I was very sad to hear about Whitney Houston’s death. It was touching to see the outpouring of grief from the public, media and other performers. Or was it?
The majority of her hits and film success were ’85 through ’95. For the last twenty years we (the general population, media included) have pruriently waited to see the Whitney train come off the rails, and it did – several times. A disastrous marriage, a drug bust, public misbehavior, and misfired comebacks were all gossip page features. The tabloids and the main stream outlets jumped on every opportunity to show photos of her wasted and videos of her of her attempted comebacks. We laughed at her incoherent interviews and quotes about drugs. Comedians specialized in portraying her at her worst. I don’t remember other “A” list performers being particularly vocal defending her or working to give her another chance.
When she wasn’t in the news for bad behavior, most people were vaguely aware she still existed. Die-hard fans followed her, but the rest of us all but forgot about her. We forgot until the next round of photos, videos or news of an arrest hit the media. When she died at 48, it really wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone. If you followed two decades of coverage, she had been working at it for a long time.
We loved Whitney Houston’s voice and early incredibly-talented-gorgeous-girl-next-door image, but not as much as we love to see an icon fall off the pedestal. Star Magazine, Us, and TMZ, etc., the purveyors of bad and embarrassing celebrity news, exist because there is an audience for them. Schadenfreude sells, and sells big.
Please don’t think I am being “holier than thou” about this. I am just as complicit. While I loved her music and thought she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, I laughed at the interviews and watched the meltdown videos. I was sad, but it’s embarrassing to say seeing her gradual downfall produced mixed feelings. Before you jump on me, the question you have to answer for yourself is: Were you grieving all along for Whitney in her drug addled crazy phases, pulling for her to get it together, or are you just sorry she is dead?
The reaction to Whitney’s death isn’t unique. It’s similar to Michael Jackson’s, and other famous entertainers who slowly unwound. It stretches back to silent films and probably further if you count royalty. We the public really can’t help ourselves.
What is saddest of all is that for the next few months we will watch her life picked apart during interviews with “friends and “insiders”, speculation, and inquests. She will be celebrated at awards shows. Her album sales will skyrocket. Barring a long drawn out court case, we will forget about all this within six months.
Then we will move on to the next one.