I have spent almost my entire life working in the music and film world. Words cannot describe how disconnected and isolated one can become in that enviornment and it is very very easy to lose your persepective on everything. Every day at work, especially if you're a rock star, is an epic party to everyone else and it is extremely difficult not to get sucked into the "lifestyle". You will be surrounded by all sorts of sychophants looking to profit and advance themselves at your expense and they make sure that you are isolated from reality so that you can't see them for who they are. Its easy for those on the outside to speculate and judge but its a gross oversimplification and rooted in the fantasy of what a rock star is instead of the reality.03Lightningrocks wrote:Very good analogy!RPB wrote:rwg3 wrote:I agree that she shouldn't have done the drugs. Where I am willing to cut her a bit of a break is based on the environment she lived and worked in. The celebrity world has a nasty habit (no pun intended) of chewing up and spitting out it's participants at a breakneck pace. Having spent some time working with celebrities, the fawning servitude (albeit mostly false) that overwhelms them once they start to gain fame and money definately contributes to an unreal estimation of their abilites to overcome any challenge. It is sickening to see fans and sycophants reinforcing the sense of power that celebs have. These celebs tend to lose perspective and are too often presented with all kinds of options to do stupid things while their "support" tells them they can do no wrong.
She shouldn't have done the drugs, but I can see how it came to be.
Much like politicians ... they lose touch
I am not defending her but I can completely understand how and why it happened. I have witnessed many of my colleagues lose themselves. The higher you rise in the industry and the more money that others make off of you the harder it becomes to stay grounded. There is not a vice that has not been frequently and sometimes literally thrown at me. I've managed to stay on the straight and narrow but it has been very difficult at times. I'm old and wise enough now that I'm not terribly concerned about screwing up but it only takes one moment of weakness and you're cooked. Even Ted Nugent, who is comletely straight edge, has confessed how difficult it was to refuse Jimmi Hendrix's offer of a joint one night. Wasn't his vice though...Uncle Teds has always been women
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson