it for me. I am also not a big fan of the Hollywood motif; the "live fast, die young" mantra of celebrity life. That's probably the reason why I never liked the mainstream when it comes to music and other facets of pop culture. When an overbloated celebrity falls on his/her ass; I jump on the opportunity to joke about someone's downfall or make fun of the situation. But when it comes to death of a celebrity, I generally follow the "too soon" rule. If the celebrity just happens to die-- I really don't say anything until I have some information about what happened. I also do this out of respect for some friends who are probably fans of a certain celebrity. I think the "Too Soon" clause goes back to 9/11 when pretty much couldn't joke about ANYTHING, but after a few months everything went "back to normal".
However, after only a half hour of Houston's death, the jokes came out. Most of the jokes were centered around the line from Apollo 13 "Houston, we have a problem". I'm not saying I didn't laugh at the jokes, they were quite amusing. I thought that they were poking fun of the mainstream rather than Houston. I could have posted the jokes on my Facebook page but out of respect for some of my friends who are Houston fans, that and it's "too soon".
The way this is going, this is turning into another Michael Jackson. When Michael Jackson died, the media bandwagon began. All the speculation and gossip began right when Jackson died. Also, the comparisons followed in which Jackson's death was compared to Elvis' death. As I was watching CNN this morning, Houston is already being compared to Judy Garland as far as the drugs and the alcohol is concerned. In fact, the whole thing reminds me of Billie Holiday who had similar struggles with drugs along with Houston and Garland 40 some years earlier. But in 2012 America, nobody knows anything about Judy Garland nor Billie Holiday since both died in the 1960's and 1950's respectively. So the only equivalent would be Michael Jackson's death since it happened only two and a half years earlier.
Michael Jackson, on the other hand, had more of a fair share of critics than Houston and his death served as cannon fodder for those who wanted to crucify him in the first place. Therefore, the backlash of jokes after Michael Jackson's death was pretty immediate but not after a half an hour.
The question is when is it "too soon"? I mean if anything; my opinion, really; the media pretty much is the blame since Houston's life and subsequent death is documented in reality shows as well as TMZ, and various shows on E! and VH1.When it comes to the press coverage and the celebrities being steamrolled, it only shows that the wolves eat their young in Hollywood! And what is really creepy is that everybody is "surprised". I seen this last night on Piers Morgan on CNN and this morning on NBC. Has anyone seen Whitney Houston's recent photos? She looks emaciated and her skin looked ashen, a far cry from the Whitney Houston of 1986! And who can forget her "Crack is whack" statement!? Is anybody REALLY "surprised"? Then again is it "too soon" to interject our opinions whether we are fans, information seekers, or interviewers on network shows? Now we are hearing reports that Houston was allegedly found in the bathtub, which sounds vaguely familiar to Elvis' death since Elvis supposedly died sitting on the toilet. Thus, the analyzing begins on the "how" and "why" of celebrity death. Yet when at the age of ten when Elvis died, whether he died on the crapper or not was irrevelant, the fact that Elvis DIED was central! 1977 America was more patient, once the mourning ended a month after Elvis dying, the speculation regarding Elvis' death then began; toilet, 19 year old girlfriend, "Dr. Nick" and all! Here's another example, remember the 1986 Challenger explosion? I remember the jokes like the "Need Another Seven Astronauts" and the distasteful "Head and Shoulders" cracks happened at least a few months after the first Space Shuttle disaster. Then again, the Challenger tragedy and 9/11 are cases when "too soon" should never even happen in the first place since the mockery of innocent people dying is in outright bad taste after all!
So are celebrities "innocent", and should not be mocked? The question is who are we mocking-- the monster that Dr. Mediastein created or Dr. Mediastein himself? Are we then the villagers chasing the monster with our torches, but are we doing this to protect ourselves or is it just for the glory to be judge, jury, and executioner? We will never know the answers to those said questions, neither we will know when it's "too soon" or even not even at all. I hope the best for Whitney Houston's family, paricularly her teenage daughter. For those who are fans, I guess the best thing to do is remember her music. For those who aren't fans such as myself, the best thing to do is when to say when if at all, not make fun of her directly (since Houston's tragic life was an end result of a reckless media), and pretty much forgetting about it and go on to the next forseeable celebrity death.
However, after only a half hour of Houston's death, the jokes came out. Most of the jokes were centered around the line from Apollo 13 "Houston, we have a problem". I'm not saying I didn't laugh at the jokes, they were quite amusing. I thought that they were poking fun of the mainstream rather than Houston. I could have posted the jokes on my Facebook page but out of respect for some of my friends who are Houston fans, that and it's "too soon".
The way this is going, this is turning into another Michael Jackson. When Michael Jackson died, the media bandwagon began. All the speculation and gossip began right when Jackson died. Also, the comparisons followed in which Jackson's death was compared to Elvis' death. As I was watching CNN this morning, Houston is already being compared to Judy Garland as far as the drugs and the alcohol is concerned. In fact, the whole thing reminds me of Billie Holiday who had similar struggles with drugs along with Houston and Garland 40 some years earlier. But in 2012 America, nobody knows anything about Judy Garland nor Billie Holiday since both died in the 1960's and 1950's respectively. So the only equivalent would be Michael Jackson's death since it happened only two and a half years earlier.
Michael Jackson, on the other hand, had more of a fair share of critics than Houston and his death served as cannon fodder for those who wanted to crucify him in the first place. Therefore, the backlash of jokes after Michael Jackson's death was pretty immediate but not after a half an hour.
