It's Called Being Broken

[docbrite]

Y'all know how I am -- I don't listen to any music released after 1993. But if I see one more Internet fool going on about how Amy Winehouse "chose" her "lifestyle" and "chose" to die, I'm gonna punch a motherfucker. What the fuck is wrong with people who need to proclaim this kind of shit? Do they actually feel superior because they are not sick,

Comments

[theadydal]

'Cos they are bereft of an awareness of history or culture and it is easier for them to feel better about themselves by thinking about her then think about what happened in Norway. Bottom line people are selfish.

[docbrite]

But I'm even seeing people going "IF YOU CARE ABOUT WINEHOUSE THAT MEANS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN NORWAY." Wut.

[50_ft_queenie]

Yeah, *that* shit is really pissing me off. I can think about and care about more than one thing at a time.

[ravenofroses]

while there are a lot of folks who are just plain assholes, i think some people just can't understand how devastating addiction and mental illnesses are. they've never experienced it themselves or had anyone close to them experience it, and for whatever reason, they don't recognize it as a sickness. the rock star/partier lifestyle has been so romanticized and criticized that people forget that, like you said, these folks are sick, broken, and hurting. it's a damn shame, both for the people who fall victim to these diseases and for the people who can't see that it's anything but a choice.

[mariadkins]

i think some people just can't understand how devastating addiction and mental illnesses are

You're right. They don't understand.

[docbrite]

I guess maybe the reverse is also true: that if you do have the experience of being an addict, it's hard not to feel sympathy, to think of the deceased as "one of your people" even if you weren't a fan. It's hard for me not to take such comments personally: that could so easily have happened to me, to so many of my friends, my favorite writers and musicians, the desperately poor people in my neighborhood ... etc. And in fact it has happened to some of these people. I can kind of understand the lack of sympathy from people who have lived with addicts, though, because we are fucking obnoxious and exasperating and destructive, and I can see how the people around us might harbor a lot of anger.

[tziedel]

When one of us loses the battle against our demons, it does affect the rest of us.

[shelleybear]

You saw my post suggesting the "Bladerunner" quote as an epitaph?

[highd]

I think it's a bit of outrage over wasted talent, I mean she was really talented and could have gone a long way, it just seems pointless to waste that you know. Like Sonny told C in A Bronx Tale "there is nothing sadder than wasted talent"

I also sort of hate the whole broken mentality, was she an addict sure, but there are tons of addicts that hit rock bottom,take stock of themselves and clean themselves up. I think when this type of thing happens people wonder why the person didn't love themselves enough to dig deep and really try to mend themselves.

I come from a long line of addicts. I have seen the joys of recovery and the lows of hitting bottom, and in the end it's the persons choice which road they pick. Yes she was broken but it became her choice to stay that way when she bought the drugs and took them. She could have gone to a meeting instead.

It's sad, really.

Blaming the victim again!

[ext_605115]

Bullshit! You're blaming the victim. Saying "the person didn't love themselves enough" is garbage. It was the fucking addiction that bought the drugs and saying "She could have gone to a meeting instead" is inane blaming republican drivel. It's the same crap I remember when my friends were all dying of AIDS and Marianne Williamson said it was because they "Didn't love themselves enough" No, it was because they had a virus. And just for the record I blame Rupert Murdochs salacious tabloid papers for hounding this Woman for years for their own greedy profit

Re: Blaming the victim again!

[ext_605115]

On rereading my post I'm (mostly) sticking by my statements here but I apologize for the combativeness and the personal attack mode vibe, I could and should have used more compassion in addressing you, please forgive me I'm sorry for that.

[docbrite]

About eight weeks after I stopped taking opiates, I went to the funeral of a friend who had OD'd on multiple drugs. I saw him lying in his casket and at that instant I knew the only difference between us was luck. Some of my good luck was privilege, a stable family, a bit of money. Some of his bad luck was an upbringing in the ghetto, lack of education, no affordable treatment for addiction in the area, not enough money to do anything with his life but just enough to keep getting high. Ever since that day, I haven't been able to believe that dying or not dying from addiction is a choice.

[padiwack]

I agree.