The Curse Of Fame

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I read a (rather poorly-written) comment piece about Amy Winehouse's Mercury Awards appearance yesterday. Apparently her performance was 'electric' and it was generally agreed that somehow over the last year, Amy had transformed from a talented soul singer from Camden into an International Megastar Icon!!1!1.

"Every generation needs its Kurt Cobain!" wailed the writer, gnashing his teeth and already writing the poor lass off for lost.

Well, does it? Do we need self-destructive pop icons like Cobain/Hendrix/Sid Vicious? If Amy is the latest victim of rock'n'roll, then who will be next?

Comments

Re: Assorted thoughts

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

There is a very particular young-women-in-peril aspect to the Brit-LiLo-Nicole-Amy coverage. There's a Doherty=twat, Amy=victim (somehow) equation.

Plus, indeed, the FOR REAL thing, which fits Winehouse's work. I've always felt, for instance, that the reason that the cult of Kurt boomed after death and River Phoenix's didn't was the differing matching of their death to public persona while alive. (Equally, poor Owen Wilson's problems are thought to be a marketing disaster within the movie industry, because they clash with his affable stoner stock character).



Kat, as you haven't heard of them, the three oversized hedonists:
Ted Demme: director of lots of hip-hop videos, plus some movies, most notably Johnny Depp starring coke-athon Blow and Beautiful Girls (top thoughtful male-bonding fave/dodgy underage Natalie Portman vehicle, depending on POV).

Chris Penn: Sean's fat brother. In Reservoir Dogs and Footloose (the beefy chum who learns to dance).

Chris Farley: died back in the 1990s, briefly huge career-wise, always huge sizewise, comedy actor operating in the dumber-than-Adam Sandler mode.

Only Farley was a big star, and only just around the time of his death, but then as that report pointed out, not so many pop stars die these days.

Re: Assorted thoughts

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Ah - I vaguely recall the Chris Penn thing now I have some context. (Thanks!)

Re: Assorted thoughts

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yeah there's a definite fallen-from-grace aspect to a lot of those: Amy and LiLo are perceived very definitely to be wasting their talent, Britney to be wasting...something. Paris and Nicole aren't perceived to have had talent in the first place but then, despite the jail, neither of them seem to be as wrecked and out of control as the first three.