The Hollywood Spin

As I write this the cause of  death of Whitney Houston has not been determined. There are rumors and stories on how she was found. In the days ahead the complete story will emerge. And, like most people I assume drugs will play a role in her death.... Face it: we all thought the same thing when we heard of her death. Her history of drug abuse. Her bizarre behavior in concerts and interviews. If it turns out that drugs were not responsible for her death, then, that will be the real shock. The connection between a performer dying suddenly and the public's assumption of the cause of death always leads back down the road of self-destruction... Now, I was never a fan of Ms. Houston. I thought she had a very nice voice, and, a couple of her songs I thought were good. All I know of her story comes from the media, which is a dangerous way to know someone, what with rumors and innuendo running amok. The abusive and dangerous marriage of her and Bobby Brown was well documented and played out in the public eye. What happened there, behind closed doors, is no one's business, but, the misguided couple seemed to be more than willing to parade it in front of us. Maybe some were interested. Perhaps it was the people who religiously follow the vile gossip mills like ''Entertainment Tonight', the ''E'' channel, and, the trashy magazines on the supermarket checkout line. Whatever. To Each His Own. However, when you live your life like an open book I am going to rip out a few pages when necessary... Let me begin with her drug problem. It is an old story in Hollywood when someone has an addiction. Publicly, it starts with the hiding of the abuser's behavior. That is what PR people are for in Hollywood. There was a time when PR people were needed to plant someone's name in the paper to generate interest in the star. Now, the job is to keep the star's behavior out of the press. When that fails, the spin starts. We begin to hear of bizarre behavior being described as ''exhaustion''. Meaning, the poor star is working so hard for you, the adoring public, that this minor blip on the radar, therefore, is explainable. It is bullshit, of course. But, it shows the Hollywood spin. Next, when the star has been exposed publicly and even the most ardent fan knows there is a problem, then comes the rehab. Now, you would think if the star has people around them that truly care for their welfare, then they would send the star as far away from the greed and lust of Hollywood and to get them clean, away from the temptations that abound. But, no. They go to fashionable rehab places for their drive-by therapy. It isn't really helping them so much as helping them maintain a career for the star. It becomes trendy for a performer to be there. Rehab chic. And, after a grueling three weeks, the patient is discharged and all is well. It isn't... The rate for the non-famous to fall back into old habits is very high. The famous have a higher rate of imbibing again. All of this leads back to Whitney Houston. She went through the same cycle above and never succeeded. Now, part of that has to do with her genetic makeup. Certain people are born with the gene of addiction. Clearly, she was. The other part is the enabling of these stars. The people around them, whether they be agents, managers, music people, or, the standard groupies who sponge off their fame. Every successful star has this whether they want it or not. It is the ugly by-product of fame. Some survive and see the nonsense. Some do not. Apparently, Whitney Houston never saw through it, or, if she did, she was helpless to save herself. The history of Hollywood and show business is littered with people like her. Vulnerable people who have been given a rare talent and then, are exploited by the movers and shakers and the scum of the industry. And, they fall... Ask yourself this: if you had someone close to you achieve fame, and, they were not handling it well, would you do anything you could to stop them from destroying themselves? Would you stand by while they are slowly coming undone and fading away before your eyes? Of course, you would not. You would do what I would do: the hell with your career, I'm trying to save your life. You would not have to even think about that. And, that is where the parasites that make up show business differ from us. They go through the motions of caring, but, they do not. In the days and weeks ahead you will hear testimonials from all of her family and friends on how special she was , and, despite their best efforts, she slipped threw their fingers. No one could stop her... Yes, they could have stopped her. Just like the ''caring'' people around Elvis and Michael Jackson could have saved them, but, didn't... A few months before he was shot, John Lennon gave an interview with ''Newsweek'' magazine. In the interview he was asked how The Beatles split up. John said that he was used to a situation where all of his needs were being taken care of. He was overfed, over drugged, over indulged in every way. John continued by saying he had to get out of it because he was being slowly killed by his living that way. He compared it to a King being killed by his courtiers. And, he had to walk away from that life or he would be destroyed... Whitney Houston did not go in that direction. She was killed by her vices, to be sure. But, she was also killed by the show business life. She had her courtiers around her that really did not give a damn. She suffered the tragedy of dying from inattention. I will leave it up to you if she deserves your sympathy. She has mine, to some degree. As did Elvis, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, Michael Jackson, etc..... And, maybe soon, Demi Moore, Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, and, some unknown future star....