The question is when is it "too soon"? I mean if anything; my opinion, really; the media pretty much is the blame since Houston's life and subsequent death is documented in reality shows as well as TMZ, and various shows on E! and VH1.When it comes to the press coverage and the celebrities being steamrolled, it only shows that the wolves eat their young in Hollywood! And what is really creepy is that everybody is "surprised". I seen this last night on Piers Morgan on CNN and this morning on NBC. Has anyone seen Whitney Houston's recent photos? She looks emaciated and her skin looked ashen, a far cry from the Whitney Houston of 1986! And who can forget her "Crack is whack" statement!? Is anybody REALLY "surprised"? Then again is it "too soon" to interject our opinions whether we are fans, information seekers, or interviewers on network shows? Now we are hearing reports that Houston was allegedly found in the bathtub, which sounds vaguely familiar to Elvis' death since Elvis supposedly died sitting on the toilet. Thus, the analyzing begins on the "how" and "why" of celebrity death. Yet when at the age of ten when Elvis died, whether he died on the crapper or not was irrevelant, the fact that Elvis DIED was central! 1977 America was more patient, once the mourning ended a month after Elvis dying, the speculation regarding Elvis' death then began; toilet, 19 year old girlfriend, "Dr. Nick" and all! Here's another example, remember the 1986 Challenger explosion? I remember the jokes like the "Need Another Seven Astronauts" and the distasteful "Head and Shoulders" cracks happened at least a few months after the first Space Shuttle disaster. Then again, the Challenger tragedy and 9/11 are cases when "too soon" should never even happen in the first place since the mockery of innocent people dying is in outright bad taste after all!
So are celebrities "innocent", and should not be mocked? The question is who are we mocking-- the monster that Dr. Mediastein created or Dr. Mediastein himself? Are we then the villagers chasing the monster with our torches, but are we doing this to protect ourselves or is it just for the glory to be judge, jury, and executioner? We will never know the answers to those said questions, neither we will know when it's "too soon" or even not even at all. I hope the best for Whitney Houston's family, paricularly her teenage daughter. For those who are fans, I guess the best thing to do is remember her music. For those who aren't fans such as myself, the best thing to do is when to say when if at all, not make fun of her directly (since Houston's tragic life was an end result of a reckless media), and pretty much forgetting about it and go on to the next forseeable celebrity death.
I don't think Houston's life was a result of the media. A friend of mine posted last night that she didn't feel sorry for Houston at all. She was rich and we all have CHOICES.
ReplyDeleteHouston had every opportunity to turn her life around but she didn't. I can't imagine what her life was like being in the spotlight but I will say she courted that spotlight. Then she and Bobby Brown took that long ride down...and THEY invited the media in to watch.
I'm no fan of her music and I never sat through a whole episode of her reality show. She could have closed the doors to her life, and she did when it suited her. Whitney Houston destroyed her life, not the media.
The sad fact is that she had a problem. She was probably wrestling hard with it these past few years, and THAT is where she gets my sympathy. Some make it out of addiction, some don't.
That's the truth Annie. I guess what I was gathering was "who's the enemy here"? Did we ourselves created the monster? I agree, Whitney Houston was her own demon-- but that demon was created by whom? Could be Bobby Brown, could be Clive Davis (who I truly can't stand), could be Whitney Houston herself to obtain more fame. It's like Faust but with monotonous, up tempo music.
DeleteMy rule of thumb is "If it makes me laugh, then someone else will laugh too". I don't believe anything is "too soon"... to make a joke about a celebrity/even a month later would just fall flat. If I upset someone, I'll try to respectfully understand... but I see lots of stuff posted that annoys/offends me, but i don't feel I have the right to force someone to censor themselves for me. Some people are just ridiculously sensitive and look to be offended.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Eric! I almost fell out of the chair laughing when Piers Morgan acted all surprised and was "shocked" by this "untimely death". Everybody and their grandmother pretty much knew that Houston had a drug and alcohol problem! Respect is respect, but the obvious is the obvious (obviously)!
DeleteI tend to want to celebrate the positives that one contributes to this life--and while her drug problems were definitely part of her downfall--she's not very different than many people I know in that respect, with the exception, that yes, she had the money to change that if she really wanted to. And my experience with people I know personally that face the challenge to over come addiction of any kind is that no amount of money, love, support, etc., will help that addict until the addict decides they want it for themselves. And sometimes, sadly, even that has not been enough.
ReplyDeleteI think Houston tried to want it--but perhaps her addiction overruled her desire to stay on the right track (or something like that). The only thing that stuck out in my mind is that the Coroner said that she had prescription drugs in her room--but that it wasn't an out of the ordinary amount to have--and he admitted he had more prescriptions in his medicine cabinet than she had on her (or something like that). Of course, assuming that she was only messing with prescription meds, which led to her death. I guess we'll find out.
Anyway, that made me pause...because when Elvis died--we learned that he had all kinds of prescription meds as did Judy Garland. That said, it will be interesting to read the toxicology report when it comes out and see what really happened.
So I choose to celebrate what she gave to us--a beautiful part of herself--her talent--her voice--and for that I'm grateful. We all struggle with our own demons--it is never a walk in the park getting through this life. She wasn't very different in that respect--she was just in the spotlight--which magnifies the situation.
And you are right--the first thing I thought of when I heard the news of Whitney and some of the details is this was very reminiscent of Judy Garland. I wasn't born yet, when Judy passed--but I'm a HUGE fan of her just the same. (Yes this chick in 2012 America has not forgotten that legend!!) For both ladies--drugs played an eerily similar role in their demises and it begs the question, will we ever learn from them?
Great post, Jenn
Thank you, Jenn! Great reply and thank you for remembering Judy! Many people think of Judy as Liza Minelli's mother or "Dorothy". I'm surprised that no one mentioned Jim Morrison since he pretty much died the same way (in the bathtub w/ possible alcohol involved).
Delete